I have been making my bears full time since March
2000. I was a watercolour artist before this and
my work included portraits of bears. In 1992 I started
collecting bears and soon after painted some miniature
portraits of 'mini' bears for a bear making friend.
She then suggested that I make a bear! After having
thought about this for a while I went ahead and
eventually came up with a bear that looked the way
I wanted it to; I was then well and truly hooked!
I
have been lucky enough to have my bears reach the
finals of the EVA's for the last two years. Country
Angel was granted third prize in the Amateur Section
of the Miniature Bear of 2001 (making bears for
less than two years) which is run by Teddy Bear
International (TBCI).
I have joined the bear co-operative which is run
by Melanie and Simon Oldnall of Melanies Little
Bear Company who have recently opened a shop in
Bromsgrove. They supply bearmaking materials and
sell the bears of the artists in the co-operative.
I
also sell my bears through Ted's Place at Blakemere
Craft Centre, the design they sell is exclusive
to them. He is a mini bear dressed in blue dungarees
with straw in his pockets and comes complete with
his pet pig.
My bears are always dressed, have accessories
and tiny charms. The tiny appliqué ultrasuede
patches and tiny buttons are typical of my bears
and hopefully makes them a little different and
shows they are 'Julz.Bearz' bears.
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