After the New Year the creativity inside me is always raring to go, there is never a question of inspiration especially this time of year. May be it is because of the holiday rest, or simply the New Year brings with it a fresh start, who knows, but what ever it is I love the feeling of eagerness in my creativity and maybe that's why I am writing an entry in my blog today!
I've just finished a new prototype bear, a completely new design and I am excited to see how he looks in different mohairs. During the process of his design and a few other discussions of late I started to think about the inspiration that brought me to the bears as they are today. They are a long and distant way from my teddy bear designs of years ago. The quirkiness, large nose, long necks and large feet in those designs have all gone. The changes certainly did not occur overnight, it was a long process which started to happen more than 3 years ago. Surprisingly and just for the record it was not the cute face or sweet look of bears that captured my thoughts and imagination but the traditional bear shapes and proportions that I admired. At that point as a completely self taught teddy artist I wanted to take a mix of the techniques I had learned and enjoyed to use such as scissor sculpting and trapunto paws and somehow combine them with the inspiration of traditional styled bears. Again this did not happen overnight and a little more was yet need to add to the mix!
The most significant and important change in the bears came when our son Oliver was born. Being surrounded by baby belongings, toys, even clothes inspired me to create a softer look in the bears. However the main trigger was a gift, a manufactured tatty ted, I loved the shape and look of these hugely popular bears who are available in any card shop I care to think of. Some artists are inspired by stieff, merrythought, chiltern, oh the list is endless, but I was inspired by the traditional bear, a tatty ted, particular techniques and a baby called Oliver. This combination of elements was my starting point which eventually brought me to the bears of today.
Any type of artist can find inspiration in almost anything, its what you actually do with that inspiration which matters the most. Like an abstract painting the result is not what people think they see in your work or the traditional teddy, a tatty ted or a babies soft toy that first started you on your journey of discovery but something that you created from inside yourself from a simple mixture which is then translated into the individual bears or art you create.
Inspiration is a funny thing, it's a mixture of all kinds, it can be a slow change of tide, something which is probably changing right now and something that certainly comes from within.
