Ideas for my bears & critters come from many different sources:
pictures in fairy story books or on greetings cards,from the design
on a piece of fabric that catches my eye, nature's "cast offs"
- tiny acorn cups, pieces of bark or even twigs. Often times they
just pop up out of the complicated muddle that serves as my brain!  I keep a sketch pad handy and jot these down when they come to me and although I never seem to have a shortage of ideas, it's the time in which to see them through and make them come to life that is the problem!
I have a love of all things "Prim" -American Primitive arts & crafts- and also like to dabble in that on a miniature scale often incorporating them into my work through dolls,birdhouses or 'make-dos'.
The majority of my pieces are named after US towns,cities and States. There is an inexhaustible supply and so many are very fitting for bears, often it is unbelievable that they are actually place names! It has even been known for a name to initiate the creation of a bear!
I now sell my bears all over the world and I am delighted and proud to have several pieces on display at the Puppenhaus Museum in Basel, Switzerland.*


About Minikins............
Alice in Wondbearland" 1998 Eva's - Teddy Bear Scene Magazine This was the first competition that I entered. This piece won a place in the finals.The Pied Piper and the Cubs of Hambearlin" 1999 British Bear Artist Awards My second competition piece and one of my favorites...the first time I tried to create the look of movement in a piece. It won first place and went to the Puppenhaus Museum in Basel SwitzerlandThe piper was the first doll/sculptured piece I had ever made. He was 6" tall & his legs were made up of patchworked ultra-suede pieces and were a labor of love!"Holiday" 1999 "The National Awards USA" Runner Up This was very exciting for me as some friends entered this little guy on my behalf as a surprise & it was my first time showing in the USA "Heap Big Totem" 2000 "British Bear Artist Awards" & the "Margaret & Gerry Grey Award for innovation Winner (Teddy Bear Times) I loved doing this piece, loads of research & planning, all the bears in the 'totem pole' shared body parts & heads! It is now at the Puppenhaus Museum in Basel."Running Bear" was one of several little guys in the "Heap Big Totem" piece. Each one was armatured & wore chamois clothes which were beaded and feathered & even tiny moccasins too!
"Jack & the Bearstalk" 2001 "Toby Award" Nominee & "Industry's Choice" Winner Another fun to piece to do, again using parts of bears needle sculpted together to form the "bearstalk" and topped off with a carved stryofoam castle. At the base there was Jack gazing up into the 'clouds' "Jack" He was armatured and stood only 2" small, dressed in kid and carrying his purse of beans. This piece went to a private collector"Bearstalk" A close-up of the 'bearstalk' showing how all the body parts morphed together."Griswold" 2001 "British Bear Artist Award" Winner 5" tall - pretty big! Wearing a hand-woven/knitted coat & cap of mixed yarns, threads & ribbons. I loved blending all these textures together & went on to make several more pieces like this. Most recently "Zuma " in the "Sea-life" gallery"The Emperor's New Clothes" 2001 "Golden George Award" Winner One of my favorite pieces which is now in the Puppenhaus Museum in Basel. Depicting the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale & showing the Emperor admiring his 'reflection' in the miniature cheval mirror"The Emperor's New Clothes" This was a very exciting win for me as it is held at a big show in Germany & the award was a pretty big deal! Each bear is 2" & a mirror image of the other. He was dressed in the finest fabrics, silk, tafetta, lace, fur & kid!
"Celebrating 100 years of the Teddy Bear - Drawing the Line in Mississippi" 2002 "British Bear Artist Award" RunnerUp This piece was to depict the Washington Post Berryman cartoon of Pres Roosevelt refusing to shoot a captured bear cub. Great fun to do & a lot of research. Now at the Puppenhaus.This piece had several components, a sculpted tree with a bear's head trunk, a sculpted doll & a bear with claws & what I hoped was a doleful expression! On a fabric replica newspaper page of the origianl Berryman cartoon in the Washington Post"Drawing the Line in Mississippi""Pandora's Box" 2003 "British Bear Artist Award" RunnerUp The thought of an ursine Pandora unlocking the box & letting out little bear imps appealed to me greatly! Four imps in all coming out of an ornately decorated, silk-lined box & looking suitably impish! "Estes" Was my favorite of the imps. All were made from the same shade of cashmere, long-pile upholstery velvet & ultra-suede. They ranged from 1½" to 3" "Pandora" A close up of Pandora showing the detail in her costume. She was 4" and wore a silk dress edged with lurex embroidery & a silk chiffon under-shirt...see the tiny key on the fastening of the bodice?!
"Carmen Bearanda" 2005 "Toby Award" Nominee & "Industry's Choice" Winner 2005 "Golden T eddy Award Nominee" This little bear started from seeing a silk tassel which I thought would make a wonderful swirling skirt & so became Miss Carmen! A lot of detail went into her little 4" being "Carmen Bearanda" Her headdress was made up of sculpted paper flowers and all the 'fruits' were bear's heads made from ultra-suede! She also had earrings, bangles, necklaces, a swirling skirt & a bandeau top just like Miss Carmen!"Malibu & Fossil" 2008 "Toby Award" Nominee & "Industry's Choice" Winner I LOVED creating this piece! I was inspired by the Charleston SC sea turtle sculptures that adorned the city in 2008 & of course by the beautiful South Carolina coast that I adore. "Malibu & Fossil" "Malibu" was 2" and I wanted her to be simple yet eyecatching against the detail in "Fossil" and his patchworked shell. She wore a hand-knitted silver lurex gilet with real shells & glass beads knitted into it & a headdress of silver wire, shells & glass beads."Fossil" It's fun to try different creatures & "Fossil" was a challenge to create. He's made up of several parts including a chamois underside to his shell & the patchworked, ultra-suede top. I spent many tedious (not!!) hours on the beach colecting tiny shells with holes in them & small coralsThis little guy was inspired by the chiton shell he is sitting in - I thought it looked so like a tiny boat! He is 1½" & made from hand-dyed cashmere with airbrush detailing. He wears a silk bandana, an earring & a hand knitted lurex, beaded gilet. His fishing net is also hand knitted
The photographs below in the first four galleries are all pieces that won awards for me between 1999 - 2008.
Click on them to enlarge and to read a description of the piece.
*some of the photos are pretty old so please excuse the quality!
"Sarasota, Little Talbot & Shell" This piece was part of the "Sealife Collection" I produced in 2008. 1½" & 1" are the sizes of these two little sprites riding on the back of "Sarasota" a 5" stingray."Sarasota, Little Talbot & Shell" I especially enjoyed making the ray, he is cashmere & chamois, has wired 'wings', tail & even has a mouth opening!"Zuma" Zuma is one of my biggest pieces at 5" tall and is made from a beautiful oyster colored long-pile velvet with the merest hint of aqua in it. His hand-knitted linen coat has shells knitted into it. He carries a driftwood staff with a knitted bag of shells & tiny starfish"Zuma" His muzzle is cashmere and his face, whiskers & beard have been airbrushed. His headdress is also knitted with shells intertwined."Flippen & Lido" 2½" Lido was my first attempt at an open-mouth bear, he has tiny fimo teeth & tongue. He is riding on the back of a 4½" dolphin. All three of the sealife creatures & their bears have gone to the Puppenhaus Museum in Basel, Switzerland."Flippen" This piece, although he looks realtively simple in form was pretty difficult to make & it took a long while to get him 'just right' - I'm still not sure out his tail flukes though!