Everything you ever wanted to know about teddy bears but were afraid to ask

Contemporary bear makers at the top of their game are true artisans, and often spend days to weeks on the loving creation of each original teddy bear they produce. Many -- myself included -- offer only one of a kind teddies to their collectors. For these OOAK teddies, design, pattern, and/or finishing will never be reproduced.

Pricing for these wonderfully huggable, soft-sculpted works of art is what you'd expect for any hand-made original created from scratch by a single artisan and given exquisite attention to the smallest detail.

Here are just a few of my favorite bear artisans, representing a wide variety of styles and sizes. But there are plenty more out there, many of whom maintain websites and blogs. Google to find more!

Many bear makers enjoy the challenge of peer-to-peer competition. I used to submit my bears and other critters to the major US contests myself, and am still giddy about the Golden Teddy, TOBY, and URSA awards I received along the way. I mean, who doesn't love a ten pound, sparkling crystal trophy? :)

I've "retired" from the hard work of keeping up with all those entry deadlines, though, and nowadays focus exclusively on making the best bears I can; developing new techniques; broadening my offerings; and growing my skillset.

But I digress.

There are several contest formats available to teddy makers. In very broad strokes, these competitions generally take the following forms.

PHOTO contests

Big magazines (like TEDDY BEAR & FRIENDS and TEDDY BEAR REVIEW in the US) often sponsor annual competitions for bear makers world wide, which they promote and feature in their magazines. Individual artisans and huge bear manufacturers alike can enter photos, for a fee, into a handful of categories (such as Large/Dressed, Miniature, Bear 'Friends', etc.)

It would be next to impossible to collect so many bears under one roof, and the job of live judging would be exhausting and time-consuming to an extreme, so these types of competition judge entry pieces via photograph only. Before being viewed by the judging panel, photos are stripped of identifying marks. Judges then narrow down the field of entrants to a short-list of nominees for each category. Later, those nominees are presented to a larger audience -- often the general public, and often via publication in a magazine -- for voting. The overall "winner" for each category is then determined by popular vote.

LIVE contests

Brick-and-mortar bear shows, as well as the ubiquitous state or county fair, also offer competitive opportunities to bear artists.

There's a lot of variety in precisely how these contests operate, but in general, artists who have paid a table fee to exhibit at a show -- or who attend the show as visitors, but pay a special entry fee for the contest -- may enter their bears into competition. In these real-time contests, bears must be displayed at the venue, sometimes for an extended period of time, to be reviewed by a panel of on-site judges. Bears are awarded a point total based on pre-set criteria, and artists are usually provided with feedback about what was "good" and what was "not so good" about their entry piece(s).

Ribbons are commonly awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, and often the public attending the event joins in the voting for Best of Show.

HYBRID contests

Hybrid contests combine an initial photo screening process -- to narrow down the entry field to a short-list of nominees -- and a "live", on-site final judging process. In contests like these, those who are nominated via photograph must send in their nominated work for in-person evaluation before they can be considered for any final prize.

As the internet becomes the virtual boutique of choice, teddy bear shows become extinct. This is truly unfortunate, as there's nothing like the experience of hugging a warm, fuzzy work of teddy art in the flesh.

My bear show of choice, as both an exhibitor and a visitor, is the Nevada City International Teddy Bear Convention, now in its 20-something-th year. It's a multi-day exhibition of some of the best bear art around, held early April each year. A family-friendly show, the NCITBC almost exclusively features artist bears, with a few vendors who sell accessories and accents for those bears tossed in for good measure, and several mohair suppliers represented.

Nevada City is a picturesque, historic gold rush town on the California/Nevada border, and has a wonderful downtown shopping district packed with fine eateries, coffee houses, bed & breakfasts, and boutique shopping.

If you're near the California/Nevada border some spring, please drop in to check out the bears and say hello. Your reasonable admission fee is good for all days... and Nevada City makes a romantic, charming weekend destination if you're looking to just "get away."