A new Panda

Petrarch the Panda

A fellow bear artist recently asked me if I would make a bear for him, and he had a previous design in mind.  So with a certain trepidation because I don't really like going back to older designs, I waited while we found the appropriate picture on my website.   The preferred bear turned out to be a Panda, from quite a few years ago, and since I hadn't made one for a while, and the idea very much appealed to me,  I happily agreed.

This of course prompted me to think about making other Pandas before embarking on the requested one, which is quite large, and I wanted to make a new smaller one too, the commission bear will come in due course but I was keen to make a small one first.

When ever I think of making  Panda I create my own challenges.  It must still look like one of my bears yet have proportions which are more Panda-like.  And of course the obvious black & white pattern requires some decision about where the joins are, and, because I don't like straight line joins on them, a number of opposing curves to sew.  Then there are the eye patches, I really don't like resorting to fixing them on  top of the white cloth, marginally better than using a marker pen or airbrush but I feel that I must make them as a sewn in part of the of the pattern.  Fiddly to say the least but I have found a helpful technique which helps but it is still only practical down to a certain size.

So I set out to create a Panda under 12 inches, and I have just about managed it,  he is 12.5 inches to the top of his ears.   I think a smaller one would have to have applied patches for his eyes !   I am calling these Panda Teds, he is not supposed to be a realistic Panda, but a ted with leanings towards Panda shape and proportion. He isn't black and white either, I used black mohair alongside a pale wheat colour over a pale gold cloth, a personal preference to the plain white.

Designing him, making test pieces, all the hand sewing combined with my increasingly arthritic hands took 6 days, perhaps I make too much heavy weather of things but it is the only way I know, and at least I can be confident I have done my best.

So thanks to a commission I have completed a little project which I thoroughly enjoyed, he was listed for my mailing list and I had one of the biggest, most enthusiastic responses and he was sold immediately.  Lovely and very encouraging after all the worrying and fiddling designing and making him.

Needless to say I will be making more of them.

New bears are listed on my website at www.hugoshouse.com

To be added to my mailing list please email me at Gregory@hugoshouse.com

A bear named Daisy

Customers and friends often ask me about how I think of designs for bears, how long they take to make, do I dress bears ? And, one of the questions which comes up is whether, or not, I make female bears.   I suppose the truthful answer is that I am not entirely sure how a bear appears female when it is finished, so I have rarely actually set out with the intention of a bear being female.  I made a set for a charity auction many ( many ) years ago which was called mother and cubs.  The cubs were smaller and more cubby in proportion, but the parent bear could have just as well been father from its appearance, since it was a "grizzly" type bear with no means of indicating gender by clothing.

I made a little tableau once,  I purchased doll house scale accessories and built a kitchen in a cave.  I had a table covered in food of all kinds, a cooking range and just about everything a cave kitchen would need, and to take charge of this kitchen I made the single smallest bear I have ever attempted, probably only about 4 inches tall, possibly even smaller ( no I am not making another one, I don't even have the pattern any more ).    The little bear was unclothed, I hadn't considered its gender but almost everybody who saw the piece assumed it was a mummy bear preparing food for the family, so the conclusion was reached due to their gender role perception, not any intent on my part.  The original owner sold it on and I have no idea if it still exists, I have no photos but if anybody out there knows the whereabouts of "bear in kitchen" I would like to know if only to have a photograph.    Anyway the point being that I didn't consciously make a female because I wouldn't really know how.

Sometimes a bear becomes female simply because I have been inspired by a name, I once named a bear Rosa, it was red ( rose ) and white in a panda design and I had been listening to recordings of Rosa Ponselle ( if you don't know who she was take a moment to google her name, feel ashamed for not knowing and listen to the lady who some regard as the stand out great Soprano of all time ) .

Many people dress bears quite elaborately and thus many become female because of their attire, I have never really dressed bears beyond a waistcoat, so even then gender is not necessarily obvious.

However recently I was following on Facebook the development of a litter of Newfoundland dog puppies, 2 boys and a girl.  One of them was a particularly fluffy, chunky adorable white and black one, one day a picture was captioned with the name chosen for her,  "Daisy" it just seemed perfect and if I had been lucky enough to be able to adopt her I would have happily called her Daisy.  And that's how I ended up naming a bear Daisy, I have never done it before but I set out to make that bear look as cute and fluffy as Daisy.  I think I achieved lady bear just by softness and perhaps leaving her face fuzzier than usual, and by chance I found a piece of vintage cloth in my mum's childhood supply of doll making materials.    I did start to make Daisy a little dress from the fabric which had blue daisies on it, but it was heading more towards lampshade so I abandoned that in favour of a generous and flamboyant bow. 

Her pictures received many kind compliments on Facebook, some people remarking that they like my girl bears, so I have resolved to make some more, having said that I am still not sure how, but watch out because I think I may have to make a dress for the next one.  Daisy is the smallest size pattern I use at the moment and she stands at just under 8 inches tall.

Incidentally and entirely a co-incidence, Daisy and her namesake puppy both went to their new owners on the same day.

Daisy has a new home already but detail of availability and more information can be found on my website www.hugoshouse.com

Vann House & Garden

My Bank holiday expedition was a visit to the garden of Vann near Godalming in Surrey.

The house was built in the 16th Century and in almost every century since has been extended and altered, the latest additions made in the early 20th Century by W D Caroe the Architect who owned the house.  It is still owned and now occupied full time by his family.  The garden is open to the public occasionally but unfortunately the house can only be admired from the outside. Rather charmingly Mrs Caroe and family friends are on hand to help out during open days which seems to complete the picture that this is a much loved and happily lived in home.

The garden is quite modest in size and the present layout has elements inspired by Gertrude Jekyll.

However I have to confess that it is the house which fascinates me most.  It seems almost the ideal Surrey Country House,  not too large to manage but large enough to wander about in without being quite sure what you might find.

The additions of different periods are obvious when you look at the house but they blend beautifully into a building which seems to be a quite natural addition to the surroundings, resting contentedly in slightly untidy but natural and enjoyable gardens.

I could quite happily spend summer afternoons in the shade of the loggia with the dogs for company, I am sure they would enjoy all the carefully laid out water, I don't think Gertrude Jekyll could object too much to a Newfie refreshing istself in the ornamental pond.  I am not sure how Mrs Caroe would react to a request to visit for the afternoon with dogs.

Tea and cakes were served indoors which did provide the opportunity for a sneaky peek into the interior,  and it looked absolutely perfect, and there are lots of lovely shaded spots to sit outside and make bears.

Vann is opened under the National Gardens Scheme

the website is http://www.ngs.org.uk/

and it provides links to, and dates of opening, for gardens open to the public under the scheme.

Arts and Crafts Gem in Surrey

Victorian painter and Sculptor George Watts established his final home at Compton, a village near Guildford in Surrey. In addition to a substantial Arts and Crafts house he built a gallery and studio. Recently restored the Gallery is once again open to the public and now displays a large number of Watts' works to much better advantage. There are also a few personal items on display.

I enjoyed the paintings but very much part of the charm of this place is to be able to experience the surroundings in the idyllic village location. I enjoyed walking the same paths in summer sunshine imagining George and Mary Watts and their protegees following the same route and inspired by the pretty countryside around them. Watts' house is not actually visible and is in private hands but you can walk along the lane and pass its entrance, the lane is crossed by a bridge designed by Edwin Lutyens.

The gallery is a real gem of its period, the exterior very much following the purpose of the interior and with some subtle details like the green ceramic around the gallery windows.

Nearby is a true Gem in the shape of a tiny Chapel in the local cemetery. Watts' wife ran an apprentice scheme for artisan potters and her pupils all took part in the decoration of the Chapel, finished only months before Watts death. It is decorated in a style which is a confection of Art Nouveau, Celtic and other influences and the result is rich and colourful treasure of the Arts and Crafts movement.

For literary buffs a further point of interest is the grave of Aldous Huxley in the picture postcard perfect cemetery rolling down the hill on which stands the Chapel itself.

I found the whole setting and history enchanting, I suppose I thought it would be a wonderful place to have my bear making studio too. It does cost £7.50 to go into the gallery to see the paintings but there is a tea shop and it is an enchanting little spot to enjoy and soak up atmosphere even if you are not a fan of Watts' work. There is a web-link in my list of interesting websites.