New Work Room

The transformation is just about complete and I am back to work in a freshly decorated and refurnished work room.

There is now plenty of room for Angus and Mr Bond to join me, I chose a large curved corner desk to provide plenty of space to lay things out and this also creates a very cosy shelter for the dogs.

Barely a month ago it looked like this, gloomy and the last room in the house after 12 years which still had the previous owners wallpaper.  It had become an unhappy place and associated with some times which were, let's just say, not the best I have known.

So to strip it out to bare walls and replace every thing from the floor up was very cleansing and symbolic of the fresh start I have made.

 It looked very sparse when first finished and I kept it that way while I decided exactly what was going back in, most importantly it had to be quick to clean up and everything had to be put away so Mr Bond, who is now a very inquisitive large puppy, could not get hold of anything which might hurt him.  I have missed canine company while I work, I couldn't leave the pup alone downstairs so Angus had to stay with him too and I have been very lonely working in there without them.

 It is a pleasure to be in there now and I have enjoyed a happy first week of bear growing with my canine companions, they sleep most of the day and it is all too tempting to rest my eyes and join them during the afternoons.
The one thing that was missing was something of the dogs who have departed, so I have used the blank wall opposite the window to hang pictures of them.

Hugo is there of course, he will always be part of my work as my website bears his name and I have also decided to mark this new phase by using Hugoshouse as my business name.  Posh is there too, both of them spent many hours at my feet while I worked, and of course Buster's picture is also there. Poor Buster was never actually able to climb the stairs so he never shared the work room with me, and I confess now that I came to resent hours toiling away while I knew he was downstairs, I was on a roller coaster of editions and orders to finish just when he needed more and more care.  So my lovely boy has joined us and many thanks to Malcolm for extracting his image from a cluttered photo and making a canvas print for me.

There we are, I have never really had a work room just to suit me with things chosen just the way I want them, I have made do, and yes there is merit in that and of course I have made some lovely bears over the years but I finally decided that if I were to continue I had to have a special place to spend all those hours.  I like it so much that I went in there with the boys this afternoon just to kick back and relax.

Looking forward to better times ahead, now that I am on my pension I thought I would be making less bears, but at the moment my bright new work room seems to be helping the creativity flow so I might even end up making more if I don't "relax" too much after lunch.

Melodies and Memories

Places and songs hold special memories for many people. In my little world one of those places is Polesden Lacey; my mum enjoyed visiting the house and gardens and in more recent years it has become a regular favourite for morning dog walks. The house stands in a large estate and a walk around the nearer lanes is just about right for the Newfies.

Last summer I took Angus and young Buster there in Springtime and shared happy pictures on my blog of us together in favorite resting places on our walk.  Tragically it turned out to be our last visit together and Buster died barely a month later.  I had only been back once or twice after, without the dogs, and remember sitting looking across the view from the verandah of the house with tears pouring down my face as I remembered Buster and how happy we had been such a short while before.

So what about the melodies.  Well that is a Buster memory again. When he was poorly at home I put on a cd of old standard songs.  The first one was Dean Martin singing "Memories are Made of This."  Buster was asleep but he sat up and cocked his ears when the music started and for that simple silly reason as well as the obvious meaning of the song, I associate it with him. Whenever I hear it I see him sitting up with his head on one side watching the loudspeaker in my sitting room, sniffing at it as if to work out where the sound was coming from.

So how does this all come together.  Well, last Sunday I made my first return to Polesden for a walk with the dogs, this time with Angus and young Mr Bond. As I approached the gate memories stirred of course but then, and quite by chance, the cd in the car reached its end and the next one in the changer loaded itself, a home made one of some old favourites, and at the very moment I drove through the gate Dean Martin's voice began singing "Memories are Made of This."

Probably a complete lucky coincidence but a moment to remember. The spring morning was lovely and we had a great walk and made new memories in our favourite resting places.

 Ian was looking after Angus while I steered the extremely energetic Mr Bond around the sheep, swampy puddles and other countryside features. Here we are now, a happy family again enjoying the Spring sunshine.

Threadbare Bears

I have made classic looking bears with various degrees of care wear, gentle fatigue or hand distress finishes over the years.  I like them to look a little lived in and I am also quite particular about the way they feel, I like them to be light, a little saggy and crunchy just as a real old bear might look and feel after many years of duty as a Ted.

Until now I have resisted the temptation to take the distressing and fatigue to the distinctly worn look.  The pattern has been revised and these new bears are just over 11 inches tall so one of my smallest bears.  The big move is to make them very threadbare, heavily worn and with repairs.

The pile is worn away in many places and the holes repaired with darning, I used examples from real old bears which showed rather crudely mended holes, and resisted the temptation to make anything too neat and regular.  The felt pads have some patches and some darned holes.

The stuffing is moderately firm but I have made it crushed and loose at the neck and on the tummy, so they are a little saggy but with the distinct crunch of wood wool filling.  It's quite time consuming because I do all the wear and repair after the bear is finished, each is very much an individual, and I have enjoyed making all the little repair areas and try to blend them in so they look as if they too are old repairs which have simply become part of the bear's character.

for more information about these and other new bears please email

gregory@hugoshouse.com

Approved pre-owned Bears

I have a number of  bears which I have agreed to re-home on behalf of a long standing customer.  They are from a very large collection and have all been kept in specially made cabinets since new.  I am not sure about taking this on but when the box arrived I was intrigued to see some old friends, and as this person was so keen he very often got to my table first and picked out some interesting bears.  Including 2 very small ones which I have rarely made.

Full details are on my website but I thought I would just post some pictures here.

I wasn't sure how to describe these bears, re-homes, orphans or the like, or even approved used, approved pre-owned.  However they are described leads to the same conclusion, the owner wanted to sell them and seemed unable to organise doing so through the usual internet facilities, I didnt really want to get involved but on reflection I thought perhaps some of my current mailing list collectors might be pleased to have a chance to see them.

The earliest is from 1999 and they are not in my current style and proportion but very much representative of  my style from that era, I particularly like the very stocky caricature grizzly bear.

Being re-homes I find it quite difficult to price them compared with new bears and as such I will be prepared to  consider offers depending on the response, they are all different of course and some very unusual.  Yes, I will be keeping a commission sum for myself from the sale which helps me as well as giving some much needed assistance to the former owner.

If you would like more information please visit my website and click the "Rehome" link, or e.mail direct for further information:-

gregory@hugoshouse.com
www.hugoshouse.com/page15.html

A New Year ?

I have completed the first bear of the New Year, normal hours seem to have resumed everywhere so 2014 is well under way.  I have never really taken much notice of New Year Resolutions, I am a creature of habit and it has usually taken more than a date change to make me change my ways. At the moment I am looking ahead at a variety of hurdles, I have some stark choices to make about what I do for the future.

Last year I lost my puppy Buster, the loss of a youngster and the circumstances of his death is still very much with me, but he was beautiful, brave and magnificent; it was a privilege and a joy to have owned him and I will treasure my memories of him and will always be glad and proud that he was part of my family. I had to say good bye to Posh in September, such an affectionate and precious old lady, I console myself with the fact that she achieved a very grand old age, I miss our gentle strolls across the village to watch the world go by.

Hard as it was to lose them, have accepted as a dog owner that you have to learn to live with the sadness of saying good bye to them, but other things were going wrong too which were leading me to a sorry state of affairs and it is those other things which must now be faced.

So now I am going to tackle 2014, Mr Bond is growing fast and Angus is watching over me with his usual close eye so with my beautiful doggies and the help and support of my friends I will make sure that I will turn things back in my favour.

So that's it, that's my new year rumblings, last year stank, and not really for the obvious reasons, this year might end up with its own dramas but I think I have finally seen the light !

Posh - Shalowseas on the Double of Tallisbay

Posh

2000 - 2013

Today 11th November would have been Posh's 13th Birthday

I had to say good-bye to my lovely old Lady Posh, she crossed that old Rainbow Bridge on the evening of September 23rd just a month or so short of her 13th Birthday.

 I first met Posh when I visited Suzanne Archer in early 2007 hoping to be allowed to aquire my first Newfie puppy.  That puppy was of course Angus but what I didn't realise was that 2 years later, just before Christmas 2009, Posh would come to stay with me for a few days.  I was at first a little worried about how Angus would accept her and  how I would manage two Newfs in my tiny house. However it is no surprise really that she fitted in just beautifully and adopted me, I fell in love with her and here she stayed.

During her successful show career Posh was awarded 2 Reserve Challenge Certificates, at Birmingham National Championship Show in 2003 and Three Counties Championship Show in 2006.

Posh was also excellent at water work, she gained the award of Top Working Dog in 2003 and was presented with the Alain Nouvion Trophy by the Newfoundland Club of Great Britain, she achieved passes at level D and gained her multi-test water work certificate at level C.

By the time she came to live with me Posh had already retired from her show and working activities, but she never lost the fascination for water, even though she was extremely well behaved outdoors she would sometimes decide that there was an interesting swamp or muddy creek nearby which required closer inspection.

Posh was extremely well behaved on our walks together, many of my fondest memories are of our evening stroll along the river side in Hersham, it became increasingly difficult to manage long walks with Angus as she aged, so often she came just by herself and enjoyed the extra attention. Posh had many admirers in the village and loved the attention standing while everybody patted her and cuddled her.

 Her 11th Birthday was quite a landmark, a good age for a Newfie, no grey hairs and still very much enjoying life. Posh was 11 years old, on 11/11/2011 a rather neat numerical coincidence which I am sure gave her special powers.

 Posh made my doggy family, I could always trust her to walk close by even in situations where Angus had to put up with being on his leash, having being a bit worried at first about how I would manage two Newfies it actually became easier than having one and I was hugely proud of how well Posh behaved even if I can hardly claim any credit for that, she arrived in my house very well behaved to start with.

When Buster arrived in October 2012, Posh was rather distant with him at first, I am not sure that she appreciated a whirling puppy appearing in her old age but she soon became firm friends with him and for that all too brief time I had a family of three beautiful Newfies.  I think Posh was always the matriarch of the family and kept the boys in order for me.

Posh slowed down a lot in her last months but she was a very fit happy dog and stayed in good health, she did finally have to give up her journey up the stairs to sleep beside my bed but had a distinct, quite musical, bark which meant that she needed help and which became my morning call.

When Posh died I was already anticipating the arrival of a new Pup and I had been hoping that she would live long enough to meet him.  Well she didn't quite make it but Posh was a delight and adding her to my family was one of the best decisions I ever made, she was a special companion and our evening walks beside the River in Hersham some of the happiest doggy memories which I will always treasure. I miss her pretty bark and our gentle expeditions around the village, they became shorter and shorter until all we could manage was to sit on the first bench on the Green, Posh's Bench now and a reminder of where we used to rest for a cuddle and watch the world go by.... 

Sleep safe my lovely little lady Bear. 

Benedict an Old Friend from 1992

Over the years I have often been asked if I have kept any of the bears I make.  The answer is yes but very few, much as it is sometimes tempting to hold on to one which I feel is a little special, I make bears for my living and they have to go out into the world to support me.

I have the very first bear I made and two or three other bears from the very first days, I had one other which was my mascot at bear shows but only one which I felt was a breakthrough when I had started to get the pattern to have the real look I wanted, I made a series of bears from this pattern but only one in a soft caramel dense straight English mohair.   The others formed two edition of 6 bears each so the one caramel one remained at home and almost by chance therefore became my own.

Benedict did have a little surgery on a number of occasions, he has ears sewn into the head seams so I have left them as they are even though they are not even but he has had quite a few noses, the latest was done about 5 years ago and I finally decided that it was about time he settled on his appearance.

So he is essentially the same bear I made way back in 1992, my very first year, of course my traditional bear pattern has evolved over the years and the proportions and construction are different now but in many ways my perception of the ideal face and look for these bears is much the same.

He had become a little dusty over the years so for his recent photographs I gently cleaned him but was careful to retain the natural patina of a bear now over 20 years old.

Interestingly I find that with the distance of time I see only his charms having long forgotten the struggles of working out how to do things in those early days, yes of course I can see that I struggled to sew neat paw pads for instance and his are a little uneven.  But now I no longer see him as a pattern to be improved, he has his own personality and those flaws ( or at least those things which I regarded as flaws when I made him ) no longer matter, he is just a Ted with his own presence.

For personal reasons I have decided to find new homes for some of the few bears I kept for myself and Benedict has been in the Special Sale section of my website, happily I think he now has a new home.