J.C.W Bears & Furry Friends
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I have always enjoyed a variety of craft projects in my hobbies, apart from sewing, I love drawing animals, painting with acrylics, pastels and sculpturing in all sorts of mediums.
A passion for soft sculpturing soon became clear about 15yrs ago, I first made a teddy out of fabric print when my daughter was born.
After experimenting with different fabrics, I eventually moved onto mohair, many more were to follow.
Soon after, I started to design my own bears and having sold well at my first show I realised that I�d found my true vocation in life and J.C.W Bears & Furry Friends has now become a full time business.
The decision to include dogs into my portfolio began three years ago when my beloved pet Toby, a cavalier King Charles died at the age of 14 years. As a tribute to him, I made a life size replica of him and he wears his collar and sits proudly in our living room.
He is my inspiration and many other breeds of dogs have followed. I have worked on several commissions, which I enjoy very much, as each piece is a special creation, maybe of a beloved pet sadly gone.
Many have found good homes around the world as far a field as Japan America and Australia.
Creating a dog is a much longer progress, finding out enough research , using the right material to capture the breed and the pattern design, to achieve the correct proportion and look to resemble a particular kind of dog can take many hours of careful planning before I can go a head and make it
I mainly work with mohair and have a passion for Alpaca, I also use quality synthetic furs if they suit a certain breed like the Maltese terrier.
Some of the dogs have open mouths with hand sculptured teeth and tongue, the noses are also hand sculptured and made in polymer clay, each piece is individually made to the fit the muzzle. All dogs are filled with polyester fibre filling and weighted with encased sand, I like them to have realistic weighted feel. My new floppy range is proving very popular with customers these are very cuddly just like the real thing! Sizes range from 5in up to life size depending on the breed. Prices start from �55 up to �375.
I absolutely love the challenge some breeds bring and the excitement and great satisfaction of seeing that new creation, almost come to life is a wonderful feeling.
My daughter would like me one day to include the horse. That�s an exciting prospect!
As well as the dogs I also enjoy making bear/dog sets, an 11in bear either dresses or undressed in a sitting or standing accompanied by a canine is a popular size also the larger bear holding a life size toy breed is very appealing.
My Queen mum and corgi creation �A wonderful Life� was an E.V.A. Award winner 2002 dressed bear, in the professional category and �Dog in black� a dressed pug was a finalist in Furry Friends category.
B.B.A.A winner 2003 in dressed bear catagory 3 'The Roaring 20's and dressed bear catagory 5 with 'The Hunter'
B.B.A.A winner 2004 in dressed bear catagory 5 with St Francis and nominated in dressed bear catagory 3
Finalist in Readers Choice Award 2004 in Furry Friend and Dressed Bear.
I will be creating other well known people from the past (in the fur) another exciting challenge.
I attend between 3-4 shows a year. It�s always exciting to attend a show as I love meeting my collectors in person!
As to the future, I plan to extend my collection my adding more animals and exclusively dressed bears of famous names to my portfolio and to keep my collectors happy for many years to come!
Jacqui.
