Work In Progress...

Still working on this big watercolour - luckily painting trees is still interesting, plus I am saving the second bear for last by way of a reward after all that green!  Hoping to have this done by the end of the week.

Seeing Double...

I finished these last night, two more Otis toys.  They will be for sale on Etsy later when Etsy is back on line.

Note:  This must be some kind of record - one sold 5 minutes after I listed it, the other forty minutes later.  Guess I'd better make some more....

Painting & Sewing Otis...

 My work seems to be revolving around Otis the bear at the moment!  I'm painting a scene of Katmai with Otis entering from the left - this is a commission and one of the biggest watercolours I've done for a while.

Last week's Otis soft toy sold within a few hours and I have a lot of people interested in buying one if I make more, so I am slowly trying to get a couple done amongst everything else.  Here are the current two awaiting stuffing, ears, noses & tails.  The house is covered in fluff from the cutting of this fabric!

Currently on the needles...cakey things...

Otis, Soft & Fuzzy...

 Watching the bear cams on Explore.org and seeing Otis sat there looking cuddly, I had an urge to make a soft toy based on him.  I rarely make my own plush toys, least of all with fur fabric so this was unknown territory.

Initially I tried to design my own but after struggling for a whole afternoon and getting nowhere, I found a free download of a bear pattern that I could use as a base to work from.

 I'd found the perfect fabric on Etsy...

 already had the eyes and black felt...

 bought some beanie-baby plastic granules which I used to stuff the legs...

this way he can either stand or sit without keeling over.

This is very much a prototype - there are things I would do slightly differently next time - but I am very please with how he has turned out for a first attempt.  Otis will be for sale in my Etsy shop shortly.

Whiling Away Some Time...

I have two commissions in the wings but I suddenly realised both needed larger paper/canvas than I have so I had to order some.  While waiting for it to be delivered, I painted this - bear 151, Walker.  I used a snapshot I took on the Explore.org webcam a while back as reference and painted with some Japanese watercolours that I got for Christmas.  They are a bit different from our regular watercolours, much softer and very re-wettable once on the paper.  I liked the soft effect I was able to get on the bear's fur - not intentional, just the way the paint dried!

This will be for sale in my Etsy shop shortly.

Popeye

Just completed this, the bear 634 known as Popeye - pencil, liquid pencil & white acrylic touches on paper.

Almost There...

...just the water and the last bits of undergrowth to do on this one.  It's been fun but I'm ready for it to be over now.

More Bears...

 Knitted this little bear for a family member - this is the pattern they wanted me to use.  Cute little thing, off in the post today.

I'm still labouring over this one - pencil just takes so long!  I think it will be worth it though.  This is Popeye, a large male bear at Katmai National Park, Alaska.

And in other news, a plush bear that I made a while back has been bought to be possibly used in a Mothercare photo shoot - more on that if and when I find out!