I had a great start
to my business when I was selected for to be in
my first book "The Teddy Bear Artist Annual
- Who's Who in Bear Making", page 63, bottom
right. This was one of my very first designs.
I laugh now when I look back!
In 1990 July/August
issue of Teddy Bear and Friends they did a wonderful
article on me that was on pages 34 - 37. As you
can well guess my journey was increasingly becoming
very exciting and busy.
In 1991 I was in the first group of American Teddy
Bear Artists to visit Europe. It was called the
"European Doll and Bear Tour" (see July/August
1992 issue of Teddy Bear and Friends, pg 70).
In 1992 I was selected
to be in a second book "Contemporary Teddy
Bear Price Guide - Artists to Manufacturers",
page 88, top left. Also in that year I was in
the March/April issue of Teddy Bear Review in
the Grimms Beary Tales article. I did a set of
bears called "Snow White and Rose Red".
My bear "The Wonder of a Butterfly"
was selected to be on the cover of Teddy Bear
and Friends of that very same year (April 1992).
And to top that off with a cherry I won a Golden
Teddy Award with my "Sandy" panda bear
in the over 8 inches section (Sandy appeared in
a Panda article done by Teddy Bear Review July/August
1991 pg 51).
At this point I was
in full swing with shows, orders, and autographs.
I was a cele-bear-ity! In 1993 I wrote 2 articles
one in Teddy Bear and Friends "How to Be
a Wise Collecter" March/April 1993, page
96-97 and one in Teddy Bear Review "Is There
a Secondary Market for Artists Bears?", January/Febuary
1993, page 51-52. In May of 1993 I was invited
to do the Disneyland Teddy Bear and Doll Classic.
I was one of 40 artists scheduled to appear that
year. I did a run of indian bears for them and
an auction piece, "Running Bear and Little
White Dove".
In 1994, I was blessed
to be in a Linda Mullins book , "Tribute
to Teddy Bear Artists". I appear on page
5 with the auction set I did for Disney and on
pages 84-85. With my business really increasing
I had more orders than what I could ever fill
by myself. I was just getting ready to hire help
when the big "D" happened! I went through
a very ugly and long divorce which killed my creativity
for years.
Today, my children
are now 29 and 19 and I am remarried, I have a
full time job in retail at a store where I am
a supervisor. I enjoy collecting bears, dolls,
antiques and garage sales. Just this year 2005
I got the itch to design again. GOD tapped me
on the shoulder and said its time. So I am back!!
I am working on smaller bears right now and will
work up in size as I get more organized. But I
must say I could have never accomplished all this
with out GOD. He gave me the talent and I respect
it and want to use it wisely. My goal in life
is to complete my journey gracefully, love my
children dearly, be a good wife, and design God
inspired teddies and friends. I pray I can bring
a smile to your face as well as to your heart.
Please enjoy my blessing and my gift. Bear hugs
and Blessings from above. Jodi Falk - Bears by
Jodi
