All my bears are lovingly designed and created by me out of the finest imported mohair and materials available. My bears display the highest quality of craftsmanship that discriminating collectors have come to expect in an artist bear and are displayed in collections throughout the world.

About the artist...

I have always been creative and can remember sewing and knitting my own Barbie doll clothes at the age of seven. My mother believes that I was actually younger than that. Yes...I was allowed to play at my Mother's and Grandmother's sewing machines unsupervised at that tender age. I guess I could have run over one of my fingers or something with the sewing machine needle...but I didn't; and I have fond memories of making tiny pot holders out of my mother's scraps for my cooking stove that we made out of a card board box. I made many of my own clothes in high school and during that time, also created soft muslin dolls with yarn hair and embroidered features. These creative endeavors continued throughout my life and eventually lead me on the path to making my first teddy bear.

I made that first bear from a McCall's pattern in 1991. He was a bug eyed sad looking creature with plastic safety eyes and plastic joints, but I was proud of him and loved him all the same. During that time a little seed was planted that sprouted into the beginning of an idea.... I knew absolutely nothing about the teddy bear world, but it wasn't long before I learned about mohair and discovered that there were actual shows dedicated exclusively to the exhibition and sale of teddy bears. I avidly sought out and researched as many books as I could find concerning teddy bears and found the book titled, "How to Make & Sell Quality Teddy Bears", by Terry and Doris Michaud to be the most helpful. I devoured this wonderful book! The chapters detailing construction, design and marketing were very instrumental in launching my career. It wasn't long before I was designing my own teddy bears and by the spring of 1993 - excited, nervous and a little bit scared - I exhibited at my first teddy bear show. Since then, I have never looked back.

Accolades...

I have been very fortunate and honored to receive several of the highest recognitions and awards in the teddy bear world. One of my bride bears was recently chosen for the "A Teddy Bear Collection 2000" month of June calendar page produced by "Teddy Bear and Friends" magazine. Two full feature articles have been published about my bears in two major teddy bear publications. One article appeared in the May/June 1998 issue of "Teddy Bear and Friends", a US magazine, and the other article appeared in November 1997 issue of the "Teddy Bear Scene", a UK magazine. I have also had the exciting honor of winning two Golden Teddy Awards (Teddy Bear Review - 1996 and 1997); and have also received two TOBY Nominations (Teddy Bear and Friends - 1996 and 1998) and numerous 1st and 2nd place ribbons at several teddy bear/art shows throughout the country. Some of these bears can be seen on my Awards Page. My bears have also been featured on the cover of the "Teddy Bear Source Book" and also on the covers of "Teddy Bear Review", and the "Teddy Bear Scene", magazines. I have also had the sheer pleasure of seeing several of my works on display at the Franklin Mint Museum’s, "The Artful Teddy" exhibition. This exhibition was held in Philadelphia, which was open to the public for six weeks during the 1995 holiday season