Bear with me
11 April 08
I made this little bear a few weeks ago and he's been sitting on my desk since. He's my first handmade stuffed animal and was lots of fun to make, though I made it up as I went along and thus made some really stupid mistakes. There was quite a bit of unpicking and swearing and accidentally stabbing myself with needles.
He's for my uni project "Play" and I'm making lots of other stuffed creatures for him to hang out with. I'm going with an endangered-animal-made-out-of-recycled-materials theme, or making something nice out of rubbish, making animals precious and so on and so forth. Explaining it makes it sound a bit contrived and ridiculous, but alas, so is art school! The bear used to be a dustbag from a laptop case and some old pearl bracelets. He's about 25cm long from bum to nose, in case you were wondering.
Now that I think of it, if anyone has any nice fabrics to donate to the stuffed animal project, I would love you to email me. I think I'm going to make a tapir next, they are so cute it's obscene.
Comments
I love tapirs so much I mentioned them on my blog!
WendyB replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
Absolutely wonderful! I wish I had nice fabrics to donate, but all my scraps are obnoxious prints =\ It looks like this project is turning out quite nicely so far; I’m excited to see the whole collection, I always love your work. I lurk a bit too much, lol
I also had a question for you – what type of fabric did you use in the embroidery that you did for the bad news bear a long time ago? I’m doing a series of free/drawing-type embroideries for my class’s show, and I’m stuck on what kind to get. Thanks, and sorry to trouble you! :]
Melanie replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
I love the whole idea! Fantastic x
Aimee Marie replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
Lions tigers and bears! oh my…. love the teeny pearls…
dearlenny replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
I love that project! In how grade of art school you are? I’m in the first grade and they don’t make us to do that cute projects…
Sorry for my bad English, I’m from Spain. Lovely blog!
Flipflash replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
Just any kind of fabrics? patter wise..colours?
zuzupetal replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
This is lovely. And good luck with the tapir! It looks tricky
Elle replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
He’s strangely gorgeous . . .
Ailyex replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
Wow, I totally misread that and thought you said he was 25 INCHES long. That would’ve been one big bear.
Rio replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
Kris, if you happen to make an armadillo [my favorite animal, ever], I would love to buy it from you when your project is finished. Owning an armadillo made from the lovely Kris would be like owning a little piece of heaven! If I find any fabrics I will e-mail you a scan to see if you’d like them.
Kt replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
I love polarbears. He has short legs at the back! hehe
Kris, your works are always nice and cute!
strawberry jam replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
It’s a fantastic idea! And I’m doing a similar thing myself at the moment! I’m collecting garbage from the street to make endangered species of. I usually make stuffed animals, dolls etc., so it’s really inspiring to see someone doing this!
It’s really cute!
Em replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
What size of fabric pieces do you need? I could send you leftovers from sewing projects if you like.
And if you happen to sell those animals afterwards, I’d like to know! This bear is just adorable.
Theremina replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
its different thats for sure, i like it than, i would wear it!
roxana radu replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
Wonderful bear! :) I need to bookmark your blog, i love it! :)
Zoë Winters replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
That is infinitely adorable. You should make a lil’ Kris Atomic zoo!
And I dig tapirs. I actually have a tapir stuffed animal sitting on my printer table.
Dayna replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
Oh, i just love that bear! You have to make more, i’d like to see an elephant!
Flora replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
wow, this is adorable…and for a first try, pretty impressive. love the pearls.
my love for you. replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
I love this, it is so sweet and beautiful. Incidentally, a friend of mine is doing very similar things as part of an environmental studies/textiles project, only using materials that she finds – that is, that have been discarded, and creates new kinds of animals, gives them narratives, stuff like that. iIlove that recycling and sustainability are coming into play in art now to create amazing works.
… Sorry, that last part wasn’t really a sentence, it was more of a word salad. But you get what I mean, I hope :)
Natalie replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
Baby tapirs are so cute! I absolutely love the bear.
Ione replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
totally awesome!
bjorkeira replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
omg, totally awesome!
bjorkeira replied about 15 years ago.
Reply
you are so inspiring with all your creativity, i really love your photoes and you use the colours in a very pleasing way!
Iris replied almost 15 years ago.
Reply
he’s lovely. i love polar bears.
lindsey clare replied almost 15 years ago.
Reply
this is just great. it reminds me of a stuffed animal I made once. It was a blue whale, made out of tiny old pieces of light blue fabric.
you are very inspiring, I love all of your paintings and photos. keep up the good work!
Veronica replied almost 15 years ago.
Reply