Bayside Bears

My other passion

Mary Foley — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:02:53 +0000

I’ve added a page to the menu up there called “My Art Website” .

Many of you may not be aware that besides being a bear artist, my other passion is painting. If you’d like to see some of my work, click on that link. I take portrait commissions, both people and pets ( and teddy bears!) as well as commissions of paintings of your special places. All from your photos. And sometimes, when I find the time, I just paint for pleasure.

Meet Kady

Mary Foley — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 22:15:03 +0000

Kady the Kermode Bear
is on Ebay for a 5 day auction
ending Wednesday, February 22 at 9pm EST

Meet Kady, a Kermode Bear
A kermode bear is sometimes called a Spirit or Ghost bear
because of its pale coloring

Kady is a big, beautiful bear who loves to give hugs with her big, bendable arms.
She is about 23″ tall and sits at 17″. She is made from a premium faux fur in shades of cream and tan with guard hairs which make it look like real fur.

Kady is fully jointed She has two joints in her neck so you can pose her head in any direction.Her wired arms are built for hugging.

Kady’s face has been carefully clipped and needle sculpted. I’ve added needle felting accents in many layers of wool to build up her eyelids and cheeks to add shape and character. I’ve added soft colors in tans and brown with a subtle shading of pink to add depth and personality. Her nose is firmly needle felted and firm to touch. Her mouth is drawn up in a gentle “Mona Lisa” smile. She has amber blown glass eyes.

Kady is stuffed with polyfil. Her pawpads are suede with painted toes.

This week in the Studio

Mary Foley — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 19:44:48 +0000

I had a piece of beautiful faux fur, similar to the fur I used for Walter, but in a beautiful cream and tan color. I had just enough to make a large bear like Walter, but I changed it up a bit. I wanted to make a ‘girl’ bear. At least that was my intention, I’m never sure what I will end up with, sometimes my best laid plans take on a life of their own and the bear ends up being totally different than what I thought it would.This fur reminded me of the coloring of a Kermode bear, also known as a “Spirit” or “Ghost” bear.

Here is the head after some clipping around the muzzle. I had to decide how I was going to make this look more feminine. I knew I would be adding needle felting to the face to give it more shape and character.

I always love to show you the before, in the previous picture, and then the finished face. It only seems like magic. In reality, it took me a couple of days to get the look I wanted. Lots of layers of needle felting here and there, I changed the glass eyes out, added a lower jaw so her mouth is just slightly open and then had a bit of fun with the shading of her face. I initially used just browns but when I added the touch of pink, she just came alive with personality. I’m very pleased with the result. Her name is Kady, the Kermode Bear. You can click on the photo to see it larger.

I’ll be putting her on Ebay tonight or tomorrow.

Meet Walter…

Mary Foley — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:44:15 +0000

I named this bear after my husband ( his middle name), because he was just so impressed and enthusiastic about this bear! But, deservedly so. Walter is indeed spectacular. My husband has seen lots and lots of bears coming out of my studio over the years and the fact that one of them elicits such a reaction tells me that this bear is pretty special.

Walter has been sold with Ebay “Buy It Now”!

Meet Walter

Walter is a big, beautiful bear who loves to give hugs with his big, bendable arms. He is about 23″ tall and sits at 17″. He is made from a luxurious, premium faux fur. It is incredibly soft and silky. The coloring is so lovely with a dark gray undercoat, an overcoat of lighter grays and silver and guard hairs that make this faux fur look and feel so real.

Walter’s kind, soulful eyes are amber blown glass, surrounded by needle felted lids. His snout has been meticulously scissor sculpted with some needle felting added to add shape and character. His nose is firmly needle felted in many layers of wool and is firm to touch. He is stuffed with polyfil, not too firmly, just right for huggability.

Walter is fully jointed with stainless steel hardware and hardboard discs. He has two joints in his neck so you can pose his head in any direction.His big arms are built for hugging, wired for bending and have big furry paws.

Walter loves to hug! He is giving Little Bear * big, cozy hugs to say goodbye. Little Bear has been adopted and is getting ready to leave for his new home.
Imagine Walter bringing his big hugs to your bear collection!

* Little Bear is not included in this auction

Walter looks wistfully out the window and waves goodbye
to Little Bear as the UPS truck drives away.
I think Walter needs a hug…

Don’t worry Walter, there will be lots more bears in your new home when you are adopted. Wherever that will be, I know you will get lots and lots of hugs!

This is a close up of the fur. I’m hoping you can see the depth and luxurious finish. Walter has received lots of attention here at our house for his gorgeous coat (everyone really does want to hug him!) and his soulful expression.
Walter is a very special one of a kind design who would add a lot of personality to anyone’s collection. A signed Certificate is included.

In the studio

Mary Foley — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:32:37 +0000

The bear I’m working on will be a big bear. The material I’m using is recycled from an elegant designer faux fur jacket. I think it may be faux silver fox. It is so soft and silky and the coloring is just lovely. I’m finishing up the face today and as usual, I didn’t really have a plan for what I wanted it to look like. I find it works much better to make decisions as I go about whether to needle felt or needle sculpt the face or how much to clip the fur. Each step sort of informs me on what the next step should be. So, it’s sometimes a nice surprise for me to see how it ends up. It was an all day process, but I’m pleased with the result. In the pictures below, you can see what a difference a day of intense face work can do! You can click on the photos to enlarge them.This bear should be ready by tomorrow, I hope.

Just starting to work on the face

Almost finished face

I also worked on a new paw and foot design for this bear. I’m very pleased with the look of it and I think I’ll be using it more. I’m deciding if he needs some accessories to hold in his big, bendable arms. The photo at left shows him almost finished. He needs the paw pads worked on and to be sewed up the back. He also needs to spend a few minutes with a brush to get that pretty fur all smooth again. Stay tuned for the final photos!

The latest Bear….and friend

Mary Foley — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:47:14 +0000

I didn’t get a chance to take any behind the scenes photos. I think I was so excited to be working in my newly organized and cleaned studio that I hardly came up for air. This latest set is called Forever Friends.

And, of course, this scene has a little story too…

Forever Friends

SOLD

Little Mouse has found a new forever friend

Hello Little Mouse, what do you have there?

I made something for you Little Bear. It’s Valentine’s Day and
I wanted to give this to you.

I want to give you this heart and ask you if we can be friends.

Little Mouse scampered away to hide, while Little Bear thought it over

Why, Little Mouse, I can’t think of anything I would like better than to
be friends with you. We’ll be Forever Friends!

The Details

Little Bear stands 15 inches tall and sits at 12″ He is made from imported curly,
semi sparse mohair. He is 5 way jointed with stainless steel hardware and
hardboard joints. His face is extensively needle felted and shaded for depth and
character. His eyes are amber blown glass. His paw pads are felt and he wears
a hand crocheted scarf. Little Bear is stuffed with polyfil for huggability and
he has glass beads in his bottom for weight.

Little Mouse is 4″ from nose to rump. He is firmly needle felted in many, many
layers of wool. I used several shades of tan and brown to give his coat depth.
His eyes are glass and his feet are sculpted from polymer clay. His tail is partly wired
faux leather. Little Mouse carries a firmly needle felted red heart.

A new studio…

Mary Foley — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:53:56 +0000

I had been thinking that I really needed to get the workroom organized. Because I use my studio for bear making, pastel painting and other art, as well as sculpting in polymer clay, it is important to stay organized so I can find what I need. And I need separate work stations so I don’t get bear hair stuck in my clay or pastel dust all over a bear. So today as I was planning to finish up the next bear, I decided instead to tackle the mess. And it was a mess. I have to admit, at times if I needed something, I would just go buy it instead of trying harder to find the one I knew I had somewhere. I should have taken before pictures, but let’s just say it was in total disarray with the tables piled high with a mishmash of things. When it gets to that point, I can’t be creative like I want to be…..really bad Feng Shui and all that.

I took every storage container, every box, emptied every drawer and went through everything, throwing out failed paintings and used cardboard ( I am a saver), organizing everything by purpose and size in a way that made sense so that I would know what I had and where to find it. I added a new table for my painting/craft area with the easel by the window for the great light. I am almost finished and even though all my physical energy is depleted after doing this all day, I can feel the creative energy surging and look forward to creating in my new organized space.

Here is my neat new space…it will be easier to keep it this way now.


Every box is labeled	The cow and pig paintings are a commission. That’s my new painting/art area.	My sewing table and bearmaking area and my computer/office space

Another discovery on a rainy day…

Mary Foley — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 19:16:08 +0000

I found another forgotten bin of supplies from years ago. There was a small stash of leftover mohair, enough to make 4 or 5 small bears. As I looked through it, I tried to remember the original bears I had made from each piece. Among the jumble, underneath it all, I found a box that contained the pieces of an unfinished bear, partially stuffed. It was very different from what I usually design, with long skinny limbs. I remembered what it was. Quite a while back, I began a series of bears that I designed to replicate fine art. I think it may have been backin 2006.These pieces were meant to be one in that series.
I found a photo of one of the other pieces in my ART series. It was of the well known sculpture “Little Dancer” by Degas. I may add more to that series, but for now I have a different idea for the pieces I found in the box. I’ll be working on it over the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, I’m making another traditional teddy bear from a piece of gold curly mohair that I also found in the box. I have it all sewn together and now I have to pick out all that curly fur that got caught in the seams so it won’t be sticking out when it’s right side out. It’s a chore, but not entirely unpleasant as I’m sitting quietly with the dog at my feet, listening to old James Taylor songs, while outside my window, the trees sway in the wind and rain and fade into the darkening, gray sky.

How lucky am I?

Meet Stuart

Mary Foley — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:06:56 +0000

Another Classic design teddy bear, Stuart is a little different than the previous bear. I made a new pattern, based on the other but adjusted some of the shapes and added a few tweaks in size and shape of the snout. The material he is made from has so much character. It’s an alpaca and mohair blend in two colors of gray on a cream backgound.
I did a lot of shading on his face. It adds a lot of depth and character and as a painter, I feel drawn to do it on most of my bears. The first photo, taken by natural light, shows the truer colors. I still believe that even though I make a lot of modern bears with fancy details, there is something about classic teddies that is always so appealing.
Sorry, I forgot to take ‘in progress’ photos.

Meet Stuart

He’s on Ebay now until Sunday January 29

Stuart has been sold on Ebay using “Buy It Now”

Meet Little Stuart. He is a Classic design, one of a kind Artist Bear. This photo shows the true color of his pretty fur. It’s an alpaca/mohair blend two soft gray colors on a cream colored backing. It is short and semi-sparse and lends lot of character to Stuart’s personality.

Stuart is 16″ tall standing and 13″ sitting. He is fully jointed with hardboard disks and stainless steel hardware. His paw pads are heavy weight felt. I’ve added extra lighting to this and the following photos to show details. Please refer to the first photo for truer colors.

Stuart has glass eyes that are soft gray. His nose is needle felted in gray/brown wool and coated with a clear sealant to make it hard to the touch and prevent fraying. I’ve shaded his face in several soft colors to add depth and character. His paw pads are also shaded to soften the edges and give dimension.

Stuart is wearing a hand knit scarf. He is stuffed with polyfil, not too firmly, so he can give ( and receive) cozy hugs.

Maybe Stuart is daydreaming about the new home he will go to soon.

This classically designed bear would be a wonderful first collectible bear for a new collector*

I’ll include a signed certificate of authenticity that he is a one of a kind artist bear designed by me, Mary Lou Foley of Bayside Bears. If the buyer wishes, I can also sign the foot pad.

*This bear is a collectible not intended for children under 3 years old

A Classic Teddy

Mary Foley — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:40:04 +0000

Update: This little bear was snapped up when she appeared on my Facebook page. She’ll be moving to Wyoming soon!

Today, I think I’m going to create another one with the same pattern from a different fabric…I just love her! It may be ready for Ebay by Tuesday. I’ll keep you posted.

My classic teddy bear is almost finished and I am so pleased with her. Like I said, it has been ages since I designed a classic style teddy bear. It’s a simple design, and yet it still expresses so much. I don’t know if it’s the look of the face or the perfectly shaped style of the body or the mohair material, but something about it is so appealing. I guess it’s ‘classic’ for a reason. With all the fancy, modern bears I design, there is something about this simple teddy bear that just makes me feel happy to look at her. Don’t you agree? Do you have a favorite classic style bear in your collection?
Another interesting thing I found in the box with the cut out pieces was a ’tilt head’ mechanism. I used it on this bear. It gives just enough so that you can tilt her head up and down. I’m thinking I have to give her a little something to be looking down at. Maybe a small doll or toy….we’ll see. She’s made of slightly distressed mohair, is fully jointed and stuffed with ployfil. Her paw pads are heavyweight felt. Other than the nose, I didn’t do any needle felting on her face and her eyes are soft gray colored glass with black pupils ( I find those much more appealing that just plain black eyes). She sits at 12″ and stands at almost 16″. I may or may not keep the blue scarf, I just added it at the last minute before snapping her photo.

But, I keep calling her ‘the bear’ She needs a name! Do you have any ideas? I’d love for you to help me find the right name for her.

I have a feeling I may be making more of these. Luckily, I traced the cut out pieces before sewing them together so I can duplicate the pattern.

I have a few things to finish; I’m going to do a little more work on the needle felted nose and add a coating to harden it, and then she’ll be heading to Ebay on Tuesday. If anyone wants to adopt her before that, just email me at mloufoley@gmail.com