...is a funny gift. Not only does it erupt in many forms, but it rarely remains stifled for long. Like many Teddy Bear Artists, I arrived at the craft by a very circuitous route.
Having learned to sew from my grandmothers and a couple of aunts. I honed my skills on Barbie and Betsy McCall doll clothes, an ark-full of stuffed animals, clothing for myself and gifts for family. Then in college, I shifted through majors in veterinary medicine, zoology (animals are the theme), and finally graduated as a medical technologist (humans). All of this took me pretty far from the sewing machine!
During a 12 year career in the lab, I managed to get married to Pat and have our first son, Sean. When the need to be creative again struck, I found a calligraphy class and started a small side business doing original pieces including family trees. After a move to Massachusetts in 1983 and the birth of our second son, Drew, I began to look for a creative outlet that I could accomplish between the interruptions of 2 small children. Calligraphy required far too much concentration.
About that time, the teddy bear craze was beginning in the US. I combined my rusty sewing skills with that aforementioned love of animals and started making teddy bears from a few of the commercial patterns then available. About five patterns in, I began to develop my own style and my first original design, Noah, was born. That was just a few weeks before our daughter, Caitlin, was born in 1985. A local shop owner was supportive and in a very short time, Raspbearies by Vicki Stephan came into being. Whew!
Then with 3 small children, I somehow managed to develop a few more patterns and decided to plunge into the show circuit at the Amherst Teddy Bear Rally in 1987. I sold my whole inventory in less than 3 hours: months of work! There were many more shows to come, many more designs and bears. Additionally, I enjoyed the uproarious camaraderie of a wonderful group of fellow teddy bear artists known as the Teddy Bear Artists of New England, most now retired.
Cheers, Ladies!
For the last 35+ years, I've been fortunate enough to do something I love and weave it around the lives of a very busy family. Along the way, I've even entered a national magazine contest with a pair of bears skating....and won (see below) Best of all, I have met some of the most wonderful and interesting people in the form of collectors, other artists and those who can't believe I make teddy bears for a living!
