History

GREGORY GYLLENSHIP

Teddy Bear Artist

How did I start making Bears ?

My bear making years to date seem to have passed very quickly and I thought it was about time that I posted some sort of resume of the story so far, I haven’t done so on previous versions of my website but everyone else seems to so I thought I would have my own “about” page at last.

I began making bears pretty much by accident. I have always had a fondness for cuddlies which was certainly fostered by my mum who made soft toys herself. My childhood bear was one which mum made from a purchased pattern. He carried out bravely all the duties of a Teddy Bear and I still have him albeit in somewhat love worn condition but still wearing one of the outfits which mum made for him. Incidentally I recently found the pattern which is unbelievably complex, it makes up into an unjointed but beautifully shaped Ted.

My affection for the Ted stayed with me over the years and around 25 years ago I began collecting bears on a pretty regular basis. Mostly manufactured bears from Steiff and Canterbury and then I ventured into the world of antique bears. I spent many an afternoon at Christies hoping that I would find some treasures at modest prices and did indeed find some nice little bears, not the top priced ones but I looked for charm and the best condition possible.

One day I found a large unidentified bear sitting on the floor of an “antique” shop and decided to rescue him - he was in pretty good condition except for the fact that one of his feet had been cut off at the ankle - so “Stumpy” came home and I began a little project to make him a new foot. After advice I tracked down a small piece of mohair which I duly aged and stained and made a passable new foot. Having completed the surgery I had a small piece of home distressed mohair left over and I made the innocent decision to try to make a bear with it, unaware of the change in my life that “operation Stumpy’s foot” was about to bring !

That was in 1992 and my collecting had been confined to my local bear shop and Christies, I had never seen a bear magazine and I didn’t know about shows or where to buy supplies other than the offerings in John Lewis; I drew up a pattern based on common sense and made little eyes out of blobs of Araldite, the workmanship was pure guess work and the little chap (known as Adam) soon aquired a certain substance and quirky charm.

Where do I buy mohair ?

The process of making Adam had already shown me how my pattern could be improved and I found I had a need to find a proper piece of fresh mohair and correct supplies. It is significant to remember that without the internet or contact with the bear show scene I didn’t have much of a clue where to buy proper supplies. John Lewis proved a source of plastic toy eyes and safety joints but still no elusive mohair. The artists I had contacted remained silent as to the magical source, I don’t really understand why, I still had no particular desire beyond making a slightly better bear than Adam.and at that point I am sure my own skill presented no threat to their status. Sooner or later I would have found out the “secret” because I would have ended up buying Hugglets magazine or going to a fair, I still saw myself as a keen collector rather than as an aspriring bear maker .

Eventually one artist reluctantly told me the magic name of Oakley Fabrics and I discovered that they stocked 4 shades of real mohair in a short straight pile. I didn’t ask about the proper eyes etc so made my next bear - a little larger than Adam - he was a considerable advance and when I went back to Oakley for some more mohair for a third attempt they told me that they had stocked some distressed mohair - this was getting more interesting so a fourth bear was grown. Each time I made what I regarded as improvements to my pattern based on the experience of making each bear. I became increasingly absent minded at work as I tried to picture the shapes that would create Teddy Bear parts, I revealed my activities to a bear collector at work and made a bear for her, then for two other work colleagues.

What can I do with these Bears ?

At that time I was working in the city as a management accountant so my bear making became the all consuming passion which filled my evenings and week-ends. I still did not seek help from other bear makers and the process was very much trial and error,. Never the less I soon had a little gang of about 6 bears, the pattern evolving on a trial and error basis. I lived in Bow in East London and it was not far to Camden Passage where Pam Hebbs had a very small Teddy Bear shop. One day I just plucked up courage and two of my better efforts into the shop to see what Pam would make of them. Looking back the bears were pretty basic but they had a certain charm, Pam gave me the usual shop talk about what she could offer and still make a profit, I don’t think she wanted them for her own shop but she was enthusiastic enough to say that I would do better to try them out at a bear fair. I had not heard of Bear fairs at that point and she gave me the telephone number for Hugglets. It was very difficult to get into Hugglets then but I think a good word was made on my behalf and I ended up sharing a table with Oakley fabrics. Some times in life all the good omens really do work together, at that fair I only actually sold four bears from the eight I took but one was bought by a Teddy Bear “guru” called Bill Boyd who was Hugglets guest from USA. He was very enthusiastic and immediately invited me to attend his own convention in Kansas. As part of my display at Hugglets my brother Malcolm, had taken some lovely photgraphs of my bears and Bill Boyd had actually been just as impressed by the excellent photography, he wanted me to attend his convention but I had to sing for my supper by giving a talk on tips and tricks of photographing Teddy bears. All of this happened remarkably quickly, I was thrilled and astonished to find myself invited abroad with my bears at a stage where I was still not really aware of the extent of the bear collecting world.