I'm happy to share with you a feature article of my bears in the current issue of Poppen & Teddy-Beer from Holland. Since the magazine is written in Dutch, I've included the original interview in English if you're interested in what I'd like to share with the readers about me and my creations : )
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| Poppen & Teddy-Beer Nr. 99 p.16 |
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| Poppen & Teddy-Beer Nr. 99 p.17 |
Hi, I’m Rita Yuk Ying
Ng from Hong Kong. There are only a few Chinese bear artists in the teddy bear
and soft sculpture scene, and I’m one of the minorities. My business name
"YuYu Bear" comes from my initials. The pronunciation of
"Yu" is similar to that of fish in Chinese, that's why I designed my
logo in fish shape with a teddy bear and a heart inside to illustrate my love
of artist bears.
I began my
journey of bear making a few years ago as I came across a craft shop displaying
artist bears which caught my attention. I searched the internet to learn more
about these collectibles. I found the world of artist teddy bears really
amazing and started taking courses at a local bear shop. My thirst for
improvement then attracted me to Taiwan to take an intensive course in June
2009. With guidance from Elaine and Maggie of Dear Bear, I not only learnt the
skills but also found the joy in making artist bears.
I started designing my own pattern and made a fairy bear from it
at the end of 2009. My first bear “Fairy_love green”, with open-mouth and
crystal dip leaves as wings, won the 1st place in miniature category of 2009
Taiwan Teddy Bear Creative Awards! I dreamed of becoming a bear artist since
then and posted photos of my creations on
Facebook. After a few months, my angel bear which was dedicated to the
memory of my beloved mother caught a collector’s attention, and I got my first
commissioned order from overseas.
Then, I kept working on different materials and adjusting
my designs. Such experimental form of learning not only enhanced my bear making
skills, but also helped to achieve the sweet round faces with puffy cheeks as
the trademark of YuYu Bear. Besides needle and scissor sculpting, I also apply
needle felting skills to give my bears round noses of wool. Some of my new
creations also have felted eyelids which help to create an innocent look and
make them more appealing!
In addition to needle felting, I
love to incorporate other skills like crochet and embroidery into my contemporary
bear style. As I enjoy crocheting, sometimes I crochet hats, capes, shoes or
other adornments to dress my bears. I also like embroidery, besides using such
skill to embroider nose, it can be used to embroider flower, name or date on
foot pads, especially in making wedding bears. And all my creations have
"Y" embroidered on foot pads symbolizing "YuYu Bear".
My interest in making artist bears grows as bears are born from
imagination to lovable designs. I enjoy creating individuality for each bear and keep
experimenting to bring my ideas alive. So my previous creations are quite
different from what I’m making. Now, I create
artist bears and friends of variety from small to medium sizes and miniatures, I
also make big bears if commissioned though. The largest bear that I've ever
made is about 40cm named Rupert, who is photographed with a mini bear in red
and white sitting on his arm.
Besides bears, you can also find bunny, elephant,
bee and panda in my creations. I like designing and making animal friends,
pandas especially. They are fun to create as different color combination can be
used other than black and white. However, I’m very attached to the black and
white panda, DaDa, who is sitting in a normal size bamboo steamer as shown in
my profile picture. He won the 1st place in British Bear Artist Awards 2011
(international artists category)!
As more and more people are interested in Chinese culture, collectors
welcome the idea of “dim sum” bears, especially panda in bamboo steamer. Dim
sum is unique culinary art of Chinese food prepared as bite-sized or individual
portions traditionally served in bamboo steamers. I usually create bears from 3 to 4 inches to fit in mini bamboo steamers.
To better promote my creations to bear collectors from around the world,
I participated in an online bear show last year for the first time. It was
great experience and hope that I’ll participate in a real bear show someday, meet collectors in person
and also other bear artists, it must be fun!
