Teddy Bear Art: How to Design & Make Great Teddy Bears
Always a closet bear-lover, Jennifer Laing still has her childhood Steiff and Hermann bears.  Her personal collection is small but cherished, a few old Steiff bears and some examples from her favorite international bear artists.After gaining a B.A. in Science and studying art for two years, Jennifer was a freelance commercial artist and then held a variety of other jobs including aerobics instructor, personal trainer and ski instructor!  In 1990 she managed Australia's largest teddy bear shop where she first began making bears; sewing standing up behind the counter in quiet moments.Jennifer was the first Australian bear artist to work solely in mohair.  She hand-stitches all her bears and works alone, only making 70-100 bears a year.  She has won many international awards, and is Australia's best known bear artist.  Jennifer is active in charity fund-raising, using her bears to help raise money for animal and wildlife conservation groups, such as Liberty and The Sea Shepherd Society.Jennifer's designs are constantly changing and she generally only makes editions of five or ten.  The largest editions she has done are of 25, and they have been for the Walt Disney World Doll and Teddy Bear Conventions (1994, 1995, and 1997).  She was also invited back to Disney World for 1996 and 1998, but had to decline due to the size of her waiting list.  She cannot take wholesale orders as she has over three years of personal orders on her waiting list.Jennifer teaches all levels of bear making and her workshops are keenly attended around the world.  She is currently working on her fourth bear book.