Bear Mania

Hi, my name is Sandra-Kay Murphy of Bear Mania.

I was instantly addicted to bear making from my very first bear and I'm positively passionate about most things bear!! This is why my husband came up with the name Bear Mania when I was looking for a label for my bears.

My introduction to bear making came through my father, Cecil James Barton, who took up bear making when he was terminally ill with cancer and was wheelchair bound. He and my mother Dorothy made and sold bears under the label Cee Jay Bears.

Since my father passed away my mother has continued to make and design bears under that label, you will find some of her bears and patterns on the Cee Jay Bears pages.

While holidaying with them in 1995 I made my first bear and have not stopped since, so far I've made something over 600 bears.

I have tought and exhibited around Australia, and in New Zealand and USA.

Creativity is important to me as well as good workmanship, I use only the finest fabrics, and put a lot of time and effort into creating top quality bears. I am passionate about colour and texture and love variety so you'll find that my bears range from traditional to truly wacky!

Because of my love of the design process and how colour and texture interact my bears are usually one off's, in a series or very limited editions. In 1997 I played around with some dyes called 'Earth Palette' and started making funky multi coloured bears, I love the extra dimension that colour can add to your creations, it makes then so unique and individually your own.

In 1998, with my sister-in-law Bronwyn Barton, I co-wrote and co-produced a book on Mohair Painting and Bear Making called "The Bear Canvas".

In 1999 we opened our own Teddy Bear shop, I had been involved in teaching, training and retailing in various ways over the years so it seemed to make a lot of sense to chanel that experience into my passion for bears.

In 2008 we brought the shop back to a home studio, we carry oodles of bear making supplies including an extensive range of mohair, bears and bearaphenalia and I conduct personalised worshops on bear making, design, mohair painting etc, from beginner through to advanced.

My work is generally only available from my shop, my website or shows I attend, although I do occasionally make special limited editions for Teddy Bear shops around the world. I also love to do special commission pieces, some times I've chatted back and forth with a customer for weeks to define just exactly what they are looking for, specially when it's a commemorative gift like a birthday or wedding.

I live in the beautiful Adelaide Hills (in South Australia), with my husband Rob and our youngest daughter Corrine. We have four children, and at this stage in time we have 5 grandchildren.

Awards

I have won numerous awards with my bears (somewhere there is a drawer full of rosettes, ribbons and medals), I'm not sure how many but they include Bear of Show, several Best Proffesional Bear, Best Panda in Show etc, and a TOBY Industry Choice Award for Kalamazoo in 2003.

In 2004 my design "Mordyke" won the Best Professional Bear and the Theo Award (Bear of Show) in the Historic Hahndorf Doll & Bear Extravaganza.

My website has received a couple of teddy bear web awards, the current site is written and maintained by me (which is why it's often a little slow in updating things). The site design is by Rxn Graphics.

Media

Over the years I have designed several projects for the magazines Bear Creations, Dolls Bears & Collectibles, Australian Country Craft & Decorating and Handmade. For these same magazines I have written articles on Teddy Bear making and also interviewed and written profiles on a variety of artists including Teddy Bear Artists, and some Decorating articles as well.

There have been a mentions of my work in some articles in the US magazine Teddy Bear and Friends, as well a project bear for them which ran over 2 issues the first on painting mohair and the second was the bear pattern itself. My work is also referred to in the CD on Bear making produced by Rotraud Illisch from Germany. Some of the local and state newspapers have done articles from time to time also.

Of course, as mentioned above, there is also the book "The Bear Canvas" written by Bronwyn Barton and myself.