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| The article
below appeared in Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables Annual
magazine, Vol. 8 No 5. It is reproduced here with permission. |
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Introducing
Sue Fenton, Bear Artist Times Gone By
In terms of bear world years, Sue Fenton of Bruin Bears is fairly new to the scene. It's what she's doing with the old that is marking her name in history. Text by Lyndal Stuart  A long winding
driveway leads to a homestead in the picturesque town of Appin, NSW. A
wrap-around balcony flanks all sides of the home and one step through
the door takes you back to the dawning of the 20th century.Sue Fenton's home replicates history with striking perfection. The homestead style kitchen with its traditional copper pots hanging is a showcase for a collection of at least 50 of the earliest Arnott's biscuit tins. A melodious 'trrring' of the Ericsson telephone, dating back to the infantile years of the 1900s, jingles through the house, and everywhere you can see antiques and ephemera complementing the picture perfect interior designer of the home. "They don't make 'em like they used to" doesn't cut the mustard with Sue Fenton. Because she does. Her home reflects Sue's hawk-eye for detail on the intricacies in design of the past. Ten years ago she moved with her husband to the poetic town of Appin to build her dream house. Sue had very preconceived ideas of how it would look when finished, and not a skerrick of her image was lost in the process.  Sue loves all
things old. It's the story of the past that old things embody that
make them such treasures to her, and then there is the aesthetic value.Sepia photographs are framed in traditional wood, some of which are Sue's grandchildren who are even dressed up in vintage costume. So it's no surprise that Sue's gift for bears is the ability to bring, in some cases, a century of bear design back to the contemporary forum. "I love antique bears, I love the character of the antique bears," Sue sighs with devotion. "I don't take a modern bear and make it look antique, I design my own bears and use old bears as my inspiration." Sue moved around a lot as a child, and consequently, was always discarding her belongings so as to travel light. Many of her old toys were lost in the fray, but she always remembers packing one bear, and still has it today. Not that Sue was a bear fanatic as a child, and she certainly didn't see her passion for bears on the horizon as an adult, either.  It happened like
this. In 1996 Sue and her sister, Lynne, decided to participate in a
class conducted by Liana Noorman of Beethoven Bears. Sue had
always been crafty and had spent time in the quilting and embroidery
worlds previously. She expected this to be just another phase of
creativity and kicked back to simply enjoy the time with her sister."I was making my first bear thinking; 'Oh yeah, how long is this going to last?'," Sue recalls. "And then I saw that little face, and that was it, I was hooked." Old fur coats were Sue's first medium. Together her and Lynne drove all around Sydney hunting for old coats. It certainly wasn't Sue's preferred method of making bears. "You can't really get the character that you want, you have to settle for whatever the fur from the coat gives you," Sue explains. "Not to mention that they're so messy, you've got to pull all the lining out and fur scatters throughout the house. "So I started to use mohair and to find my own technique," Sue laughs. "Lynne, my sister, has gone on to do folk art, I mean she suggested starting out the bear thing and now she's gone, and I'm still there!"  The timelessness of
mohair won Sue over. Bears from decades past that she was using as her
inspiration had that texture and feel. She occasionally weights her
bears, but the old bears are stuffed with wood wool and are as light as
a feather. But on mohair, Sue is a devoted fan, and the material
just goes on and on and on. She has never used a synthetic fabric, but
soon found that a penchant for mohair comes with a price, and a high one
at that, so she started to put her creations on the market to see how
she would fare.She fared well. The first competition Sue won was no small feat, the vintage replica section of The Premier Bear Affair in 2000. Sue was absolutely amazed, particularly because she won equal first prize with Lexie Haworth, one of her heroes, and she was surrounded by bear artists she claims she had been 'ogling for years'. Sue was also voted Bear Artist of the Year by the judges. Reuben was the prize-winning bear, and he comes with a fabulous story. One day each week, Sue puts on her hairdressing hat. It's not a chore for her, she loves working at the salon and has known some of her customers for years. She is constantly amazed at the intimacy that you develop with your clientele, especially the elderly. There is something about that human touch that is so needed by those who may be losing their friends from old age, or are isolated from their families, and seeking affection and care.  One of Sue's
favourite customers had promised Sue her husband's old bear. The lady
became unexpectedly and critically ill and was admitted to hospital. The
lady's family asked a friendly neighbour to hunt for the bear, and it
was found hidden in an old cupboard. They gave Sue a call, and she was
overjoyed."You can understand that people think they're just junk, some of them look pretty tatty, but they're such treasures and I was overjoyed," Sue reflects. "I had to wait a week to have him and every day I would count the sleeps, until finally the day arrived. "I think he's a Chad Valley bear," she says, and laughs. "As soon as I had him I thought; 'I've just got to make him', that's all I could think about, and it was a couple of weeks work, day and night because I wanted whole for whole, so Reuben was born." Reuben is captured with Sue's other favourite bears in a gorgeous painting by Maureen Christie, that hangs behind them in her home. He sits with the bear that inspired his creation, and the resemblance is uncanny. Sue only ever does things to 150 per cent capacity, and has to stop on the weekends to see her family even though she is constantly obsessing about making bears. Sue's bears have become objects of desire to some high profile bear aficionados of late. A recent big thrill was Ian Pout of Bears of Witney in England requesting four for a limited edition catalogue. She's completed three of them, and the fourth has to be just perfect before she sends them over. Regardless of her passion for things of the old world, Sue stepped into the high tech realms of the 21st century and launched her web site last year. Suddenly, a portal to customers, fans, and new friends from all over Australia, and one from Germany, has been opened to Sue. She's embracing the new technology and loving it.  "It's wonderful!" she says. "You talk to people that you
wouldn't ordinarily pass the time of day with, and you can chat and swap
information, I love it."As much as Sue enjoys exploring the new possibilities of cyberspace, and showcasing her work and networking at shows, she can't go past the ambience of her primary stamping ground, The Cobbity Market. Once a month Sue and her friend and partner in Bruin Bears, Marjorie Maybour, set up their stand at Cobbity where faithful marketers have been gathering for 16 years. "Marj does different bears to me, she does polar bears, so we work well together," Sue explains. "There's something about the market, I just love the contact and being able to watch the reactions of people. "I usually dress my bears for Cobbity because people love to have them around their homes when they purchase them from the market," she says. "At shows it's much more about the art of the bear, so I leave them natural for those occasions, but both are fun!" |
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