Ann La Mar

The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor 05

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By Truffle McFurry

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom  based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!” s reporter Ann La Mar)

Hallo everybody, it’s me, Truffle, writing again about the Teddy Bears from The Yorkshire Moor!

Now, I have never seen in my life such sad Teddy Bears!!! It breaks my heart only looking at them.

I don’t know exactly why they are so sad. If I had been there I would have asked them. But it is Ann La Mar who sent me the photo, and I think she forgot to ask them. Well, I think they are so sad because they are stuck in a suitcase. I don’t know why so many people put Teddy Bears in suit cases to sell them. Oh yes, it kind of looks cute, with their heads popping out of the suitcases, and normally the suitcases are beautiful, but have these people ever thought how we Teddy Bears feel about it? It is like when you put people in a drawer… you know, people don’t like that either!

Well, these two they do look as if they need to be rescued. I hope they will soon find their adoptive house! Who ever you are out there, please write to me if you have adopted one of them. And how you have called him. I say “him”, but I am not sure they are boys. The one on the right is perhaps a girl. I will tell you something which I am a bit ashamed of: I don’t know how to recognise if a Teddy Bear is a boy or a girl when he/she does not wear clothes! I know that by human, it is almost the contrary: you can recognise it better when they are naked!

My Mom Miki puts a bit of heather in the background, to make the painting look happier… she so much loves all that heathering stuff!

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The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor 04

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By Truffle McFurry

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!” s reporter Ann La Mar)

Hallo my dear Teddy bear friends, here is Truffle writing!

The other day, our lovely Ann La Mar went on a mission in the Yorkshire Moor again, chasing with her camera these amazing Moor Bears. She had gone there already, some weeks ago, and had sent us such fabulous photos, my Mom Miki had painted all these bears with such a pleasure!

She did it again! What a treat to find all these bears in my mail box! It is every time like Christmas, a big happy feast with many twinkling lights in our eyes!

Now, this time she sent us a green bear on an amazing tractor! I had never seen before a bear on a tractor! You know, I am a bear, but I am a boy too, and like all boys, I love all these machines with wheels! The cars, the bikes, the skate boards, the big American lorries… and the tractors! I wish I had such a one too, like the one from the green Moor Bear… I could drive everywhere with it, I must not stay on the boring grey roads. I might ask my Mom, but sure she will answer again that it is too dangerous for a little bear. But the green bear looks pretty safe to me up there!

Anyway, Miki did that painting of all the new bears, the one on the tractor and the other ones, admiring him passing by. There is much heather in the Moor right now, says Ann la Mar, so Miki painted some in the background… she even painted one of the bear girls as if she was all made of heather! She is so cute! I could fall in love with such a heathering girl bear, me!

In the meanwhile, love you all! Bye!

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Teddy Bear Day Out In Sweden

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By Miki de Goodaboom

(Illustration based on photos sent by “Go Teddy!”‘s reporter Ann La Mar)

I mentioned it in my last post, our wonderful reporter Ann la Mar, from the UK, is actually on a mission in Sweden and sent us  photos of beautiful Teddy Bears she met there.

The big one stood at the entrance of a toy shop, welcoming the clients I suppose, and was incredibly tall, taller than Ann. As for the little ones, they were sitting on shelves inside the shop and immensely bored. They seemed to have sat there for ages! Ann noticed that many of the children hardly paid attention to them, their interest mostly taken by the Frozen Characters and Superheroes dolls. What a sad world, she thought. And so do I!

Not that I don’t like all these modern toys. In fact I even drink my water everyday out of wonderful little bottles shaped as  Frozen and Superheroes characters!  But a Teddy Bear is, and will always be something else, timeless, irreplaceable. Would a child or event an adult grasp hold of  Superman or a Frozen princess when he needs comfort? I doubt it!

There they were, these wonderful little bears on their shelves, forgotten, unseen, nameless. So the Big Bear decided to take them out on a ride for the day in his beautiful wooden carriage and the little bears were over the moon!

And I decided to give them a name:

The white one in the carriage is called “Snowflake”.

The red one behind him is called “Redmoon”.

And the orange one, in the arms of the big one, is called “Gingerly”

 

Teddy Bear Day Out In Sweden S

Smogenbear

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By Ann La Mar & Miki de Goodaboom

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom, based on a photograph by Ann La Mar)

Yesterday Truffle and me received an electronic postcard from Ann La Mar, one our star reporters at “Go Teddy!”. She is actually on a mission in Sweden. She wrote:

“… Today we went to a place called Smogen it was by the sea and very pretty as I imagined…We were just walking along a decked walkway looking at the boats and I found something to embrace….some cousins for Truffle!…love from me and the Swedish Teddy Bears…”

A wonderful motif and… the first Swedish teddy Bear I am meeting… it is very exciting!

Smogenbear S

 

The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor 03

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By Miki de Goodaboom

(Illustration based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!” s reporter Ann La Mar)

This will be my third and last painting of these wonderful creatures which are the Teddy Bears from the Yorkshire Moor. At least for now. In August this year I will travel to Yorkshire and visit them in person, introduced by “Go Teddy!”s reporter Ann La Mar. And no doubt that some of them will inspire me to new portraits.

These ones today are really a weird mix of races and I love it. As Coco Nofrio – Truffle McFurry’s cousin from the USA) so beautifully commented to the first Moor Bear painting I presented in “Go Teddy!” some days ago:

“Such a fabulous variety of Teddy Bears! What’s especially wonderful is that they are all different colors and they don’t care! They are all friends that enjoy each other for who they are on the “inside.” A lesson some humans still need to learn. Tanti baci!”

Coco Nofrio, you are SO right!

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The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor 02

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By Miki de Goodaboom

(Illustration based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!” s reporter Ann La Mar)

 

My Teddy Bear Truffle McFurry presented recently the first group portrait of The Bears from the Yorkshire Moor. But there are so many of them that I had to do another painting featuring them.

Truffle is following the Brexit referendum, so he hasn’t got any time to write right now. His Dad is in the UK at the moment, and Truf’ is very scared that he wont ever see his Dad again if they vote for Brexit. I have found no way to calm him down.

Ann La Mar, one of our star reporters at “Go Teddy!” sent us some wonderful photographs from the Moor Teddy Bears. They are so interesting, so different from all the Teddies I know. I love to pain them. Truffle was very upset about the one with the red label showing a 25% discount. He asked:

“How can they put a discount on a Teddy bear? This is not a farm animal market!”

I have to admit, that bear looks very sad. And I understand Truffle’s logic. I answered:

“You know, Truffy, when they sell him cheaper, he will find very fast a lovely family who adopts him!”

But Truffle was not convinced:

“Then it will be a family with not much money, and money is important!”

Oh here we are, I thought, that philosophical discussion about money again.

“Yes, Truffy, money it is important. But Love is more important!”

But my Truffle is not daft. One can’t fool him him so easily. He said

“One can have much money and much love as well! Look, if we had no money at all, we could not go to the bear picnic in England this summer and we would not meet Auntie Ann, and ClaireBear, and Georgia, and Pedro, and all these wonderful Teddies from the Moor! This would be awful!”

I gave up. There is no sense in discussing with a clever Teddy Bear, you will always be wrong!

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The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 2 Comments

By Truffle McFurry

{Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom, based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!” s reporter Ann La Mar)

Hi everybody, Truffle here!

I haven’t written for a while, I was busy learning reading. I haven’t done many progresses though… I am normally quite fast at learning, so I wonder… perhaps I don’t really want to learn reading? I think I much more prefer when my Mom Miki de Goodaboom is reading stories to me… And anyway: why should I do it all myself? I have already so much to do, I am a very busy teddy Bear taking care of everything here on Planet Goodaboom…

My Auntie Ann sent me a great photo recently. She went on a walk in the Moor where she lives. Don’t ask me what a “Moor” is… I know what a “Moore” is, it is my Daddy.  It looks weird without the “e” at the end, unfinished… but at least one letter less to read!

So, in that Moor, Auntie Ann went to a boutique and it was full of Teddy Bears. She took photographs and  sent me one to show me how the bears look like in her Moor. I have to say, I have never seen something like that! Some are full of long black hair everywhere, some have eyes like my Mom and Dad, with some white on the sides, some are green like Mars men, some look like tigers, some have ears like sheep. And they seem to like living very close to each other, it must be very cold in the Moor! Only looking at them I have to put the air con on here!

I will meet them all in person when I go there in August, I can’t wait!

Thank you, Auntie Ann, you are my star!

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The 1930s Bear From Preston Museum

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By Miki de Goodaboom

(Illustration be Miki de Goodaboom, based on a photograph by Ann La Mar)

Yesterday my beloved Teddy Bear Truffle McFurry happily announced that we will attend the annual Teddy Bear Picnic on the 14th of August in Preston Park, in the UK. Ann La Mar, one of our star reporters here at “Go Teddy!”, has invited us and will take us there, along with one of her Teddy Bears.

Some weeks ago, Ann was at Preston Park and visited the Museum. She then sent me  the photo of an adorable green Teddy bear who was exhibited there, together with his mate, a cute little green monkey. As I saw then, I knew at once that I had to paint them. To my question if  she had more information about their personal stories, she answered:

“…I don’t know the history, it just said about the poor bear from the 1930s. His body had very short fur that you could almost see through. He did look quite sad and very fragile…”
Truffle and me hope that we will be able to meet him in person when we will go to the picnic! Perhaps I will then learn more about his long life… I certainly will ask HIM!

I did not quite succeeded in painting him sad and almost transparent, but well… I hope I still could catch something from his personality…

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Teddy Bear Picnic At Preston Park

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment

By Truffle McFurry

I Am Over The Moon!

I have amazing news!

On the 14th of August I will take part to the annual Teddy Bear picnic in Preston Park in England!
Miki de goodaboom, -my Mom- and me have been invited by “Go Teddy!” ‘s amazing reporter, Ann La Mar!

We will stay a whole week there, and we will visit many beautiful places, and Miki will find fabulous motifs to paint.
We are both SO over the moon! Well, we don’t know what is exactly above the moon, but sure that it is magical!

Thank you so much, Ann La Mar, you certainly are a star shining on us from above the moon!

 

Preston teddy Bear Picnic

Benjamin And Little Ann On Their Way To Scotland

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment

By Ann La Mar and Miki de Goodaboom

(Illustration of Little Ann and the van based on a photo provided by Ann La Mar)

Benjamin is the oldest Teddy Bear I have ever met! And yet – this is the wonderful thing with Teddy Bears when one cares for them- he still looks so young! Ann La Mar, to whom he has belonged since she was a little girl, certainly cared – and still cares – for him with all her heart.

Ann La Mar tells the story of Benjamin :

“… Benjamin was given to me by my grandparents. The little doll was called Tammy and I don’t remember the name of the other bear but he was yellow. The camper van was racing green. Benjamin and friends -including Golliver- used to go on holidays with me. My father loves Scotland so that is where it usually was. Benjamin lived in the UK until 2009 where sadly he has lived in a box until he was recently discovered. He will return to the UK very soon. He is about 53 years old…”

I -Miki de Goodaboom- met Benjamin some weeks ago when Ann La Mar came to spend some days in Mojacar, Spain, next to the place where I live. We – Ann, Benjamin, many other bears from Ann, my own Teddy Truffle McFurry and me) met for coffee and treats by the beach and had a wonderful time. I had already seen the photo of Ann holding Benjamin and the other toys in her arms in front of her father’s van, and when I saw Benjamin, now, 53 years later, I was extremely emotional. It was such a powerful way to connect Ann’s present and past through a Teddy Bear. Somehow it was like magic, as if time did not exist. My Teddy bear Truffle McFurry and me are very proud to have met Benjamin in person, and it already feels as if he has been 53 years in our heart…

Benjamin And Little Ann On Their Way In Scotland S