toys

Bua And Bua

/ Miki de Goodaboom / Leave a comment

By Truffle McFurry

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom)

 

Hallo everybody, here is Truffle!

I have exciting news: I have been invited to write my own article in the international magazine “Teddy Bear Times”. I will write there about our visit of the Bearhouse at Newbyhall in England. And I will illustrate it with many bear paintings by my Mom Miki de Goodaboom.

Here are Bua and Bua. One Bua, the one on the right, is Auntie’s Ann German Teddy Bua, my dear cousin. The other Bua is Gyles Brandreth’s Bua… we met him at the bear picnic. I will tell their whole story in the article. And many more! I need to write them before 🙂

Take care

Love you all

Truffle McFurry

Newby Hall Bua And Bua S

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Truffle McFurry And Galway In Marsaxlokk

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By Truffle McFurry

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom)

Hello everybody, i’s me, Truffle! I hope you are all well and still loving and protecting us, Teddy Bears from around the world.

I am very fine, thank you:-)

We were on a long wonderful holiday on that island. It is called Malta. We took the plane there. My Mom even painted me at the airport in Valencia in Spain!

My Auntie from France, Mahe The Free, joined us there, and brought with her my cousin Galway. He is an Irish bear, you know, she found him and adopted him in Ireland in the summer. It was the first time I met him in person, it was so nice!

We went everywhere together and had a great time. the first day we went to that lovely town by the sea, there were many beautiful boats, in all colours of the rainbow. We loved it there, we had such fun on the boats and everybody was looking  and smiling at us. We were the only Teddy Bears around!

Love you all, take care!

xxx

Marsaxlokk Truffle And Galway S

 

 

The Berry Ladies At Newby

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By Miki de Goodaboom (Text and Illustration)

These lovely ladies with the gorgeous berry hats were part of beautiful collection of tiny bears. When I say “tiny”, I mean something like between 5 and 10 cm. I had never seen such miniature bears before and I fell in love with them. As I anyway fall in love with almost all teddy bears which cross my way…  good that I have got a big heart, there is room for all of them in it… and for some humans too 🙂

These little ladies don’t look happy at all though… who knows what for they were made up like that, perhaps having to go an event they did not fancy at all… Ann La Mar means they look like going to a picnic… perhaps they don’t like a picnic at all and prefer an elegant tea afternoon in their own salon…

 

newby-hall-berry-ladies-s

Diabolino And His Nurse At Newby Hall

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By Miki de Goodaboom (Text and Illustration)

Spending most of these days, even weeks,  in  Gyles Brandreth’s Bear House at Newby Hall… I don’t know if I will ever come out again! At least artistically… there is nothing more soothing and rewarding than to paint all these gorgeous creatures.

At the Bear House there was a huge setting featuring a nursery, with loads of little Teddies playing and having fun together. One of them was so cute, sitting on his nurse’s leg… he looked so shy, and you did get the impression that he needed to be protected. The nurse really seemed up to that job, looking a bit tough. It always amazes me how each Teddy bear conveys a different character. Perhaps it is only me who sees too much in them, but when I look at them, I see their soul…

I called the cute little bear “Diabolino”… he looks like a cute little devil, despite the shyness… His ears do look a bit devilish… I love that little guy!

newby-hall-diabolino-and-nurse-s

Prince William And Kate And Kids At Newby Hall

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By Miki de Goodaboom (Text and Illustration)

My last post was about the Royal Balcony in the Bear House at Newby Hall. Noblesse oblige – I know, I know, they are all noble…  🙂 -, I had started painting Queen Elisabeth and Prince Philip.

Next to them were a young couple with two kids. I assume they were Prince William and Kate with George and Charlotte.  At least the resemblance was amazing, and it was a delight to paint them.

Little George was holding a teddy bear himself.. one could hardly see him, but what a cute detail! My Truffle McFurry, so obsessed with celebrities, saw him very well though, and asked me to have him as George’s bear on the painting… I could not refuse -can you see Truffy on the painting?-, but no way I would ever give my Truffle to anybody in the world, not even to princes, princesses, kings or queens or even gods! I could lend him to pose for a photo with them, but that’s it!

newby-hall-prince-william-and-kate-and-kids-s

GrandMa And GrandDa At Newby Hall

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By Miki de Goodaboom (Text and Illustration)

Let me introduce you to GrandMa and GrandDa, the gorgeous grand-parents from the Bear House at Newby Hall in Yorkshire, UK.

My own Teddy Truffle McFurry, who was there with me and Ann La Mar, was a bit upset that GrandMa and GrandDa had some numbers tattooed on them. I explained to him that it was like with the Paddington bears, that there are many of them, because they are so famous, and many people wants one of them.

“Does it mean that there will be many of me when I have written the best-seller and I am famous?”, he asked.

“Perhaps, Truffy. Would you like that?”

“Euh… I am not sure… I like to be unique, me…”

“Well, we will see then, Truffy. You would still be unique, you know. The other Truffles would just be copies of you. But anyway, first we have to write this best-seller, and for that you have to work now !”

“But it is Sunday… Daddy said it is Sunday and one does not work and one hangs around in pyjamas the whole day!”

My Truffy has always the last word!

“Hermann Dressed Bears: The Pauline Grattan request
The Teddy-Hermann company was founded in 1912 in Sonneberg, Germany by Bernard Hermann who had earlier worked with his father, Johann, in the family business, crafting children’s violins and wooden toys. The Hermann Dressed bears are now among the world’s most collectable bears and almost all the dressed bears here were generously bequeathed to the collection by a very special bear collector, Pauline Grattan.”

newby-hall-grandma-and-grandpa-s

Teddy Lynton At Downing Street 10

/ Miki de Goodaboom / 1 Comment

By Miki de Goodaboom (Text and Illustration)

 

Before my Truffle McFurry entered my life some years ago, I had no idea about the world of teddy bears. I had never had one before. I did not know how beloved they are around the world, among children and adults as well.

I went from one surprise to the next when I read Michele Brown ‘s (Gyes Brandreth’s wife) book “The Teddy Bear Hall Of Fame ” and discovered their story. I found out that even some very important people in history have had and loved a Teddy bear, and not only as they were children. And I thought:

“As long as this is the case, the world cannot be  that bad!”

One of these men is Tony Blair. There he was, his Teddy Bear  “Lynton”, posing in front of following letter written y Tony Blair:

“Here is Lynton, my family Bear. he was sent to me just after the 1997 General Election and holds a special place in our hearts. He normally leaves at Chequers but has come for a holiday at The Teddy bear Museum. I hope you enjoy meeting him as much as he will enjoy meeting you!
4 July 1998 – Tony Blair”

We certainly were over the moon to meet Lynton. I could, of course, not resist painting him in front of Downing Street 10…

newby-hall-prime-minister-s

Truffle McFurry And Bua At Newby Hall

/ Miki de Goodaboom / Leave a comment

Text by Truffle McFurry

(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom)

Hi everybody!

My Mom Miki de Goodaboom has started painting the great bears we met at my friend Gyles’ Bear House when we were on our Tour of Yorkshire.

On the third day, we had decided to take with us Auntie’s Ann bear Bua. We took every day with us another of her bears, and we all had a ball. It was so nice to have so many different travel mates.

Bua is a German boy, and Auntie Ann will tell his story in our book. I think he was the last one she had adopted before we arrived… we were so impatient to meet him. As soon as we saw him, we adopted him in our hearts too, he is so cute.

Before we went to the Bear House, we sat at the cafe there, it was very lovely, Bua and me we posed for Miki, very close to each other, like the best friends in the world!

I hope you like the painting… and us!

Love you all

Take care

Truffle

newby-hall-truffle-and-bua-s

Tough Ted And His Friends At Newby Hall

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By Miki de Goodaboom (Text and Illustration)

Some more wonderful bears from Gyles Brandreth Bear House at Newby Hall in the UK…

These were not celebrities bears, I think. They were not behind glass, and they were no explicate notes telling who they are. They were sitting directly under the roof, on a wooden bar from the roof structure. They were not famous, but nevertheless incredibly cute and touching.

I fell in love with this scene, with Tough Ted and his big Teddy Mate, and the bear girl with the marine dress turning her back to them! Reminded me of so many scenes between children…

newby-hall-tough-ted-and-friends-s

The Diana’s Bears At Newby Hall

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By Miki de Goodaboom (Text and Illustration)

With “The Three Paddington Bears”, I started yesterday publishing a series of Teddy Bears from Gyles Brandreth’s collection.  Today it will be “The Diana’s Bears”

These are the ones who probably touched me the deepest… here is their story, written next to them at Newby Hall:

“This is a small collection of the bears left by members of the public at Kensington Palace in memory of Diana, Princess Of  Wales, who died in a car accident in Paris, alongside her friend, Dodi Fayed, in August 1997. Paul Burrell, Diana’s former butler, accepted the bears on behalf of the Brandreth Bear Collection in 2000. All the other bears were collected, cleaned and distributed among the children of war-torned former Yugoslavia.”

I habe nothing to add to that really, except perhaps that when i stood in front of them, tears came to my eyes and I had the feeling of witnessing an important and best moment of humanity’s history…

newby-hall-the-dianas-bears-s