By Miki de Goodaboom
Here is the first part of the article published last week in the international magazine “Teddy Bear Times”…
bears
Teddy Bear Times
By Truffle McFurry
Hallo everybody!
We are back from Portugal, I have seen the Rams playing footie against Benfica (they lost a lot though…) and many beautiful places! I hope Miki will soon do some paintings of me there and I can show you.
But for now, I have fabulous news: I am getting famous… at least I hope so. Me and “Go Teddy!” and Miki, we are featured in that great international magazine called “Teddy Bear Times”, with a big article and many of the bear paintings.
It starts in the first page with one of the bears from the series “My Teddy And Me”… but the amazing thing is that within the painting they have put the famous English broadcaster Gyles Brandreth holding one of his bears! He is a big fan of Teddy bears, and has a huge collection. And do you know what? Ann La Mar, our wonderful reporter at “Go Teddy!” has invited us to visit Gyles’ collection at Newby Hall, when we will go over there in August.
I am SO excited, I can’t wait!
Bear-sur-Ciel
By Truffle McFurry
(Illustration by Miki de Goodaboom )
Hello everybody, Truffle here!
Yesterday I said in my Facebook page that Miki would stop for a long time to paint Teddy Bears, because we we go soon on a painting trip to Portugal, and when we come back, she would have to paint serious stuff like boats, houses, churches, streets, etc… People buy this kind of things, you know, but they don’t buy Teddy bear paintings, and Miki has to earn money for us.
But today she could not resist… she did another one! She really can’t live without us! We saw this one while we were in the South of France, last time, in a lovely village called Cordes-sur-Ciel.
It means Cordes-upon-Sky. I don’t why, because we were climbing and climbing and we never arrived above the sky. But the name is nice. She and my Dad were impressed by the monuments, but me, I don’t really like old stones, I much more prefer the toy shops. There was a lovely one in Cordes-sur-Ciel, full of old toys, as old as the stones. Most of them were white, as if they were made out of snow. Or of clouds. They were so cute!
I wanted so much the little dog with the black spots, but Miki said a very loud NO. She said, dogs are nice, yes, but if we had a dog, we wouldn’t be able to travel where we want any more. Dogs are not like Teddy Bears, she said, one can’t take them everywhere… and one cannot abandon them again when we don’t need them any more…
I called that Bear “Bear-sur-Ciel”… a lovely name for a French bear, isn’t it?
His Bearness
By Miki De Goodaboom
(Illustration based on a photograph by “Pete”, from the UK)
I can’t tell much about this motif, except that a certain “Pete”, from the UK, sent me a photograph of his Teddy bear, dressed as a basketball player from the Chicago Bulls.
Pete only told me that he is a fan of the Chicago Bulls, of Michael Jordan and that he is somehow related to one of the players from an earlier time.
I personally don’t know much about basketball, but I do know from the legendary Michael Jordan, of course, and that one of his nickname was “His Airness”. Which is why I allowed myself that wordplay and called Pete’s Teddy Bear “His Bearness”! 🙂
The Oxfam Camel And Teddy Bears
By Miki De Goodaboom
(Illustration based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!”‘s reporter Kev Le Chat)
It is wonderful to have these reporters, such as Ann La Mar and Kev le Chat, so dedicated and committed to our cause in “Go Teddy!”. Every time they sent me some Teddy photos, it is an immense joy for Truffle McFurry and for me. We love so much to see all these bears from around the world!
Kev le Chat who often goes to charity shops, mostly in search of books, has noticed that there are great motifs for “Go Teddy!” there. And this is true. Most of the time, the bears and other soft animals he sees in these places are quite old, and look so different from all the modern Teddy Bears. Having started very late (only 3 years ago) to be interested in Teddy Bears, it is a whole new fascinating world opening to me. I really do not know how Teddy bears looked like in earlier days…
When I see these Bears from earlier times, I feel that they carry many stories with them. You can feel that they have been cuddled many times, that they have comforted many children (and adults like me probably), and that they have listened to many secrets. They are so touching!
And it is so interesting to see how different they look like and feel. They are less sophisticated than the modern ones, and made out of different material. Material that last forever, I guess. I was amazed as I had once in my hands Benjamin, Truffle’s oldest cousin. He felt so unusual, it was because of the stuffing. I think it was made of real straw. And there was the other one – I don’t remember which one it was,- he was so heavy, I think he was full of lead pearls!
Here is a wonderful motif coming from OXFAM, in Derby I think. A camel and his Teddy Bear mates… judging by the looks, from many different eras!
Dory The Fish And The Teddy Bear
By Kev Le Chat
(Illustration based on a photograph by “Go Teddy!”‘s reporter Kev Le Chat)
“Mmm….” thought Dory, ” I’m going to swim, swim, swim down to the
bottom of the ocean today”
Halfway down, she wondered what she was doing there, and very nearly turned
around and headed back up where the shafts of sunlight pierced the deep blue like tiny daggers…
….but something had caught her fishy eye down in the depths…a small figure..
It seemed to be waving at her…
So she swam and swam, and the small figure came into focus..it wasn’t really waving,
It was the gentle currents on the ocean floor making its arm move to and fro.
She got a little bit excited then, it was orange and white striped, was it her friend Nemo??
No! She swam closer and saw that it was a Teddy bear wearing an orange and white striped hoodie – which made him look just like her friend! Now, Dory didn’t really know what a teddy bear was, and even if you told her, she would forget almost immediately, but she DID think it was cute!
She swam alongside his soggy fur, and he gurgled “I can’t really drown, but I would really like to get back to the surface and let the sunshine dry my fur”
“Okay!” Said Dory, “I can do that! let’s swim, swim swim together!”
So Dory helped the teddy off the ocean floor and they headed for the surface where the sunshine sparkled like diamonds.
“What do you want?” Asked Dory suddenly when they were halfway there.
“Err…” Said the confused bear. He didn’t realise fish had short memories, and Dory’s was shorter than most. But as it transpired, Dory even forgot that she’d forgotten who he was and continued to swim to the surface. Eventually, they emerged into the sunlight, Dory splashing and jumping in and out of the waves.
She nudged the little soggy bear to a nearby beach, and they spent many happy days with Dory playing in the surf and teddy sunbathing and diving in and out of the ocean.
Surely there has never been a more unlikely pair of friends, or indeed a happier one!
My Teddy And Me 05
By Miki de Goodaboom
(Illustration based on a photograph by “Auntie Nelle”, from France)
I have recently started a series of paintings featuring children in emotional and intimate connection with their Teddy Bears.
Here is a new one: a little French boy sleeping between his big bear “Caramel” and his fish “Merlu”. As I saw the photograph so kindly sent to me by his mother Nelle, I was so much under the charm. I did feel how soothing the bear and the fish were for the little boy. They looked like as if they were building a nest around him, protecting him from the whole world and allowing him to have a peaceful sleep. … simply wonderful!
The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor 03
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!
The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor 02
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!
The Bears From The Yorkshire Moor
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!
Go Teddy! 