The on line magazine for the ever day ordinary Teddy Bear and their owners
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The on line magazine for the ever day ordinary Teddy Bear and their owners
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The Ted Rupert and Mollie Page World Wild Life Fund - Adopt a Svalbard Polar Bear
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by HarryTwo
Hello Chris My name is HarryTwo, I am one of Freddie and Boris’s reporters! Never done an interview before, so this should be fun! Maybe you could tell us a bit about yourself? My name is Chris Hoggins, I am 37 years old and a bear maker and textile artist. When not making bears (my favourite thing) I design special creations for people with autism, cerebral palsy and other disabilities that prevent people from interacting with there environment. Where did the idea for the Bear Army come from? The name Bear Army came from my mum. When she saw the first group of bears I made she said, "Look at them all lined up like soldiers on parade!" So they became the Bear Army. How long did it take you to set up the web site? The web site up now is my second go, the first one got really complicated because there were nearly two hundred bears on it and I couldn't keep track of them all and make more bears. I do everything myself and it's all a bit of a struggle trying to keep on top of it. Do you have a background in soft toys? Or anything similar? My background is in fashion and textile design, specifically knitwear. I have collected toys, plush and bears my whole life so it seemed natural to start making them. Plus a jumper might last and year or two, but a bear is for life. Where did you study? I studied constructed textiles and Middlesex university. Which means you learn how to do everything from card and spin your own yarn to working industrial knitting and weaving machines. The guy who does the costumes for cats and some of the Jim Henson's Muppet makers did the same course a long time before I went there, but we never had any really famous students. Why mohair? I like working in mohair and alpaca because I like feel and the way it ages. I like the way it makes great family heirlooms. Do you design all the bears yourself? The first bears I made were very traditional it style, from patterns based on the Stieff pb30, but it wasn't long before I started tinkering with the patterns. All my bears now are from patterns I've created from scratch. I like to make things that are a little different, but exaggerating some features and simplifying others. I love Merrythought's cheeky bears, so they are a big influence, as are Japanese anime characters like Totoro. What gives you inspiration for both designs and names? Naming bears is Tricky. The Kimmee (kimmy) bears were first design when visiting my friend Kim, so I let her name them all.All the rest are named by what the bear reminds me of. There is a bright pink one called Mervyn because the fabric colour was labelled as Fuschia and there is a character by that name in a book by Mervyn Peake. Another bear is called McManus because he reminds me of 1970's British wrestler called Mick McManus. Do you have any special bears? Ones which have interesting backgrounds? Are any of my bears special? Well they all are, but I often keep one back for my own collection, like Nik Nak.I like doing commissions, I really enjoyed making a bear based on the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, but the strangest so far is Tony the wonkey bear. He was designed to be the bear made on a Friday afternoon after a trip to the pub. Everything about him is wrong, which is trickier to do than it sounds.
Could you tell me more about your special creations?
The special creations are mostly based on undersea creatures, I make jelly fish that have jingly bells in them so that they make nice noises when clients brush into the tentacles. I also have these strange twisty three dimensional creatures called the spiny normans, I did the first one ten years ago as a sample to show in the Knit and Stitch show, it took another eight years to find that they had a purpose. I also make creatures with multi textured surfaces, rough against smooth, soft against hard, shiny against sticky. Also things that glow under ultra violet light.
Gosh, that is really interesting, many thanks for your time Chris. HarryTwo Below we have a wonderful selection of Chris's work, more cane be found at his web site
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The Christopher Hoggins Interview
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All rights reserved 10 September, 2008
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