Every year the highlight of my year is attending the Quinlan show in Philadelphia the first weekend in May. It is a chance to enjoy the company of artists and collectors in person and to see some star quality dolls and Teddy Bears. Of course, like so many things this year it has been cancelled to help stop the spread of COVID 19. I will dearly miss seeing all my friends, but I do understand that many people have had to cancel or postpone life events such as weddings graduations and more.
Here's a bit of good news though. The show in Philadelphia is cancelled, but the Teddy Bear and doll artists who were planning to take part in the show will be joining an online show this weekend.
Here is the show information from the Quinlans:
Our annual Artist Doll & Teddy Bear Show in Philadelphia this week was cancelled, but the participating artists are holding an online show & sale in its place. The show will open on Friday, May 1st at noon (EST) and remain open until 8pm Sunday, May 3rd at this website:
https://www.bearhugs4u.com/quinlan.html
Shopping at the Show
When the show opens on Friday, you will be able to navigate the show by clicking on the artist name or photo to view their sales page. When you are done viewing that artist's page, you should either click on the Convention banner or use your back button. You may have to "Refresh" your page to view the live show if you have viewed the page prior to the show opening.
Voting for Award Winners
In addition to shopping for dolls and bears, you are invited to cast your vote for three doll artists and three bear artists to be presented with the Helen Bullard Award for Excellence among the doll artists and Beverly Port Award for Excellence among the bear artists.
Base your votes on the entire collection of creations on each artist’s website. Send the names of your six selected artists to terry@quinlanmuseum.com
Hope you will join us.
Cheers,
Susan & Terry Quinlan
Susan Quinlan Doll & Teddy Bear Museum
I will have a few bears and a couple of dolls in the show and since the first minutes of the show move fast, I thought I would give a preview here. Here are some pictures and descriptions of what I will have. The show starts this Friday at noon and I still have much to do to get ready--lots of little details!
Tiny Teddy Babies
5 inches long (4 inches high seated)
These sweet little Teddy Bear and doll hybrids are tiny enough to be cradled in the palm of your hand. Each one is made with a fully hand sculpted polymer clay head (including sculpted hair), and a Teddy Bear style jointed body made of hand dyed viscose. Their faces are delicately painted with permanent heat set paints, their bodies are shaded and aged with pastels, and their little bear-eared hoods are removable. They wear vintage lace collars. Xanthe is the baby in yellow, and Jade is the baby in green.
Wilson
16 inches tall (12 inches high seated)
Wilson is a happy bear made with soft, straight, tipped mohair with about one-inch fur length. His sweet face features a needle and scissor sculpted snout with a hand painted open mouth. His premium black glass eyes and layer stitched pearl cotton nose are accented with air brush shading. Wilson has five joints as well as sturdy wire armature in his arms. Applique trapunto paw pads are featured on his front and rear paws. He is stuffed with a combination of Polyfil and plastic pellets for a nice weight and feel. Wilson is adorned simply with a pleated satin bow that complements the brown tips in his white fur.
Wendell
20 inches tall (15 inches high seated)
Wendell is a bear made with uniquely textured wool fabric with about 5/8-inch nap length. It a has the feel of a wool rug—coarser than mohair or alpaca, and its density is perfect for the needle and scissor sculpting featured on his face. His premium black glass eyes and layer stitched pearl cotton nose are accented with air brush shading. Wendell has five joints as well as sturdy wire armature in his arms. Applique trapunto paw pads are featured on his front and rear paws. He is stuffed with a combination of Polyfil and plastic pellets for a nice weight and feel. Wendell wears a fine Steampunk top hat, with goggles, hand sewn from a combination of leather scraps and vinyl. (A lovely velveteen waistcoat and shirt collar will finish his look, ---if I can finish it!)
“I Love You More” (Aama and Kulu)
24 inches tall (18 inches seated), 10 inches long (8 ½ inches seated)
Aama, the mother polar bear, is the largest natural style bear I have made yet. She is made from dense white alpaca fur with a one-inch long nap length. Her face is needle and scissor sculpted and accented with air brush shading. Leather eyelids surround her premium black glass eyes, and her realistic nose is hand sculpted and painted. Aama has five joints as well as sturdy wire armature in her arms, legs and spine. The spine armature in combination with her neck joint allows her head to tilt slightly side to side or up and down as well as to swivel like a traditional Teddy Bear joint. Applique trapunto paw pads are featured on her front and rear paws. She is stuffed with a combination of Polyfil and plastic pellets for a nice weight and feel.
Aama’s little cub Kulu is made from dense white alpaca with a 5/8th inch nap length. Kulu shares the same facial detailing as his mother and has applique trapunto paws as well. However, his unjointed body is something new I was inspired to design for this piece. The body has full wire armature, and the neck is jointed, so he has some posing ability, but he can easily be held in his mother’s arms.
Aloo-ki (no photo yet)
10 inches long (8 ½ inches seated)
Aloo-ki is a sweet playful polar bear cub made from dense white alpaca fur with a 5/8th inch long nap length. Her face is needle and scissor sculpted and accented with air brush shading. Leather eyelids surround her premium black glass eyes, and her realistic nose is hand sculpted and painted. Designed to look like a very young cub, she has a unique body style. Her unjointed body features sturdy wire armature throughout. The armature along with her neck joint allow her to take on playful poses. Aloo-ki loves to play with her mohair ball.
