"We all have our time machines. Some take us back, they're called memories. Some take us forward, they're called dreams." Jeremy Irons from the movie The Time Machine
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| Emmett, the Steampunk Time Traveler |
The title of this post "About Time" has a double meaning. The first is the common exasperated expression-- "IT"S ABOUT TIME!" as in, "
It's about time I finished my 20th Anniversary Bear, seeing as my 20th Anniversary was 2013!" The second meaning is that this post is going to be a post about
time. Or rather it's going to be a collection of my musings about time, since I claim to know nothing about time, and reading it is certainly not going to enlighten readers in any way about time! (In other words, continue reading only if you have a little time on your hands!)
The truth is, I am completely baffled by time. Time is a mystery to all of us, I know, but it seems to me some people--maybe even most people--have a better handle on it than I do! For instance, I can't understand why, once I am ready to go to my teaching job--- showered, dressed, and fed-- it takes ten minutes to actually leave. What am I doing with that time? It can't possibly take ten minutes to put on a coat and grab my keys, can it? And yet, it is always so. Also, even after 20 years of creating Teddy Bears, I still cannot answer a question frequently asked by people when they find out what I do for a living; "How long does it take to make a bear?" It is challenging, of course, because each bear is different. Some are larger, some are smaller, some include details which others do not, and some are dressed while others simply wear a bow. I expect it varies from one day (one day being within a 24 hour period, and not necessarily limited to a typical 8 hour work day!) to two weeks of working daily. I can say for certain that bears with plain paws take much less time to make than the ones with the trapunto detailing, but I cannot tell you how long it takes to complete either bear! I can tell you that trimming the face on a bear made from dense alpaca or mohair takes much, much longer than trimming the sparse fur on a vintage style Teddy, and that the super dense luxury synthetics take even longer to trim than the alpaca or mohair, but if you ask how long it takes to trim a bear's face, I cannot say for sure. I am also befuddled by time when I am immersed in my work. Quite often I head to my studio after dinner and become so involved in a project I am enjoying, that it seems time is standing still. It isn't of course, and when I finally stand, stretch, and turn around to look at my clock, it's 3AM! (Perhaps I should put my clock in front of me when I work!) How is it 3 o'clock already? For that matter, how is it 2014 already?! I wonder how it can be that holding my sons as babies can seem like just yesterday, and ages ago at the same time. The older I get, the worse it gets!
When I decided to make a bear to celebrate my 20th anniversary, I wanted him to be very special, to show how much my collectors mean to me. I also wanted him to somehow signify the passage of time that an anniversary marks, which is why I decided to make him a time traveler. As I worked on him, investing a lot of time in my little time traveler's accessories, (way more time than I anticipated--but of course that happens all the time) I found myself thinking that this dear little fellow in my hands was kind of the embodiment of a fantasy of mine. I would love to be able to visit other places in time, or to relive hours to get more done as Hermione does using her timer-turner in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. But most of all, I would love to be a little less clueless about time!
I loved every moment I spent on him, and I love the way my little time traveler turned out! Here are a few more photos of Emmet..Yes, I know--
it's about time!
