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If you want to get technical, Diane Bester traces the roots of her teddy bear-making career back to 1984, more than a decade before she even thought about tailoring her first teddy. That’s the year the sci-fi film “Gremlins” was released, and it’s what inspired the name of Di’s black Siamese cat, Gizmo. “He had huge ears when he was small and looked like a little gremlin named Gizmo from the movie ‘Gremlins,’” says the South African artist.
Eleven years after “Gremlins” was released, Di enrolled in her first bear-making class, and soon after Gizmo Bears was born. The original Gizmo supported her new undertaking with gusto. As Di mastered her new hobby, Gizmo enjoyed the fringe benefits, so to speak. “He was always busy with the mohair pieces on the floor, playing with little scraps and little rats made from the off cuts,” remembers Di.
Sadly, Gizmo passed away three years ago at the ripe old age of 14, but his namesake lives on. Gizmo Bears has become one of South Africa’s most prominent bear producers in just 13 years. “They have as fine of detail that you can find on such tiny little bears. They’re very intricate,” says Carol Weinstein, who works in sales for Cooperstown Bears in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. The company carries Di’s bears in its catalog. “People are also interested in their noses, snouts, and bellies. They’re known for that and their paws.”
Di spent 17 years in the banking business before moving on to bear making in 1995. She was inspired by a fully jointed tartan teddy bear she received as a gift. “I was very intrigued with the style and the way it was made, and started searching for bear-making supplies and patterns to make one,” she remembers.
The South African bear industry was just getting started during the mid-1990s, and there was only one bear shop in the country. Luckily for Di, it was nearby, and there she signed up for her first bear-making class. “There was no such thing as mohair available here in South Africa in 1995, so we had to make do with whatever fabric we thought good enough to create a lovable ted,” she says.
Soon Di’s interest in bears had blossomed into an all-out passion. She now sells her bears via the Web and through shops around the world. She attends international bear fairs and has won several artist awards.
Yet while the South African bear business has matured, it is not yet booming. “In 1995, bear making was in its infancy, and over the next seven years or so it reached a peak,” she says. “Bear fairs were well attended and there were many avid collectors. … The market for selling bears in South Africa does seem to have hit a ‘low’ over recent years, as fairs are not very well supported, and the number of really mentionable artists in the sense of the word has definitely declined drastically.”
Soft-sculpture artists Wendy and Megan Chamberlain, of Cape Town, come to mind, as do miniaturist Ingrid Els, East London’s Janet Changfoot (Changle Bears), Wendy Koutlis, who, like Di, lives in Durban, and a dozen or so other talented artists residing in the 470,000 square-mile country. But compared with other regions of the world, it remains a relatively exclusive club, despite the fact that South Africa boasts the continent’s biggest economy.
That hasn’t stopped Di from making a name for herself; it simply means she’s had to be more proactive. “The fact that the [South African] bear industry is small has not affected my bear making, as I do not rely on local support to a large extent,” she says. “I think that if you want your bears to be known out there in the bear world, you should advertise your work and make an effort to get your name known to bear collectors. I have been fortunate to exhibit overseas in the U.K., New York, and Cleveland, Ohio.”
Di specializes in miniature bears, although she creates animals of all different sizes. She has a passion for old toys that she taps to make bears with an Old World-type style. Her favorite material is mohair, but she incorporates vintage fabrics like old rayon, long upholstery pile, and antique lace into many of her bears. She fills her small bears with tiny treated steel pellets to give them a little more dimension. “I find that one can really experiment with many kinds of fabrics when creating a miniature, and I truly love making oldie worldie-looking bears using different techniques to age my fabric and the general demeanor of the bear,” Di says.
“She has a lot of different faces, and she’s able to give them a lot of different looks, which keeps it exciting for collectors who enjoy getting international artists,” says Marie Poole, owner of Basically Bears in Brentwood, New Hampshire, who has stocked Gizmo Bears for several years. “People who see them love them because she does different sizes also.”
Marie was particularly drawn to an open-mouthed bear that Di sculpted a few years ago. “The expression that she is able to capture on a mini bear – that open-mouthed bear was absolutely wonderful,” she says.
Di’s fans agree. Lorraine Scholtz lives in Capetown, South Africa, and she met Di through a local site similar to eBay, called Bid or Buy. “I bought some teddy bear patterns online from her and we got chatting about bears and bear making,” remembers Lorraine. “I told her how much I loved [Di’s creation] Geatan and how he reminds me of my pet rat named Squirrel. Diane sent me the pattern to make my own Geatan and did not want payment for it. She has also graciously allowed me to name him after her beloved cat, Gizmo.” Di’s only request was for Lorraine to send her a picture of her Gizmo when he was finished, which she happily did. “Diane, I find, is a very giving and loving person and has amazing talent that reflects in her teddy bears and critters she puts up for adoption,” Lorraine says. “Their faces say it all.”
Indeed they do.
Contact Di Bester, Gizmo Bears, PO Box 22066, Glenashley, 4022 Durban, South Africa; www.gizmobears.homestead.com.
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