<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Eleonore Unkel-Schäufelin</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY text="black" link="blue" vlink="light blue" alink="black"> <HR SIZE="1" COLOR="BLACK"> <H3><CENTER>Eleonore Unkel-Schäufelin Bio</CENTER></H3> <HR SIZE="1" COLOR="black"> <CENTER> <TABLE BORDER="0" WIDTH=100% > <TR> <TD ROWSPAN="7" VALIGN="TOP" ALIGN="CENTER" WIDTH="20%" BORDER="0"> <table border="2" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tbody valign="top"> <tr align="center" bgcolor="#c9994d"> <th>Menu</th> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="http://www.edinburghimports.com/incubator"> <IMG SRC="http://www.edinburghimports.com/INCUBATOR/images/buttons/but_homeINC.jpg" alt="Incubator Home"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="http://www.edinburghimports.com/incubator/artists.html"> <IMG SRC="http://www.edinburghimports.com/INCUBATOR/images/buttons/but_artistsINC.jpg" alt="Current Inventory"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="mailto:orders@edinburghimports.com"> <IMG SRC="http://www.edinburghimports.com/INCUBATOR/images/buttons/but_ordersINC.jpg" alt="Place an Order"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="http://www.edinburghimports.com"> <IMG SRC="http://www.edinburghimports.com/INCUBATOR/images/buttons/but_homeEII.jpg" alt="Edinburgh Imports Home"></a> </td> </tr> <tr> <td>&nbsp; </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <a href="http://www.edinburghimports.com/INCUBATOR/EUSpage.html"> <IMG SRC="http://www.edinburghimports.com/INCUBATOR/images/buttons/but_EUS.jpg" alt="Eleonore Unkel-Schäufelin's Designs"></a> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </TD> <TD VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="20%" > <a href="http://www.edinburghimports.com/INCUBATOR/EUSpage.html"> <IMG BORDER="0" ALIGN="CENTER" VALIGN="TOP" SRC="http://www.edinburghimports.com/INCUBATOR/EUS/Eleonore.jpg"</A><BR> <TD VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH="80%" > <FONT SIZE="2">&nbsp;&nbsp; I began bearmaking in Christmas of 1993 after buying 2 Steiff bears which resulted in an empty purse! I was looking at these two fellows and thought.... it must be possible to make a bear of my own. So I started making my first bear out of real sheepskin and named him Quasimodo - he was so ugly, my next bear could only be better! I do not have, or know how to use, a sewing machine, so 4 bears later, after sewing many long boring seams, I made my first pattern. It was a miniature bear and I fell in love with him. The 4th bear I made I entered into a competition in Germany and after some weeks discovered he was the winner! My next venture was to take part in the Teddy Total Festival in Hennef. This was the beginning of a big explosion - on the first day I was "Sold Out", and in the evening I won the Goldener Georg award. This was the beginning of 'Tatze in der Tatze' (paw in the paw). More and more bearlovers from all over the world discovered my miniature bears. I prefer to work in mohair, but also I like experimenting with different fabrics. I want to get a feeling of movement into my work and often stand in front of a mirror to see what positions are possible. Teddies are human in their proportions and so they can make the same movements as we can. The sizes of my bears are normally under 4 inches (10 cm). I prefer 3 inches (7 1/2 cm), because it is not so important to make a bear as tiny as possible, but to be able to have space for the details and the expression. Teddies have changed my life completely. My time is now filled with....sewing bears, phoning, answering the post, sewing bears, looking after the kids (that's me, with my kids Nicholas aged 5 years, and Tim aged 10 years on the left), drawing new patterns, sewing bears, making new contacts, looking for new material, cooking, housekeeping, sewing bears......it keeps me busy into the small hours of the night, but i's never boring. Sometimes I dream of new ideas and wake up in the middle of the night to start the designing and sewing. That's the way I made my TOBY nominee ‘96 Mato Waci (Dancing Bear)’. I am very happy that my family accept all this ‘Bearmania’. My husband Jürgen takes wonderful photos of my bears and I am happy that he can capture these little fellows in pictures.....not an easy job! It is a wonderful feeling to be in the teddy world with these great people from all around the globe. This year I taught a teddy bear workshop in Singapore. It was wonderful to see how teddies bring people together and we were all chattering about them and never had any problems understanding each other. It is the language of the heart, but if somebody had told me this back then, I would have called them crazy and I would never have believed them. I think it is a great gift that bears stepped into my life and I will never forget it. </FONT></A><BR></TD> </TR> </H3> </TABLE> </CENTER> </BODY> </HTML>