Tanja Rödig

GENTLE BEARS
Selfmade teddy bears by own design

Can you imagine a child without a teddy bear? I was such a child.

But when I finished school and started working as a bank clerk, my life should suddenly change: I wanted to buy something special with my first wage - and fell in love with a teddy bear...

The bear hasn`t been alone for long, my collection grew and grew. Finally, I bought a kit, because I wanted to try making a bear on my own. When I looked into my first selfmade bear`s eyes, I knew, that this would not have been the last one.

Inspired by an international contest at the convention Bär & Puppe in Essen 1995, I decided to design a bear on my own. I took part in the contest with my first three self-designed bears and won the European Championship in the categorie of "beginners".

I exclusive manufacture one-of-a-kind-bears and limited editions, because I am fascinated by designing new patterns and realizing new ideas with my husband Sven.

My bears have a coat of German or English mohair or alpaca; I use glass-eyes or antique shoe buttons. The filling consists of sheepwool and glass- or steelpellets.

I really love my work. The most beautiful part of my job is, when I realize I can make other people happy with my bears.