Curio Central

When not making bears, I'm collecting them... and a few other things that catch my eye. Most of these are a few months old and I've chosen to post them now while I don't need to go back outside at the moment and shovel snow. This wooden Russian toy is of a piano playing bear accompanied by a singing fox.

Poetry beads from Powell's in Portland Oregon.

Whistler bear Jeanie with two 'cubs of the year' taken by a local photographer (unfortunately not Dave).

One of my earliest wood projects, a cedar towel rack.

1979 Dakin issue 'Smokey the Bear' bought on eBay...

...and Smokey's pants after a good cleaning. They were filthy.

A ceramic bird whistle found in the 'as-is' section at Ikea. I got tired of it falling over and made a base a'la Louise Nevelson. Looks much better.

Rubber bears by German Toy manufacturer Schleich.

Japanese Ainu bear in a common pose with a fish in its mouth.

Red Mill bear made of a composite of pecan shells and synthetic resin.

Lastly and unrelated to anything on this blog, Tony the Tiger at a early morning industry conference in Vancouver last year (snapped by Dave) . You've got to be quite a morning person to hop around in a hot, sweaty costume at 7am.