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Strange BearsI was asked today as to when can a new bearmaker stop considering themselves a novice? I have always given the answer of the number of bears and/or years you have been making. Someone disagreed and said it was purely on years of making bears. Another in the group said you were a novice until you sold a bear. It seems different competitions set a different criteria.
I considered myself a novice until I made a bear I was reasonably happy with....which really meant the nose was actually OK. 
What is your criteria for a novice. Years of making, number of bears made, ability to sell even if it is anothers pattern. If it is selling is this considered a sale to a family member for cost of materials? All these points were debated in the discussion.
Maybe it's when people start recognising and respecting your work?
To me, novice implies someone who is learning. When we learned to swim as a children we were classed as 'novice', 'intermediate' and 'advanced'. Novice indicated beginner level, those of us keen to learn but yet to master any useful skills; intermediate meant we'd moved on a phase and could manage quite independently, but with little finesse! The advanced swimmers were those dolphin like creatures who had the rest of us clumsy souls gasping in admiration ...
Pumpkin & Pickle BearsWell, I've only been making bears since January and have sold over 10 bears, but I still consider myself a novice. I am entering a bear into the British Bear Artist Awards in December under the novice category which states you must have been making bears for 18 months or less....I've sort of taken this as my guide line and will consider myself a novice until I have been making them for longer.
I'm with Lisa on this one. While I feel accomplished in some ways, in others, I feel still very brand-new, and certainly I'm not "done" learning new things. I've been doing this for a few years and have had a very warm welcome in this industry for the most part, so you'd think I'd have "seen it all," but every day someone makes a new anime style critter or does something with needle felting or polymer clay, so the craft just reinvents itself all the time. And I'm always trying on new techniques for my own repertoire, too. There's no stand-still to it, so I still feel wide-eyed and ready for the next step.
Besides, compared to the folks who've been on the show circuit, making and selling bears, for decades now, time-wise I'm definitely a novice!
I am still learning...and have a long way to go. I am experienced compared to some and a new kid on the block compared to others.
I have enough 'stuff' behind me now to consider myself no longer wet behind the ears...but I have far more to learn in the future than I already know, I hope. So I don't consider myself an expert. I heard an analogy once about experts...'An 'ex' is a has-been and a 'spurt' is a drip under pressure' so I hope I'm never one of those!!
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Mountain Dreamer BearsInteresting topic!
I've been been making bears for less than a year, have only made a few and haven't sold one yet so I'm certainly a novice and as such I always feel awkward about voicing my opinion on topics like this. I am chiming in on this one though, because I think some of you are selling yourselves FAR short when you say that you consider yourself a novice just because you still have new things to learn! :doh:
Sure, there are always new techniques to learn but does that mean you are going to be a novice bearmaker until you learn them all? Or are you an artist who is growing, developing and perfecting your craft?
'Novice' means 'beginner' and I don't know at exactly what point you stop being a novice, but I do know you don't go straight from novice to ...um, master. (I hope I never become an 'expert' either, Jenny! 
)
In between 'novice' and 'master' is a whole lot of space full of people with widely varying degrees of skill, talent and experience who still have lots of things to learn. So don't sell yourselves short people! Learning is growing and I hope none of us ever stop growing! 
Melbourne, Australia'Novice' means 'beginner' and I don't know at exactly what point you stop being a novice, but I do know you don't go straight from novice to ...um, master. (I hope I never become an 'expert' either, Jenny!
In between 'novice' and 'master' is a whole lot of space full of people with widely varying degrees of skill, talent and experience who still have lots of things to learn. So don't sell yourselves short people! Learning is growing and I hope none of us ever stop growing!
Well said Bonnie,
I thoroughly agree with you.
Hugs,
Jellybelly BearsHi Sandra
I think that definitions are so hazy now, partly because of the net...don't get me wrong I LOVE the net and would be nowhere without it coz I just can't get out of the house....but because we are relying on the internet more and more instead of shows, teachers and competitions, it is becoming more of a what we feel and think ourselves rather than as an industry as a whole.
when I began bearmaking, it was still very much shows and teacher stuff. I learnt through magazines and self taught myself, but entered bears in shows as a novice first, then open, now I'm hoping to enter the TABA as a prof. I think entering shows gives you the thumbs up from the professionals that you are doing the right thing and it gives you the confidence to sell...to learn truthfully what your ability is....I would never have sold my work without this and I also attribute this to the fact that I have confidence in my work. Today a lot of this face to face critique is lacking, there is no structure and it is hard to pin point what category we fall under, novice, professional...how do customers know if you are a prof who has been selling for 2 months without any thumbs up from anyone, or a prof who has been around for 10 yrs and won many shows for the perfection of their work.....
Anyway...I feel that today, that this whole step of learning and getting feedback, its all changed and its a shame coz it did give confidence to collectors and artists alike. It can't be helped and I think that definitions will forever be changing....In the TABA this year the definition has changed since last years adelaide show... professional is anyone whoe has sold their beas...I would still call myself a novice at the under year stage even if I was selling....hmmmm...
Interesting discussion! and I do agree with the learning process never ending...thats why I love bears so much...always somehing new to learn..never bored in this craft!!
Strange BearsSome very interesting points and I agree that those that say you still consider yourself a novice because you still have techniques to learn are selling yourself way to short. I suppose this question came up on relation to show competitons. If the show doesn't give a criteria when do you decide to move from novice to open etc?
I am entering a bear into the British Bear Artist Awards in December under the novice category which states you must have been making bears for 18 months or less....I've sort of taken this as my guide line and will consider myself a novice until I have been making them for longer.
This is interesting because someone with lots of time can take in heaps of experience and makes lots of bears in 18 months against someone with less time who may make only 3 or 4. So I suppose i still come back to does the number of bears made make a difference or not?
Well I would say 'yes' it does to that one ..when learning to drive the amount of time spent behind the wheel is what gives you experience...and I think this goes for bear-making too. The amount of bears you make ..and problems you learn to solve add to your knowledge and your bank of techniques.
There are many things that I used to have to really think about...like pattern making....that now is a fairly logical exercise and I am confident I can design them now knowing some of the pitfalls.
I guess that as far as competitions go you have to compete on the same level when you start out ...that said I have to say that doing something for years and years isn't an automatic ticket to being good at it. I have seen this with hairdressers many times , especially when I was teaching it, that some would be a whizz at it almost from the start, while others never quite got the hang of it and gave up...and some muddled along at a slower pace and some were just 'steady away'...so I don't believe it's the time element that counts as a measure of your level of ability..it's the individuals own creativity and progress that makes a difference.
I don't think you can totally define a novice...but I think if I'd only been doing anything for a year then I'd have to say that I was a beginner.
