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Kudos to Michele for voicing this and doing it so eloquently! Bravo!
I agree with all she said. I draw inspiration from many many sources including admiring other's bear and critter creations. Sometimes I see certain things and think "Oh I really like that! Maybe I should try making one of my bears with _______." (fill in the blank with 'longer fur,' 'bigger ears,' 'a smaller muzzle,' 'puffy cheeks,' 'a double jointed neck' etc.) I may copy a technique or element of bear making but I still want to create my bear, in my own style, not a copy of someone elses!
Speaking of style I feel that, as a novice bear maker, I'm still in that stage of putting together techniques I've learned from others and trying to tweak them and nudge them into my something that is distincly my own. It can hard not to look like your copying other's bears when you are copying other's techniques! You have to start somewher though.
I have a long way to go but I know I couldn't have gotten this far without other bearmakers and their generosity in sharing techniques which I am very grateful for. As I continue to seek and develope my own creative path and style, (I tend to think of it as a journey rather than a destination) I know I will continue to be influenced, consciously and unconsciously, by all of you and your bears.
I think all true artists want to express their own own unique vision in what they create. We simple cannot help but be influenced by what we see around us whether we intend to or not. What we like or don't like - it all filters through our mind and affects our vision. Still, our vision and our art remains uniquely ours.
They can steal your style but never your heart.
Well said Dilu!
OxfordBIG :clap: :clap: :clap: for Michelle. She said it so well and in such a creative way. Bravo!!
Beary hugs
Celena
I love what Bonnie wrote: It can be hard not to look like you're copying other's bears, when you are copying other's techniques! You have to start somewhere, though.
We all start at zero when we tackle something new, don't we?... be it bearmaking, basketweaving, or bocci ball. We're bound to emulate -- even outright mimic! -- very closely what we see around us, and what we're taught in our beginner classes, just to survive something new and intimidating, at least at first. With some experience and time on our side, we grow into our own.
There are lots of bears with waxed noses but that doesn't mean one artist who waxes "copies" the others who wax, too. There are many bears with a vintage look but that doesn't mean that the person who made a vintage-look bear in 1970 owns a greater share of the rights to produce vintage-look bears than someone who makes one in 2006. In fact, in this particular case, the entire concept of 'vintage' harkens back to something done before! There are lots of bears with sculpted feet but that doesn't mean that a person who sculpts heels as well as toes into her pawpads is "copycatting" another artist who also sculpts heels. And so on.
I remember, sometime last year, churning on the idea of producing a "Wynken, Blynken & Nod" trio as a contest entry for 2006. I had gotten as far as sketching out my masterpiece when Judi Paul showed off her own sublime WBN trio here at TT! I laughed, and then winced. I could have proceeded with the idea I had, which I arrived at entirely independent of Judi's own... but I felt I would have been accused of "copying" because my work would make its public debut AFTER hers had. Yet, both Judi and I knew that "copying" had nothing to do with this coincidence of fate. Still, my Wynken, Blynken and Nod trio never got made.
Why?
Because sadly, in this field, as in many -- every? -- other creative field(s), the issue of "copying" is prickly and present, always. And what the truth might actually be, is often less important or obvious than what is assumed, presumed, or perceived. It made me sad that such considerations came into play. But I admit, they did. This, I think, is an example of what Michelle is speaking out against.
In my own short time in this industry, I can say with a smile that I can think of only a small handful of cases where one bearmaker was clearly stealing outright the conceptual brainchild(ren) of another artist. It's usually much more been the case that one bearmaker finds inspiration in another's work, and tries to create something new and unique inspired by -- but not "copying" -- that work. I was tremendously inspired by Michelle's work myself when I started bearmaking, and knew before I even began that I ultimately wanted to create bears with big expressive eyes ... that were NOT "copies" of Michelle's work! I invented my own methods and never asked for her help with eyemaking materials or techniques; we discussed marketing, eBay, contests, retailers, and photography instead. And kids. And life. She was never hesitant to share what she knew in, as Chrissie said, the most "real" of ways.
Yet despite all that goodly intentioned, conscious effort on my part to NOT copy my friend and inspiration Michelle -- eyes turned down instead of "her way" (up;) noses shaped like ovals instead of "her way" (shields or nostrils;) always more toes than "her way" (three) -- the accusations came anyway, I suppose because we both make bears with detailed, expressive eyes. Just as, in the time since, I've received numerous emails from sweetly well-meaning bearmakers and collectors advising me of all the bearmakers who are supposedly now "copying" me! -- who also make bears with detailed, expressive eyes. Like Michelle, who has from the start been my role model in this industry -- including in this area -- I choose to take it cheerfully in stride.
As Jane said, there are only so many permutations on this "teddy bear thing" we all do and love. I'm continually inspired by Michelle's broad view of how the learning curve in our field works, and how karmically bountiful it can be to choose sharing and understanding -- rather than hoarding and accusation -- as our own artistic path. That same sharing and understanding is the true spirit behind Teddy Talk, as I'm sure you already know. And that's something I'm really proud to be a part of.
Well said Shelli..every word of it is true. We collided with our ballerina piece last year didn't we!!
I am not ashamed to say that my first sojourn into bear-making resulted in a horrible time for me where for a while I felt pilloried and wronged by the accusation which I thought laughable but was ...again..an understandable mistake since when you choose a style of bear to make because that's what you are drawn to someone, somewhere is going to assume it's their bear you copied.
Call it self-importance...or whatever...but it certainly is merely the fact that those bears are what made us become interested in making our own bears..not the fact that you want to go out and make a replica. I think that's where the misconception comes into play..and so Michelle is so right to say that the collecting of ideas and methods is so much more than an exercise in copying.
Somethings I won't share..my patterns ..I will not share them..I have been asked many times for patterns and I will not share them because they are unique to me. But anything else is just about techniques..and let's face it Leonardo da Vinci could show me how to paint the Mona Lisa but I wouldn't be able to do an exact copy..ever!!
Matilda Huggington-beareI've been sitting here quietly in awe of the talent and intelligence of you all that I admire the most. :redface: 
Chaska, MinnesotaWow Michelle Lamb is a wonderful and wise person. If you think about it, if we did not build on the ideas of others, we would still be back in the caveman days recreating the wheel!!! It's like Michelle said, taking ideas and tweaking them to make bears unique to you.
It is interesting though how much richer we are as people when we share ideas and help each other. The short time I've been with Teddy Talk, I've seen so many people sharing techniques and ideas and never once have I seen the same bear or critter. It is like what Michelle said, your individuality is in your work even though it is sewn or airbrushed the same way....We are all more creative when we bond together. I think that is why all of us are here feeling secure in our own abilities to create what is in our souls.
Just my two cents....
Michelle
WienWOOHOO! WHAT a bear! Drop dead gorgeous! And these words....absolutely fabulous! 
Gaby
WienMichelle, the best example for your words is Goldie, Sue Ann´s free pattern.
I can tell Sue Ann´s lovely bears from 1000 others; she has her distinctive style, her techniques, her skills, her soul etc. which make HER bears look like HER bears.
Now in this challenge some used her pattern and created a bear. Now it´s not Sue Ann´s bear anymore. THEY look different; pretty, but different.
Each one has different methods to make their variation of the theme and even though it´s all the same, it´s not the same 
...and boy, do I adore this pyrate! 
Gaby
SanguineCreationsI love what Michelle says, and the way she says it.
I'm a copycat, and I've not even made a bear yet (I've made fleece ferrets for a year now)
I had no intention of ever making bears, till I saw a 'Potbelly Bear' by Shelli and then seeing Kim Basta bears. They have me in love with bears (inspired me) and hooked, on making my own some day. Since then, I've been studying how to make bears, buy books (hinting to hubby about bear books for Christmas..lol) Learning everything I can, from here and every where (on the net) After Christmas, I hope to have the time, to start putting what I've gleened/learnt into practise. So I'm copying as I learn 'how to' make bears, ( and of course ferrets).
I still have my own idea's and want to make my own patterns eventually (as I did with the fleece toys). I'm a sponge, soaking up, with gratitude, all that I can.
