Photos courtesy of Orsia Venezia
I hope my fellow teddy bear fanciers are enjoying our make-believe travels around the globe. Today, our Plush Passport is being stamped for Venice, Italy. Last fall, I received a great note and photos from Italian bear artist (and pioneer) RosaRita Meneghetti. The photos she sent were fabulous, and now is a chance to showcase them to our cyber tour group!
Salzburg, Austria — When you think of that European capital city, don’t you imagine glorious, orchestral music (Mozart and “The Sound of Music”) plus fire-breathing dragons? Huh!! Yep, you read that right. Nestled in the lovely boulevards of Salzburg, Austria, there once dwelled a little girl named Andrea Maria, who was enthralled by tales of princesses, knights, and all manner of curious beasts. Andrea grew up to design bears, pigs, and a whole village worth of colorful, friendly dragons. Living in Salzburg today as a mature, married woman, she adores the chance to fashion her dragons and their pals amid the beautiful buildings of her most romantic childhood hometown.
Originally published in Teddy Bear & Friends November 2016
Candace “Candi” Taylor is the ebullient creator of a marvelous menagerie of bears, owls, squirrels, chipmunks, and all other manner of four-footed critters. Residing in a small enclave in Oregon, Taylor describes her hometown as “living out in the wild.” The animal aficionado couldn’t ask for a better home base and creative outlet: “We moved here in 1978 and built our own home (meaning my husband did all the work) finishing over many years. We have lots of wildlife — deer, elk, cougars, bobcats, coyotes, foxes, and bears. It makes life interesting.”