When my sister travelled the world alone in 2000 she had a bear called Arbutus who travelled with her. We had a few weeks together in the UK and had a great time taking silly photos of him (such as this one entitled "Teddy visiting the Queen). I always thought this a great idea and but never came across anything suitable.
In Sept 2007 before going on a trip, I started actively searching for a travelling companion to the point that I made a special excursion one lunchtime to visit a specific "Teddy Bear Shop". Didn't really have anything suitable (at the time I was actually looking for something Australian which was not a koala!) but just as I was leaving noticed a bucket full of little charm teddies (white, black and brown). There was one in particular that caught my eye - a real cheeky face - and he also have good movement in his arms and legs (very important for silly photo poses!) The charm that was sewn to his chest came off immediately and shortly afterwards he was named Borromini - after an Italian Baroque architect - one of my favourite architects.(here he is inside Borromini's(the architect) most famous work- San Carlo in Rome
BTW he is a lot smaller than Arbutus (I am not sure that they have ever had a photo together- Arbutus lives in the highlands of Scotland now so they don't get much chance to catch up)
Borromini had a great time in 2007 - the friend that I travelled with brought a little friend (Rudolph) representing her nieces and nephews. Here are some of his adventures from that trip
This trip was also the first that I kept a sketchbook - so Borromini's existence is integrally connected with my sketching.
When I went online in 2008 - I was very cautious of revealing my identity and so I was natural to hide behind the wee bear! It didn't last long till things changed - but the Bear has his own identity now and seems to make his own friends. I can't keep up!
And then in 2009 the special adventures started as we travelled through the UK and Paris for 5 weeks....meeting up with a few people
Gill from JournalCraft at a top tearoom near Bath, Queen Victoria at Cardiff Castle, Rachel Henderson knitting guru in Edinburgh, my sketching buddy Eza in Edinburgh,Stuart Kerr in Edinburgh, Wil Freeborn in Glasgow
In Paris 2009 : Jan Allsop a fellow sketching Australian also in Paris, Rick Tulka, Arnaud waiter at the legendary cafe Le Select
.....stay tuned for a summary of the adventures in 2010 when the Bear not only met LOTS of online friends but got sketched my many artists as well.
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