About púca bears

In Celitc mythology, the púca is a shape changing hobgoblin that appears in late Autumn (Fall) to wreak mischief on crops that farmers have been unable to harvest — once crops have been "púcaed", they are no longe suitable for human consumption. Some farmers deliberately leave a portion of their crop for the púca as an apeasement.

púca bears are produced by the bear artist Maria Collin. Each bear is individually designed and hand made. Maria only uses the finest materials — the fur is mostly Schulte (mohair, kid mohair, alpaca or plush) or Japanese silk and a variety of fillings are used depending upon the size of the bear and the desired result with the addition of glass or steel granules for added stability. For joints, Maria uses split pins and washers.

All of Maria's bears are completely hand made and hand sewn. Even the clothes and accessories are (mostly) hand made. Each bear is individually designed — this can mean an adaptation of and existing design or a completely new design, complete with a model, made in cotton, to be sure that the design works. All the bears have wired arms and fingers and can, therefore, be posed into a variety of attitudes.

All Maria's bears are one of a kind — even her "limited editions" are all slightly different – so naming her bears after the púca is entirely appropriate.

Back to top of page

About Maria

Maria has been making artist bears since 2001. She currently lives in Germany with her husband Jeremy and their Leonberger dog , appropriately called Nounours (colloquial French for "teddy bear"). A once upon a time geologist, Maria has always been involved in handcrafts — designing knitwear and clothes, silk painting, book illustrating, painting "cottages", and oddest of all — making fossils (but that's another story!) — all sorts of useful skills in the world of bear-making.

For a complete account of Maria's bear-making successes, why not take a look at the awards page.

Back to top of page

© 2003 - 2009 Jeremy and Maria.