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In 1988, Patti and Graham Cavenett were operating a Cottage Craft business specializing in the production and sale of dolls prams, Antiques and Collectables. These prams were scaled down copies of the 19th Century French and English baby carriages, made in wrought iron and cane. At that time there were no competitors in the field and the business did very well at the Doll Shows throughout Australia. Of course in those days all Teddy Bear Shows were unheard of, with just a few Teddies appearing, like shunned relatives at the Doll Shows. |
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Then in 1989, Patti and Graham decided on a motoring holiday on the West Coast of America. A secondary purpose being a search for new ideas in the craft business. This brief trip was to change their lives forever.
In a small town in California called Carmel on the Sea, they inadvertently wandered into a very small shop that was tucked away in a narrow laneway. The shop was called The Owls Nest and was a Teddy Bear Shop. The place was only the size of a small bathroom, but it was literally overflowing with Teddies of all descriptions.
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This was an absolute revelation to the visitors from Oz, that such a diversity of creative talent could be expressed in this single art form. The humble Teddy Bear was not just a soft toy. For Patti and Graham the search was over. They would make Teddies to compliment their prams.
Back home in Oz, the idea persisted, though the implementation proved difficult. There was very little Teddy making knowledge available, and information gleaned from overseas publications proved invaluable. Of course, there were Aussie Bear-makers scattered throughout the country, but vast distances and small population saw each of them working in relative isolation.
The first Treasure House Teddies made their debut at a Doll Show in Brisbane. by present day standards they were a bit agricultural. (Though the same can be said for the T Model Ford). Every one of those Teddies, however, found a new home and this was the turning point for the Craft Business known as The Treasure House. The Teddies needed a trade name and Kympatti which was a contraction of our names, was chosen.
Patti and Graham decided in those early days that trial and error in the Design and Bear making , was a laborious route to travel. Even though both Patti and Graham could see the need for professional expertise quickly, simply in order to reach a point from which individual creativity and innovation could develop. The designs developed by Kympatti were quite basic. Fortunately the demands from Collectors were less sophisticated at that time. Patti and Graham both became workshop junkies. If someone had something to share or teach about Bear making, they were there. Annual holidays turned into Teddy Bear pilgrimages to Canada and North America. Where within a few weeks and a thousand miles, they could take in six workshops plus a couple of shows and a buying spree for fabrics at Edinburgh Imports in Los Angeles. Neither Patti nor Graham saw these trips as hard work, nor as the Yanks would say paying their dues. They were simply hooked on Teddy Bears.
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Eventually, with the accretion of knowledge and important influences from artists such as Ted Menten from New York and John Renpenning from Canada, the distinctive Kympatti style developed.
By 1995, Patti and Graham were working long hours every day, (their labor of love) producing many hand made Teddies each year for adoption. In 1996 a particularly popular little Teddy known as Scamp put Kympatti on the map. From a hand-crafting studio, and a one room enterprise, the traditionally styled Scamp won hearts worldwide.
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By the mid nineties, in Australia, Teddy bear fairs, as distinct from the Doll and Bear Shows, were coming into Vogue. This period was to be the highlight of Teddy making at Kympatti, with two major shows each month requiring up to 20,000 miles of driving each year. It was a hectic time.
The trips to North America became more frequent with Patti and Graham exhibiting bears and conducting their own workshops at shows in Illinois, Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, California, Oregon, Washington and Alberta.
In later years, New Zealand, Singapore and Hawaii were added to the show circuit.
Back home in Oz, Patti and Graham, with partner Judy Martin, opened a Teddy bear shop on the Gold Coast. It was called The Teddy Bear Connection and traded successfully for four years until a combination of escalating commercial lease costs plus a decline in the local and tourist economy saw the shop close in 2001. Kympatti returned to the home studio. Building renovations and extensions were soon to provide a new showroom, work room and class room.
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In 2001, Patti and Graham, with daughter Kryst, established their own Teddy bear fair on the Gold Coast. The fair, known as The Gold Coast International Teddy Bear Fair is held annually at the very up-market Jupiters Hotel Casino. The fair is held during the first week of June, which is our winter in Oz. The temperature may plummet to a low of 25c beneath a clear blue sky, which is probably a bit concerting for folk from the U.K. The Gold Coast is the premier Tourist destination in Australia, and Artists and Collectors from around the world attend the fair, with an added bonus of a brief tropical holiday. The fair hosts over 100 trading tables and is a two-day event with Cocktail receptions, A Bear fair dinner, a mini Auction, Workshops, Competitions and professional entertainment. Money raised at the fair goes to a different charity each year. In 2003, the charity chosen was The China Bear Rescue. The founder of that organization, Ms Jill Robinson O.B.E. flew out from the U.K. to present an address at the Bear Fair dinner. There was not a dry eye in the ballroom after Jill's address, and all told we raised in excess of $20,000 for the charity. |
| Patti and Graham's recent trip to the U.K., was their first in eighteen years, not because of any dislike of the place, but simply because for an Australian, it is the most expensive destination on the planet. (As well as a bum-numbing journey of 22 hours strapping into an aircraft seat designed for midgets). The trip included helping out at the Hugglets, where our U.K. distributor, Mary Emmery of Emmary Bears in Cornwall, presented the extensive range of Teddy patterns and kits. This was followed by workshops conducted by Patti and Graham in London, Cornwall and Lincoln. It was far too brief a venture into the U.K. Teddy scene but the response for the Kympatti name was terrific. A return visit and a more extensive tour is in the planning stages.
The current challenge for Kympatti is to introduce hand made Teddy Bear making and collecting into China. This has proved to be an arduous process with interminable negotiations between various Cultural Affairs Departments. Fingers crossed, a workshop tour looks promising for late 2004.
The U.K. distributor for the Kympatti range of Patterns, Kits and accessories is:
Mary Emmery of Emmary Bears, Bodmin Hill, Lostwitheil, Cornwall.
The Delightful Teddy Bear Shop, Paws for thought in Steephill Street, Lincoln.
will have some private edition Kympatti Teddies on display in the coming months.
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