A Magical Menagerie

by Pam North

	Sometimes it's a seemingly small, random thing that can change a life. Mary J. Kolar has loved animals, stuffed and otherwise, since childhood, so possibly it was inevitable that she finally would get around to creating her own, but Mary had never pursued artistic study. Her background was in real estate. That all changed with a copy of Teddy Bear & Friends magazine that she impulsively bought one day when business was particularly slow, and that purchase triggered the inspiration for her journey into the world of animal creation. As she scanned the magazine's pages portraying countless artfully made bears and animals, her interest was immediately caught, and she began analyzing the various details of craftsmanship inherent in each creature that she especially liked. She imagined the creation process of each, and she was fascinated. She realized she was hooked, and she couldn't wait to get started. She named her new enterprise Pochung Mountain Bears, named after the mountain on which she lives.
	While other more tentative neophyte artists practice their efforts initially in less expensive fabrics, Mary wasn't intimidated, boldly embracing pricey mohair right from the beginning. She experimented at first with the more classic styles of teddy bears, and then she began exploring the idea of less traditional positions such as sitting, standing upright, and down on all fours. “Being self-taught with no art background, I went through a lot of trial and error,” she confessed. Through persistence and determination to excel, she perfected her craft, and since that memorable magazine moment in 1994, she has made hundreds of bears. New challenges beckoned, and soon she began adding other animals to her repertoire, such as pigs, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, an alligator, and a funky dragon. She has  found that the small-to-medium size range works best for her, from her 3”-5” pigs to her 5”-20” bears,. The materials she uses are mohair, alpaca, German plush, wool, and glass eyes, and creating her winsome animals has become a full-time passion. 
	One important element she has incorporated into her work is needle felting, which is the technique of using a barbed needle-punching technique to fuse fibers of one piece of combed wool roving to another by entangling the fibers of each together, creating a three-dimensional, sculptural effect. It is a time-consuming process that some view as excessively tedious, but Mary finds it relaxing, and claims she can do it anywhere. She mixes colors of the roving for natural shading effects that add to the charm and personality of her creations. Many of her animals are composed entirely of needle felted shapes, while others may have only portions of their anatomy done in this manner. “Needle felting is like sculpting with wool and a needle instead of clay,” she says. “When I first started doing it, I felted a number of critters, but I especially always have loved pigs. They're very smart, and are clean, too. Needle felting my first few pigs was a bit challenging, as pigs have very different noses and feet from bears.” In addition to the wool roving, Mary also uses baby camel hair, yak, alpaca, and mohair for variety in the needle felting.
	Originally from Long Island, New York, Mary moved to northern New Jersey over 25 years ago with her husband and daughters. They live in a rural environment that brings local wildlife right to their own backyard, so she gets up-close glimpses of black bears, deer, foxes, skunks, raccoons, rabbits and squirrels on a regular basis, providing her with new candidates for her artistic spectrum. Mary loves them all, wild and otherwise. She already is planning a few alpaca and mohair dogs, some new designs for bears, and needle felting “the ultimate pig”, she jokes.
	In addition to the fulfillment that Mary finds in expressing herself through creativity, she has discovered another joy. “Over the years I've made many good friends with other artists and collectors,”
she adds.
	Mary merchandises her animals at shows, and through a few shops, such as The Toy Shoppe and Collins Gifts, and she may be contacted directly.

Contact Information:
Mary J. Kolar
Pochung Mountain Bears
Telephone: (973) 875-8301
Email: pmbears@ptd.net