YoYo Bears:  Yolanda Levy's Unique Spin
by Pam North
	It is surprising what odd twists and turns have to happen in life before art takes over. California born and bred, Yolanda Levy didn't start out in life as a bear-maker. She had been a police officer for 14 years when health issues began to take a toll on her, and she became housebound, dealing with asthma. She always had been creative, but she finally embraced the importance of that endeavor totally by accident in 1992, simply to fulfill a request from her daughter for a doll. After toiling through the night, Levy completed sewing a rag doll named “Willie”, a resounding success with her delighted daughter. 
	Levy found that she enjoyed expressing the fantasies and dreams of her childhood, so more dolls ensued, these with faces sculpted from Cernit (an oven-baked clay), and for a couple of years she produced these, under the name of “Yolanda's Country Critters”. Hereditary degenerative disc issues then presented another fork in the road; Levy began to find it difficult to sculpt the faces for the dolls. An upper neck disc had ruptured, requiring surgery and leaving her with partial paralysis in her hands, legs and feet, and permanent nerve damage, Sculpting clay faces for her dolls was no longer possible. A teddy bear she had received as a gift from a friend, to comfort her through her physical ailments, had become a treasured possession, and as she gave it frequent hugs, she became aware of a new purpose - to create bears for others to enjoy. She still had a desire to sculpt, and found that she could still do that by needle-sculpting a bear face in fabric. Eventually she was able to make bears that were close to traditional and yet had the character and details that she was determined to express in her bear designs. 
In 2002 and 2003 she designed some needle-sculptured bears for Effanbee, some of which were sold on QVC.
	In 2010, Levy became interested in incorporating needle-felting into the design of her bears.
Needle-felting is a process using barbed needles to interlock wool fibers to form a denser mass that can be contoured into a desired shape. Other techniques began to be adopted as part of her repertoire. She used clear glass eyes with black pupils, customizing them by painting the backs with custom shades of copper paint for a lifelike appearance, and then added to their expression with leather eyelids. She learned to joint her bears with locking nuts and bolts, but also sometimes used Flexible Loc-Line armatures in the bodies, allowing endless posing. Luxurious materials such as Tissavel, a French faux fur, were utilized to effectively mimic furry bodies and heads, with artful airbrushed shading accents to  complement and complete the desired effects. She tried different sizes, from 9 to 32 inches.
	Through years of hard work and devotion to her craft, Levy has found her own unique style, one that has attracted collectors throughout the United States, and in many other countries of the world as well. Her focus is on one-of-a-kind bears, and with the advanced techniques she employs, and her painstaking attention to detail, it often takes her up to three weeks to complete a bear, so she makes only about 25 bears annually. Her efforts have brought her recognition, as well as a loyal following of collectors who purchase her creations. She has been featured in various magazines throughout her many years in the industry, and she won a Toby Award in 2015. She markets her bears through her website and several online shows every year, and also on Bearpile, Artist Bears International, and eBay.
	Like many artists, Levy is not always satisfied with what she has created, and admits to an amusing solution, saying, “If I don't like how it's expression is turning out, I behead it, and start over.”
That focus on aiming as close to perfection as possible radiates in her bears.
	When asked how she comes up with her ideas and designs, Levy comments, “I dream like a child, both at night and during the day. I see it vividly in my mind as a finished creation, all except for the face, which only comes when I actually make the bear. I sketch patterns while doing other things, like watching television or talking to my husband. Then I go straight to the fabrics and cut. I never test it out on a less expensive fabric.”  
	Her vision for the future is to go forward into more realism, learning new techniques, discovering new materials, and evolving into more interesting styles and designs. She feels strongly that she is expressing her personality and soul into her creations. “YoYo Bears are made exclusively by me, and I believe that each bear's design process must be done from start to finish by me so that the collector actually knows me through that bear.”
	“All of my time is devoted solely to hanging out in my bear studios with my four dogs, creating cool teddy bears. I have an upstairs room for a studio, and another room downstairs to work in as well. I also have a 500-square-foot shed in which I do my metalwork. All of the jewelry and accessories for my bears are made by me. I have a blowtorch and tools, and I work in silver, copper, and brass out there. With each new bear, I step back and decide what it needs to finish it – a collar, necklace, studs, whatever. I'm also learning to etch metal. With each new bear I'm learning new skills. It's like I'm being led by something – I don't know what – but it just keeps unfolding.”
Contact Information:
Email:  yoyobears@gmail.com
Website:  www.YoYoBears.com
Telephone:  (760) 567-9619 (California area code)