THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 18, 1996 TAG: 9601160096
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 155 lines
CONNIE HINDMARSH finally has come out of the closet.
The director of Norfolk Public Schools' Performing Arts Repertory, the former Miss Connie of ``Romper Room'' fame, the wife and mother of three grown children has a passion she ardently pursues in the early morning hours when most people are still fast asleep.
She makes bears.
``A lot of people will probably be real surprised that I have this hobby,'' Hindmarsh said, laughing, as she sat in her Azalea Gardens living room, which is lushly decorated with dozens of her creations. ``I guess now I'm officially a teddy bear artist. Actually, it's a dream come true.''
``Connie's Cuties'' are not your average bears. An accomplished and self-taught seamstress, Hindmarsh creates sporty teddies in sailor suits, red cloaks and Victorian pinafores that look amazingly like ones that your grandmother might have brought home. Each bear has its own identity, from its snout to its paws and is lovingly crafted by hand.
Although purely a hobby for Hindmarsh, her creations have caused quite a stir among professional teddy bear aficionados. The American Folk Art Museum in New York City recently displayed Hindmarsh's creations in two highly visible locations, at Rockefeller and Lincoln centers. Although marked up to $300 each (well beyond Hindmarsh's traditional prices), the bears sold quickly.
The slick national magazine Teddy Bear and Friends also featured her work in vibrant color in its January/ February issue.
The demand for her bears has been so high at the few folk art shows in which she displays that Hindmarsh recently developed several patterns so that others can create teddies of their own.
One show organizer even ``blackballed'' her from future events because she sold out of her unusual teddies the first day and didn't return for the last two days.
``I just don't have time to make enough bears for the demand,'' she said. ``And I don't take special orders. This is a love ... it's my hobby. In every bear I make, I make everything myself. It's very time-consuming. So I decided to market these patterns so that others could make their own.''
With the help of a graphic artist, she initially published three patterns: USS Teddy, her ``signature bear;'' Red Riding Hood Bear; and a bearlike Country Bunny. A kit for creating her Simple Simon bear - complete with materials and pattern - should available soon. This spring, she plans to release patterns for a Easter bonnet-clad Honey Bear, a Mr. Rabbit inspired by ``Alice in Wonderland,'' and a baby-goose-carrying Mother Goose. By mid-1996, Hindmarsh intends on having a color catalog available.
In her straightforward patterns, she divulges some of her trade secrets:
Like trimming the bear's nose so it will look old.
Like using electric dog clippers to shave the imported mohair fur - the only material she'll use - to give the bear an antique finish.
Like tips on sculpting the bear's face. She even provides information on securing the hard-to-find mohair.
``Everybody can make teddy bears,'' Hindmarsh explained. ``There are two or three steps that are really difficult ... and in my newest pattern, Simple Simon, I even eliminate them.''
Hindmarsh's passion for teddy bears can be traced to World War II, when she and her mother had to suddenly leave their home in Puerto Rico after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Put on a Red Cross troop ship bound for New York City, they could take only a few possessions. Hindmarsh took only her teddy bear.
She still has it today.
``Everyone has had a teddy bear,'' she said. ``There's just something about them. They're so lovable.''
They wear well, too.
In 1991, her 50-year-old teddy took first place at a Baltimore antique bear competition.
Although an accomplished seamstress since age 10, Hindmarsh didn't start making teddy bears until she grew up.
Even as a child, Hindmarsh developed an ``unexplained'' love for sewing.
Although her mother ``couldn't sew a stitch,'' Hindmarsh taught herself to follow a pattern, use a sewing machine and create clothes for her dolls. Before long, she was making all her own clothes - as well as her mother's - created from her own designs.
As she developed a love for theater arts, Hindmarsh soon began designing her own costumes. Then, when she became a wife and mother, she threw herself - and her children - into a variety of arts and crafts projects.
``I have an attic stuffed with our pieces,'' she said.
She also became an ardent collector - of nutcrackers, old dolls, birdhouses
``If I buy one thing, I start buying more,'' she said.
Her fascination with cloth dolls, however, started during her years in children's television.
During the '60s, Hindmarsh starred on the internationally televised ``Romper Room'' and later wrote, produced and starred in ``Miss Connie's Magic Cottage'' for CBS. She also appeared as a frequent guest on ``Captain Kangaroo.''
After turning to education in the '70s, she began incorporating her various creative talents into student projects. At one point, during the height of the Cabbage Patch craze, she even had a fourth-grade class make their own dolls.
But teddies always have been her special love. After acquiring a few highly valued Steiff bears, made in Germany, she decided to make her own versions.
Now, as a busy director of the performing arts program for the city's talented high school students, Hindmarsh finds few precious minutes to pick up the needle and create new bears. Still, in between revising scripts and creating costumes for student productions, she devotes a few hours each week in the wee hours of the morning to turn bits of mohair, bags of polyfill and odd pieces of fabric into tiny treasures.
Her creations are not static replicas of her original teddy design. Hindmarsh's bears have their own personalities and often are individualized with certain people in mind. She created a handicapped bear for a child with Down syndrome and one that mimics to her father.
To give the bears their individuality, she uses such collectibles as antique watches, flags, tiny wooden animals and other collectibles she has acquired. Once, she even dyed her wedding dress to transform it into a bear costume.
Often, the process of creating is therapeutic for her.
Recently, after the loss of her infant grandson during birth, Hindmarsh created a teddy bear angel out of an old quilt in his memory for the top of her Christmas tree. She made duplicates for the rest of her family as well.
``When you make a bear, you really can't make a mistake,'' Hindmarsh explained. ``It's yours; it's your creation. For me, it's a wonderful creative outlet. I just can't be ideal ... and I've found I just love making them.''
It's a secret no more. MEMO: Hindmarsh's patterns can be obtained by calling 588-3227. The only place
locally that carries her finished bears is The Olde Virginia Mercantile,
located at 3101 Virginia Beach Blvd., in Virginia Beach.
ILLUSTRATION: Above photo and cover photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Red Riding Hood Bear is an antique-style, 17-inch fur and cloth
teddy.
Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
This Hindmarsh creation is known as Victorian Bear.
Staff photo by GARY C. KNAPP
And this teddy is known as Angel Bear.
Connie Hindmarsh's passion for teddy bears can be traced to World
War II. At left, she cuddles her 50-year-old teddy bear, which in
1991 took first place at an antique bear competition in Baltimore.
Above, as a little girl, Hindmarsh holds the very same bear shortly
after she arrived in New York City aboard a Red Cross troop ship
that she and her mother had taken from their home in Puerto Rico. At
right, Hindmarsh as she looked during her days as Miss Connie on
``Romper Room.''
USS Teddy, left, is now known as Hindmarsh's ``signature bear.''
by CNB