Loved to Pieces
This spring I was asked to prepare a show for the Pingree School in South Hamilton, MA. I wanted to try to find a way to involve the students in the art to help them feel more connected to the show and to make art a bit more accessible. I’d had an idea mulling around in my head ever since I first saw my wife’s teddy bear, “Teddy.” She told me a story about how some of her friends in high school (Pingree) once kidnapped Teddy and left a trail of Polaroids to help her find him. I always loved this story, but I forgot about it for a few years until I saw a friend of the family’s bear that had been mauled by her dog. Despite the fact that it looks like a mutated Teddy Ruxpin, she still sleeps with the bear to this day. This got me thinking – these poor stuffed animals are some of the hardest loved objects we can imagine. But that hard lovin’ is exactly what gives them such great character!
So, I decided to seek help from the student body, the faculty, family and anyone who heard about the project. All I needed was animals who had been loved hard- or “Loved to Pieces!” I can assure you that each of these has a story as great as the looks on their faces.
I had a blast putting the project together and got a great response from the students, which was the most important thing.
Here was the card for the show:
These are the two bears that gave me the inspiration:
A collection of some of my favorites:
This dog’s name is Buster- he’s been all around the world. His grandma knitted him that sweater. The other guy came free with a box of Huggies. Doesn’t have to be expensive to do the job!
Here is a grid of about 30 – I love seeing them all together!
Thanks again to all those who parted with their loved ones for me!
