Brimbin Forest Bears

Lyn Clapham is the Australian artist behind Brimbin Forest Bears, creating distinctive, expressive bears filled with personality, color, and character.

Lyn’s path to bear making grew out of a lifelong love of animals, sewing, and creative work. Born in England, she later lived in South Africa and New York before eventually making her home in Australia, experiences that helped shape the broad range of influences seen in her work.

Brimbin Forest Bears takes its name from the beautiful natural surroundings of Brimbin Forest in New South Wales, Australia. The wildlife, landscape, and changing colors of the Australian bush have provided a rich source of inspiration for Lyn’s imaginative designs.

Over the years, Lyn has explored many different styles of bear making, from traditional and nostalgic designs to wonderfully colorful contemporary bears. Rather than following a single formula, she allows each bear to develop its own individual personality through proportion, expression, texture, and color.

Many of Lyn’s bears are made from carefully selected mohair, including richly colored and hand-dyed fabrics that give her work its distinctive appearance. Her thoughtful use of color is one of the qualities that makes Brimbin Forest Bears immediately recognizable.

Faces receive particular attention. Painted glass eyes, carefully sculpted features, and subtle detailing give the bears wonderfully expressive personalities. Small differences in the shape of a muzzle, the placement of the ears, or the expression of the eyes can completely change the character of a finished bear.

Lyn has also experimented throughout her career with aged and timeworn finishes, including the nostalgic “attic bear” look, but these represent only one aspect of a much broader body of work. Her bears range from softly traditional to bright, playful, and wonderfully unexpected.

Each Brimbin Forest Bear is individually created by Lyn, with the handwork and careful attention to detail that collectors value in artist-made bears. No two are quite alike, and each develops a personality entirely its own.

Lyn continues to create Brimbin Forest Bears today, and I’m delighted to feature a selection of her work at Arts&Souls.