Kuzma
Anastasia or Tasya
When her daughter, Diana was little, she loved to play with bear toys and Gloria's husband regularly brought her teddies from different cities and countries.
On one occasion, Gloria knitted a bear for her daughter, and her bear making had begun!
Close to her home was a small shop where she started selling her handmade bears and buds. It wasn't long afterwards that she was encouraged by her eldest daughter, Victoria, to participate in a teddy bear show in Moscow. From that time on, her daughter has been presenting her creations regularly at different teddy fairs.
"When I was a little girl, I loved colored books. These books, as well as the information that is now available on the Internet, are what help me create my bears."
Her love of experimenting drives her to make different bears; always changing the patterns to make something new.
"Most of the time I envision what I'd like the bear to look like just from looking at the material that I am thinking about using. It's also during the process of creating that a lot of elements and accessories are utilized."
Every bear comes alive to her and they have different characters. "Currently there is a very active awareness regarding the Arctic Zone and I worry about the Polar bears there. It pushes me to create white Polar bears and Polar bear vignettes.
Bears have always been a cherished animal symbol of Russia. Nowadays bears are used as governmental symbols as well. That's why Gloria chose the name Russian BEARloga. Bearloga in Russian means "bear den."
And that is her wish for her beloved teddy bear community, "I wish all of you to have a wonderful year filled with sweet honey, baby bears and
a warm den." |
From childhood, Gloria Strezova of Russian BEARloga, loved to create. At the time she lived in Baku, Russia which is closed to the Caspian Sea.
Her grandfather, Nikolai, made small tools for her to use, such as a hammer and a saw and explained how to use them. Her grandmother, Antonia, taught her how to sew and create clothes for her dolls.
It was this early exposure to creating that fueled Gloria's desire to create.
During her school years, she made toys from different materials; paper, plastic and fir cones. "I even wanted to study doll design at University." However her studies took her in a different direction and she specialized in architecture.
After graduation she worked as a restorer/designer of Muslim monuments of architecture. It was in Tashkent (now Uzbekistan) where she started her family before moving to her current residence in Kasnodar.
When her son, Vasily was born, there were big changes in Russia and many International tourists started coming to visit Uzbekistan, Russia.
"At the time I was on maternity leave and started creating and selling dolls wearing Russian style clothes. These dolls became very popular and are now living in different countries."
Twins
Mother and baby bear
Fisherman Tod |
3428 Hillvale Road 
