NEWS ARCHIVE 2016

26 Jan 2016 | The PBE Teddy Bear (Made in Japan) | PBE (Play by Ear)

in collaboration with Japan’s top teddy bear artist- Terumi Yoshikawa

While PBE, founded in 2003, is primarily a contemporary music school, we have always been pleased to associate our brand identity with all forms of art because it enhances and harmonizes with our musicality, our teaching methodology and our eccentric style of free expression. This year, we are pleased to collaborate with Terumi Yoshikawa, arguably Japan’s foremost artist in the teddy bear industry, on the PBE Teddy Bear. Terumi’s works of art are archived in the Decorative Arts Museum in Paris as well as the Teddy Bear Museums in America, Switzerland and Korea. In three consecutive years between 2009 and 2011, Terumi received the Golden Teddy Award in Germany for some of her most notable works which include the ‘Masako -雅子様ベア’ and the ‘Takashimiya Princess Aiko-敬宮愛子さま’

“My task was to create a handmade, original, one-off, made-in-Japan Teddy bear using an exotic type of leather which they proposed. It poses a problem because the leather moves around and stretches when sewing. It was tough, a challenge but an exhilarating one that inspired my creativity. I enjoyed the working process because of their direction, their obvious joy, and their devotion to the project. I was encouraged by their enthusiasm and appreciation.” – Terumi Yoshikawa

“Expression is what keeps all artists driven. Whether one is a painter, a musician or a sculptor, all artists have common need: the freedom to express pride and passion. If you put the money-making process as your first priority, the resulting product, while it may exhibit technique, will never be true art, art with imagery and without boundaries." – PBE Founder