Up to now my limited experience meant that most of my sentences about animals ended with the phrase "….and then they glued some fuzzies on top for fur."

Furthermore, what do artists use to create these miniature animals to give them an individual look or feel? So I went right to the source, or should I say sources, and asked our gallery artisans and forum members to share the how and why of creating animals and bears.

For me, handcrafted miniature animals or bears fall into three categories.

The first is the realistic category as seen in the work of artisans such as Bridget McCarty, IGMA Fellow Kerri Pajutee, Linda Master, Lucy Maloney, IGMA Artisan Stephanie Brown, and Nicky Cooper.

Then there is the whimsical category where you might find the work of Aleah Klay, Courtney Strong, and Mariella Vitale, to name a few.

Then there is the final category, somewhere between the first two. These are the animals that are produced using life-like materials but are posed or showcased in a whimsical way by artists like Ann Fisher, Kristy Taylor, and Christa Chayata.