Jane Wellman

Jane trained as a dancer at The Rambert School of Ballet and began her professional career with ballet companies in Austria and Germany. During her four years working on the continent she took singing lessons and on her return to Britain performed mainly in musicals in the West End and Regional Repertory Theatres. She has performed in over forty stage, film TV & radio productions and leading roles include Jemima in Cats at The New London Theatre and Polly Brown in The Boyfriend at The Old Vic and Albery Theatres.

Jane is married to actor Paul Leonard and they have two children. She retired from performing after having her children and extended her horizons to Personal Presentation Skills Consultancy and Theatre Production. Jane and her husband were co-producers with Crimson Lake Productions which mounted the new musical Dearly Beloved at The Bridewell Theatre in May 1997. This musical went on to win the Vivien Ellis Award for Best New Musical in October 1998.

Knitting and sewing have always been keen hobbies for Jane and after attending a bear making course with Delia Blackman she became ‘hooked’ on this delightful craft. After giving a few bears as presents she began to get commissions and by the end of 1997 serious bear creation under the G-Rumpy Bears name was well established. Jane sells to a small number of specialist shops like Abracadabra in Saffron Waldon and Sue Pearson in Brighton. - do contact Jane for more details of other retail outlets.

As you can see from the photos, Jane gets some inspiration from the family dog who is appropriately named ‘Teddy’. Top picture, he is about 9 months old and in the other picture he is just over 3 years old and wonderfully scruffy – a real character.

" When designing my bears I like to combine elements from both the traditional and modern styles. Modern materials such as plastic pellets, glass balls and polyester stuffing allow more versatility however, I like to include as many traditional features as possible. The expression in the face must speak of warmth and friendship. I like to feel my bears are a form of therapy - highly tactile and comforting whilst their cheeky smiles will hopefully make you laugh. "