Born in Montana, Jeff grew up surrounded by wilderness and wildlife.
An avid outdoorsman, Jeff and his family enjoy all the adventure Montana
has to offer: hiking and riding horses in the mountains, fishing the
lakes, rafting and kayaking the rivers, and skiing through the winter
months. "Montana is an outdoor paradise and I love the wilderness and
all things wild."
Jeff's art career began in 1985. "I've always enjoyed working with wood
and began by sculpting large wood carvings.
Whimsical bears have always been my favorite subject and I've carved hundreds of bears from little
cubs on up to huge bears standing 20' tall."
Jeff's original and commissioned woodcarvings have been shipped
around the world and can be found in many private and corporate
collections, most National Parks, and Disney World. In 1993, Jeff partnered with Big Sky Carvers to reproduce his
whimsical bear designs, starting with Big Sky Bears™,
a collection of wood carved bears sold throughout the US and Canada. He
then went on to create Bearfoots™, a
collection of whimsical black bears that have been sold and collected
worldwide.
The loveable Bearfoots popularity soon soared, and have been
produced in many forms such as cast resin figurines, dishes and cookie
jars, plush, benches, coffee tables, flower planters, clothing,
blankets, pillows, Christmas ornaments, chocolates, note cards and many
other products.
Jeff has had a long and prolific career as an
Artist and continues to create new bear designs.
Most recently, he has
been sculpting a wonderful collection of bears cast in bronze, and he
also enjoys painting his favorite bears.
Jeff and his family live in Northwest Montana
near Glacier National Park and work together at Jeff's Bear Country
Studio and Gallery in Kalispell, Montana.