8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. Matt’s wife loves art, personalization, and this stuffed dog, so could there be a more appropriate gift for her than a custom portrait of her favorite toy? She has had this dog, known simply as “Dog,” ever since she was a toddler, and it has lived with her in Texas, Chicago, and Washington D.C. While planning the painting, Matt and I pondered a question I encounter quite often in my line of work: Just what color is this toy? Matt figures that it is more light grey than beige, although it might have been beige at one time, and he pointed out Dog’s faded black spots and chocolate brown ears. I always love to paint an incidental pillow, and that bolster behind Dog has a great texture. Matt will give this portrait to his wife as a Christmas gift.
Tag: pillow
Ella and Bunny
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. I’m absolutely honored to have now made paintings as for all three of Susan’s children as gifts celebrating the births of their babies! For Susan’s first son, there was this vintage Snoopy blanket-head, followed by these two toys belonging to Susan’s daughter and her husband. And here we have another symbolic marriage portrait of another son and his wife’s beloved toys as they await the July birth of their child. “Ella” the elephant and Susan’s son were truly bonded when the toy brought him comfort through surgery on his bladder at the age of five. Although Ella remained by his side throughout childhood, Susan notes that he did leave her behind when he entered the Marine Corps! This wonderful stuffed bunny was Susan’s daughter-in-law’s very favorite bedtime toy as a child. Susan’s house is sure to be filled with excitement, drama, and laughter for the forseeable future — congratulations to her growing family!
Old and New Bunnies
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012.
Two generations, two beloved bunny blanket-heads! When Chelsea was little, there were several toys which earned the moniker “Lovie,” but this flat, funny-faced bunny was the last and best. She has had him since the age of three and he now resides safely in a cabinet next to the shoes Chelsea wore at her wedding. Her husband sometimes teases her about it, but she is quick to point out the Lovie has been around a lot longer than he has! When their son Bix was born, a family friend gave him a bunny blanket of his own in honor of Chelsea’s own cherished toy. Bix adores his bunny too, and so Chelsea thought it only natural that the two toys be immortalized side-by-side in a portrait! The blanket-head phenomenon seems to be fairly recent (and ubiquitous!), so I’m always excited to see a “vintage” blanket animal. (Here’s another one!) Chelsea won this custom painting in a giveaway kindly hosted by Mamatoga this spring.
Bun Bun Pillow
9″x12″ acrylic, 2012. This portrait shall forever be known to me as the one that taught me a valuable lesson about social media! It was commissioned by Michele, who had learned about my business on Dooce last year but was actually local and had gone to high school with my husband. Small world! The painting would be a gift for her sister, Morgan, who was expecting twin boys, for her upcoming baby shower. Well, after she dropped off Morgan’s beloved childhood stuffed bunny, I was quite excited both about having a “live” model to paint and also about the challenge of making a printed-fabric toy appear three dimensional on canvas. So I took a snapshot of my floppy guest and posted it to my Your Toy Portrait Facebook page. Several hours later, I got an email from Michele telling me that a her cousin had somehow seen the photo on Facebook and, thinking, “Hey, that looks like Morgan’s Bun Bun!” he posted to Morgan’s page! Morgan evidently burst out laughing, looked around and found that Bun Bun was missing, and called Michele saying “What have you done?” Michele assured me (I was HORRIFIED) that Morgan had no idea what was happening specifically, so it would still be a suprise. Since this incident, of course, if there is any chance of the recipient finding out about it, I never discuss an in-progress portrait online! Lesson learned. In other news, this very soft, sweet-faced bunny is one of the few toys that have come into my studio that was absolutely adored by my daughter! We were both sorry to see Bun Bun go.
Reclining Dog
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. I painted this pup while on “vacation” with my husband’s family (read: frantically working while temporarily surrounded by babysitters!). It’s a classic Carter’s dog which plays music when its tail is pulled, and he belongs to the son of design blogger Kristen. It’s evident from her gorgeous blog that Kristen has extraordinary taste, and so I was sure to include in my portrait the lovely striped, ruffled pillow against which the dog was set in the photos Kristen provided. On a day too rainy for the beach, we ended up at a Carter’s outlet where I happened upon this very stuffed dog! 
It felt bizarre but cathartic to meet him there while being so immersed in the minutae of his features… a bit like running into someone you’ve recently dreamed about or have been stalking on Facebook. What?
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Stewie
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. A couple of days each week, I pack Sonja and what seems like everything we own into my car and commute 45 minutes north to my parents house. There’s one bag for Sonja’s stuff, one for my running clothes and shoes, a cooler for food and drink, my laptop, my giant purse, and a big bag of art gear. A welcome uptick in business this year has caused me to need to use these visits to cram in as much painting as possible while Sonja enjoys her grandparents. This was fine when it was cold, but now that it is gorgeous and warm, it hurts a little when they run off to go canoeing or swimming. My parents live in Lake Luzerne, NY, which is packed with all manner of Adirondack-y delights, such as this spot:
…where I could be found last summer basking on a rock….
…but this year, I’m mostly here at my parent’s dining-room table while the three of them are off playing.
But this past Friday, I had remembered the kitchen sink but forgotten the correct-sized canvas for the portrait commission I was planning to work on. Frustrated, I turned to the stash of toys that my mom keeps there for Sonja (which deserves an entire post unto itself – stay tuned!) and decided to paint the main bear of the house, Stewie. In keeping with what seems to be trend in my recent work, Stewie reclines on an embroidered pillow. I think that if this happens again, I should probobly go out and enjoy the lake instead… summer is short!
Collin’s Bear
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. This portrait is the second of two paintings won last year in a blockbuster Design Mom holiday jackpost giveaway. The big winner was Jo, and of her son Collin’s favorite things, she chose his toy ukulele and this wonderful blue bear to be painted. I love that the bear is sporting a rather boyish shirt along with a silky bow at the neck. He’s well rounded! He’s seated next to the same gorgeous avian pillow that appeared in the Ukulele portrait. Jo tells me that the arrival of these portraits might help Collin feel loved and special during the difficult adjustment to a new baby in the family.
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More info about prints here.
Collin’s Ukulele
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Here is one of two paintings which were won over a year ago in an amazing giveaway over at Design Mom! The giveaway included a pair of my custom portraits as one part of a huge jackpot of goodies, and Jo was the lucky winner. Jo and I fell in and out of correspondence over the ensuing year. As she pondered which of her son Collin’s toys to choose, Jo did some world traveling and had another baby! At long last, here is Collin’s very special ukulele. I was delighted by the beautiful pillow beside it, not only due to my recent pillow-painting binge, but because of the sweet mama bird/baby birds motif… so appropriate for Jo at this point in her life!
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More info about prints here.
Grey Bunny
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. I’m really enjoying that many of the recent toys I’ve painted have been propped against pretty pillows! It could be that I am exceedingly sleepy as I write this, but the sweet embroidery and smooth texture of this pillowcase is just fascinating to me. This much-loved bunny, known simply as “Lovey,” belongs to a new high-school graduate. The portrait was commissioned by Debi, a close friend of her mother, and will be a graduation gift.
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Anna’s Doll, Pillow, and Blanket
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Anna is just about to turn sixteen, but these three objects have surrounded and supported her since babyhood. Anna’s Grandma put Dolly in her crib before she was born, and the pillow was made for her from a quilt by Anna’s aunt. The blanket was also a gift and is embroidered with Anna’s name and birthdate. The deep-blue, gold-starred wallpaper which adorns the walls of Ann’s room can be seen in the background. The now-tattered Dolly has been lost and found several times, and the family carefully considered how to preserve her. Anna’s Grandma suggested framing her, but Anna wanted to be able to touch Dolly even though she has (very recently!) stopped sleeping with her. This portrait is certainly a solution which immortalizes Dolly while leaving her available for even more love! It will be a birthday gift for Anna from her mother, Karen.
Order a print of this painting:
More info about prints here.