Tag: tag

Woobie

8″x10″ acrylic, 2013. A couple of years ago, I painted a white stuffed tiger for Jen’s then-two-year-old daughter Samantha. Now that Samantha’s baby brother Jack is old enough to have made his allegiance clear to a particular beloved toy, Jen commissioned a portrait of Jack’s monkey blanket-head “Woobie!” Jen asked me to be sure to include the worn white tag attached to the blanket, which, as you might be aware, is the most important part of the toy. When he is falling asleep, Jack rubs the tag against his face (or has one of his parents perform this soothing ritual.) As I’ve mentioned in many other posts, the phenomenon of baby tag obsession is quite familiar to everyone in our household!

Piglet and Sheepie

9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. This is the first of two paintings in a multi-generational portrait project involving four toys, each belonging to a different close member of Lynne’s family. Here we see Piglet, who belongs to Lynne’s fifteen-year-old granddaughter Alexandra, and Sheepie, who is the favorite of seven-year-old granddaughter Reilly. Piglet once shared Alexandra’s crib and affections with a stuffed Barney, but proved to have more staying power. As a small child Alexandra fell asleep each night stroking Piglet’s silky tag, which is now threadbare. Lynne suspects that Piglet will be attending college with Alexandra in a few years. In Reilley’s crib, Sheepie’s floppy, bean-baggy appeal also outlasted other stuffed toys. Sheepie’s real name is “Mary,” but Lynne is pretty sure she wouldn’t answer to that.
The second painting in this duo will feature the beloved toys of the girls’ parents, Lynne’s daughter Julie and Julie’s husband David. I absolutly adore the idea of portraits of couple’s toys together – I’ve been lucky enough to do one other , and hope for many more!

Piglet — this belongs to my 15 year old granddaughter Alexandra. We all know and love Piglet, and he’s been with her since her days in the crib. In the very early years he had to share space with Barney, but Piglet had staying power. Alex fell asleep each night stroking Piglet’s silky tag, which is now threadbare of course. When she travels cross country to visit me, Piglet always comes along. I’m sure he’ll be attending college in a few years too.

Sheepie, or “Mary” — Sheepie’s official name is Mary, but no one calls her that. (She probably wouldn’t answer). She is the best friend of my 7 year old granddaughter Reilly, and they were both born in Guam. There were lots of stuffed animals that visited Reilly’s crib and bed as a youngster, but most of them just came and went. Sheepie stayed, and now gets to go on car trips and vacations. She has a floppy beanbag feel, and because of that she is an expert cuddler. She’ll be coming to see me later this month, when Reilly flies out for a visit.

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Olivia’s Bunny

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Well, I’m pretty sure that this is the fuzziest bunny I have ever painted! I got lost in it’s pink fur for hours and hours, and enjoyed almost every minute of it. The bunny and the nubby blanket beneath it belong to Olivia, who turns one in October. Olivia has kept both objects close to her day and night ever since she was born. She especially loves to rub the bunny’s ear on her face as she falls asleep, to chew on its feet and arm, and to play with the all-important tag. This portrait will be a birthday gift for Olivia from her parents.

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Thumkin

9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. This floppy little Waldorf doll belongs to Beth’s two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Isabelle. The tag is Isabelle’s favorite part of Thumkin, of course. Several months ago, Beth mused about a portrait of Isabelle’s beloved Thumkin and wrote about my work on her lovely blog. Beth wrote me that since Thumkin “has not left Isabelle’s hand for longer than a wash-dry cycle since she was 7 months old, that scrap of fabric really does become a cherished family member… I realized the other day that at some point, the Velveteen Rabbit syndrom will occur and Thumkin will be forgotten.” Beth decided to have this portrait made because “on one hand is just that little scrap of fabric, but on the other hand is the embodiment of my daughter’s babyhood.” I mentioned to Beth that I often encounter toys which have been loved by a child well into adulthood. As long as Thumkin doesn’t completely disintigrate, he may hang around longer that you expect!

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Licorice

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. The most important part of this stuffed Blabla “Licorice” dog is not shown in this portrait. it is, of course, his tag! Like many little children, three-year-old Lucas finds the tag on his favorite toy to be the element most deserving of his attention. My own Sonja was also obsessed with tags, which was such an amusing suprise to me, as I had never heard of this phenomenon! Here she is, obsessing over the “best” part of a little pink bear:

Lucas has had this floppy toy, which he simply calls “Dog,” since he was a tiny baby. His mother, Amy, tells me that he loves to suck his fingers while snuggling with him. This portrait will be a gift for Lucas’ upcoming fourth birthday.

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