12″x12″ acrylic, 2010. Many times when people send me photos of a stuffed animal, they send images of the “real” toy and also the “backup” toy — meaning, of course, the one in current circulation that is missing facial features, is dingy and worn and beloved, and the identical one that was purchased to replace it when it is lost or just completely dissolves. Such was the case with Lambie, who belongs to Holly’s 9-year-old daughter. It was absolutely striking to see the difference between Lambie and her unused counterpart. The real Lambie’s face has taken on an uncanny, soulful, human-like expression, while the backup Lambie is simply very cute. I suspect that if I worked from the photos of the backup toy, Holly’s little girl would not have recognized her!
Category: Custom Portraits
Meme
8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. Meme is a handmade, 2 and 1/2 foot tall horse that was found by my sister Jill in a thrift shop on an Indian reservation in northern Wisconsin. He now stands guard in Jill’s home office, and she requested this portrait of Meme for her birthday. He’s a bit tattered, so I painted his “good” side — the one with an eye!
Moo-moos
5″x7″ acrylic, 2010. Stuffed cow Moo-moos has been loved into a permanent floppy-headed expression of contentment. He belongs to Sarah’s four-year-old daughter, who carries him by his neck and rubs one of his ear under her nose when she sucks her finger. This portrait is one of two won by Sarah in the recent Design Mom giveaway. Sarah intends to give the paintings to her children for thier bedrooms when they move into their new house next month!
A Tiger and His Tail
8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. I love getting specific instructions with a toy portrait assignment — then I know at least one thing about the painting might be just right! In this case, Jennifer told me that this stuffed tiger’s tail was of great importance, as her 2-yr-old Samantha likes to rub her face with it. Also, because Samantha always spoons the tiger at night, he would best be pictured from the side, as that is how she mostly sees him. The initial study for this painting was made before I got all that vital info — good thing Jennifer let me know! The tiger was purchased by when Sam was 7 months old by her “Mimi” (grandma) at FAO Schwarz in Las Vegas. Samantha just recently discovered that there are actually two tigers — one at Mimi’s and one at home! And in keeping with my recent inclination toward color-scheme tributes, this one seems to have recieved the Picasso Blue Period treatment.
Bunny Rabbit
8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. A million thanks to Melissa at www.suburbanbliss.net“>www.suburbanbliss.com for hosting the custom toy portrait giveaway that resulted in this painting! There were an amazing 448 comments/entries, and almost all of them wrote a brief description of a quirky, beloved toy that deserves to be imortalized. I wish I could paint them all! This bunny belongs to the son of winner Elizabeth — he is called, of course, Bunny Rabbit. His slightly bemused posture and expression were a delight to paint, and I found myself choosing a palette which evokes one of my favorite artists, Wayne Thiebaud.
Tiger Study
8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. This quick painting is a study for a commission that I am working on, and the final painting will show him from a different angle. My husband has requested that I add some flames to the background of this rough version…I’m considering it.
Freckles
11″x14″ acrylic, 2010. Freckles, a fine example of the genius amalgam of stuffed toy and security blanket, belongs to 2-yr-old Nadia. Her mother Jessica bought it for Nadia when she was too tiny to appreciate him, but she now turns to Freckles when sad, scared, or sleepy. Jessica says that when Nadia started daycare, Freckles made the transition easier (for both of them) with his presence as a familiar friend.
Snuffles
8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. Mamaista was kind enough to host a toy portrait giveaway, and the winner was Casey from the excellent blog www.mooshinindy.com! Snuffles, a classic, Gund bear, is her own childhood toy. His velvet nose is long worn away and he has bald spots behind one ear and on his belly. Although this general type of Gund bear was pretty common when most of us were kids, Casey points out that it’s rare to find one that is dark brown! Casey’s daughter Addie also been given two of these bears, both of a light tan color. I had a white one, myself. Had. Hmmm, where is he?