11″x14″ acrylic, 2010. Sharon has 3 children with four favorite toys between them. There are two “Bunnies,” the largest belonging to five-year-old Luke. The second “Bunny” and “Quack Quack” are three-year-old Lilah’s blanket animals. “Mr. Elephant” belongs to 8-month-old Daniel. Sharon commissioned this portrait of the entire group to hang in her own bedroom! I love this idea — it’s like a sort of symbolic, metaphorical portrait of her children.
Category: Custom Portraits
James
8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. James is undoubtedly the most media-savy stuffed robot you will ever meet. He presides over Lisa‘s coffee table while she blogs with wit and charm about social media and modern entrepeneurial issues. About 12 inches tall and made from red cable-knit yarn, James scares Lisa’s guests by being so adorable that they can’t even stand it!
Gwen’s Doll
8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. I was so happy to make this painting for little Gwen, daughter of our good friend Bob. She is just enough ahead of our Sonja in age that Bob has been passing down some pretty hefty essentials to us as the kids have grown! In fact when I was pregnant, I remember that one of the first things to make our impending baby real to me was seeing the infant car seat sitting in the middle of our living room floor, having just been dropped off by Bob and Gwen. And now Sonja rides in Gwen’s former toddler seat. Bob is an awesome guy, and Gwen is beyond adorable. I hope that she finds that this portrait does justice to her constant companion “Dolly!”
Maddie’s Bear
5″x7″ acrylic, 2010. This portrait will be the second I have painted for Melissa’s household… a hopefully less disturbing counterpoint to the first, which was of “Choppable,” Melissa’s husband’s childhood toy. This red bear belongs to her daughter Maddie, who is now 12. You can read about the sweet relationship between Maddie and her bear on Melissa’s wonderful, very funny blog.
Stuffed Bear/Real Cat Challenge
9″x12″ acrylic, 2009. This was a very tough asignment! As a Christmas gift for his girlfriend, Jonathan asked that I paint a portrait of her childhood teddy bear next to her beloved, recently deceased cat. In order to keep the project secret, Jonathan was only able to provide me with blurry, tiny photos of each of them. We had a couple of discussions about relative scale, and then I just dove in and did my best. I hope that what might have gotten lost in the details comes through in spirit!
Ellie
5″x7″ acrylic, 2010. A tiny portrait commissioned by Kara for her nephew Nici — Ellie T. Smith was bought by his grandmother at a Carter’s outlet when Nici was one, and is being immortalized in paint because she is already showing a lifetime of wear after only two years. Nici’s mother suggests that Ellie may embody some yin to the yang in Nici’s personality: she notes that one of her favorite photos of her is of Nici and his friend wearing baseball hats, and Nici is carrying Ellie. “I think she represents his sensitive side,” she writes. Kara made the poignant observation that, as Nici grows older and she looks back on his childhood, she will always think of Ellie. I love that this portrait has significance for the grownups too!
Iuppa
8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. You may assume, because this is a painting of a stuffed dolphin, that those round things along side of it are supposed to be bubbles. But in fact they are pearl onions! Elizabeth, who commissioned this portrait for her husband, suggested that I work an onion or two into the picture. Her husband has had Iuppa the Dolphin since childhood, and when he was small he was really into pearl onions. One day when he was little, he told his parents that Iuppa was very upset. When they asked him what would make the dolphin feel better, he said, “Give him an onion!” I don’t think that would work for me, but what I guess there is a lot I don’t know about wildlife.
Pink Bunny
5″x7″ acrylic, 2009. When he commissioned this little painting as a gift for his girlfriend, Ben requested that in the portrait this bunny be restored somewhat to it’s former pinkness. She has had this much-loved toy since childhood, and in the photos provided it does indeed appear to be a worn-out white. So hopefully the rosey tinge to the fur in ths painting will bring back some nice memories!
Catherine’s Doll
8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. This little doll holds special significance to her family. “Dottie” is a small, soft doll that was given to Catherine by her grandmother shortly before she passed away. Catherine’s aunt, Mary, commissioned this painting as a Christmas gift for Catherine, and also to honor her mother’s last gift to her niece. I was lucky enough to get to get to be present when Catherine first saw the painting, and it was a thrill to see the recognition in her face!
Twinkles and Dusky
8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. This portrait of Twinkles the cat and Dusky the golden retriever were commissioned by Darby for her sister Annie. Annie was in on the project, and she shared some nice background info about these two. They have both been with her since childhood and through the lifetimes of several beloved pets, including two golden retrievers. She says that Dusky has been wonderful physical stand-in for her dogs whenever she can’t be with them (at college for example,), and is also an eternal reminder of how adorable they were as puppies. I had the pleasure of their company in my studio while I painted them (rather than photos) as Darby and Annie were kind enough to lend them to me.