8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. Certain people tend to anthropomorphize stuffed animals more than others, and those people are sometimes adults — adults who might happen to be married to me. And other people with the same tendencies might happen to be employed by my husband. And so a bizarro transaction took place involving this lion. Said employee had two identical lions. One was at home, and the other she kept at work because if they were together they “might fight.” Greg was concerned that some harm would come to the “work lion” if left there, and so he convinced the lion’s owner that he would give it a good life in the care of our Sonja. So far the poor lion has been working long hours modeling in my studio, but I think now I will set it free in the wilds of the nursery.
Category: Sonja’s Toys
Portraits of toys from our own collection.
Bowling Pin Pig
8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. This pig is from our AMERICAN baby bowling set, the one with recognizable animals. I was discussing the wackiness of our Australian set with my sister today, and she figured that it was constructed by Indonesian child sweat-shops working with whatever random fabrics were available (hence red and blue monkey-type animal, and something that might be a blue rhino). Or, we’re boring.
Totoro and Hamtaro, Take 3
8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. These two seem to have that certain something — those great big, round, maniacal eyes seem to say, “take us home so we can stare at you from that presently blank spot on your wall!” I have sold two variations on this theme this year already, so I thought I would make another one for an upcoming show. I’m not sure if their paths would actually cross in their bizarro Japanese pop culture worlds, but I’d like to think so,
Knit Cow
5″x7″ acrylic, 2009. This little painting is of one of the L’attitude Enfant series of adorable yarn animals that we got at Target. It is also another example of a toy that I think is irresistable and that Sonja really couldn’t care less about. We have a whole posse of these things and she barely acknowledges them. Hey, guess what her newest, proudest, loudest word of the week is? ELMO.
Hubert
8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. Hubert has been with me since I was a baby. He is about 2 feet tall and used to sport a black pince-nez. To say that he’s seen better days is an understatement — he’s kind of too dirty to cuddle, but is still awesome and might just continue to pose in the corner of my studio like this to keep me company.
Choo Choo
11″x14″ acrylic, 2009. Our nephew Sean is choo-choo CRAZY. (Or should I say “loco?”) So when his little brother, who was born this week, made his presence known, I painted this wooden train as a gift for the boys. I was quite relieved that Sean liked it despite the lack of a certain familiar face at the front of the engine!
Brown Giraffe
5″x7″ acrylic on canvas, 2009. What would I do without my mother’s ridiculous garage sale radar? I think that I would have about 25% of my current possessions and my daughter would be naked and really bored. Continue reading “Brown Giraffe”
Crinkle Bee/Peter Rabbit
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8×10″, acrylic on canvas, 2009. Our baby-shower gift registry had one general preference listed: NO PINK! Yeah, that did not last past the first “Oh, he’s adorable!” And besides, no-one listened. One shower gift that we recieved that I almost threw in the trash in horror was this pink bee with crinkley wings. It had hard, lumpy, squeeze-activated, whiney music player that made me want to jump out a window. My mother covertly removed the music tumor, re-sewed its belly, and put in the hands of Sonja who of course LOVED it. Oh, well. In this portrait it is paired with my husband’s adorable childhood Peter Rabbit in order to balance good and evil.
This painting arrives wired for hanging and framed simply in pine.
$140 plus $7 shipping
Totoro/Hamtaro
9×12″, acrylic on canvas, 2009. This dual portrait was so nice I had to make it twice! It was sold during my recent show at Uncommon Grounds, and someone who had seen it and wanted to give it to his girlfriend for her birthday was really disappointed. He called me while I was on vacation in Delaware and explained his situation, and I offered to try my best to reproduce it quickly upon my return… Continue reading “Totoro/Hamtaro”
Choo Choo Chicken/Ikea Bear
9×12 oil on canvas 2005 — I have to confess — I not-so-accidently misplaced this white bear when we moved into this house. I just always got a bad vibe from it. I bought it at Ikea many years ago, liking it’s bizarre proportions, but it had a weasel-y, unpleasant expression and creepy felt claws. I never wanted it to be in the room with the baby, so now it’s gone. However, the chicken in this picture has become Sonja’s most crucially important toy!
This painting arrives wired for hanging and framed simply in pine.
$100.00 plus $7 shipping