Category: Sonja’s Toys

Portraits of toys from our own collection.

Don Gato

Baby Sonja has a special cat...
Baby Sonja has a special cat...
Don Gato 5×7″ acrylic on canvas 2009 Target sold a series of fantastic yarn-knit stuffed animals a couple of years ago called L’atitude Enfant, and I bought the cat, mouse, and chicken “for Sonja” (for me.) When she was really tiny, I would wiggle the cat in her face and sing the following to the tune of the song “Don Gato:”

Baby Sonja has a special cat!
He is made of yarn and not so fat!
His red and orange and stripey (myow myow myow)
And he rocks a purple sweater (myow myow myow)
and in Spanish he’s “Don Gato!”

This painting arrive wired for hanging and framed simply in pine.

$70 plus $7 shipping












(category: Toy Portrait Series. tags: single portrait, cat, acrylic)

Domo/Penguin/Chicken

domoctp10×12″ acrylic on canvas 2009 — Around here we love Japanese design, including pop-culture characters such as Domo-kun. So here is our tiny wind-up Domo along with a penguin bath toy and a fat stuffed chicken. Can’t you just feel the situation comedy chemistry between them? You know that the chicken is the Newman, the penguin is Jerry, and Domo is probobly George.

This painting arrives wired for hanging and framed simply in pine.

$140 plus $7 shipping












Baby Bowling/Elephant

Baby Bowling/Elephant Baby Bowling/Elephant 10×12 acrylic on canvas 2009

My daughter Sonja was given two different sets of “baby bowling,” each of which consist of limbless stuffed animals and a soft ball. One of the sets contains farm animals, and the other, bought by my sister while in Australia, is mostly jungle animals plus some “mystery” creatures, rendered unidentifiable by their creative coloring and their…Australian-ness, I suppose. Purple wombat? Not sure. But it’s fun setting up a virtual army of crazy un-armed (ha ha) animals to be mown down by a merauding toddler. Here are a few of them, clearly coveting the four apendages of a small felt elephant.