Category: Toy Portraits

Custom portraiture and paintings of Sonja’s toys

Piglet and Sheepie

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

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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Red Teddy and Scuppers

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

9″x12″ acryic, 2011. Here’s the second of two paintings in a multi-generational portrait project commissioned by Lynne for her family. While the first depicts the beloved toys of Lynne’s grandchildren, this painting commemorates their parents’ childhood favorites. Lynne’s daughter Julie was given Red Teddy when she was two years old. He was purchased by second-hand by Julie’s grandmother as a toy for her dogs, but Julie quickly claimed him for herself. Red Teddy was by Julie’s side through school, college, and into her grown-up life as a nurse and mother. Julie’s husband David loved the book “Scuppers the Sailor Dog” when he was small, and when his parents bought him this stuffed dog, it was named after the book. David continued to love boats and sailing all his life, eventually joining the Navy! Even though he ultimately became a physician, Lynne tells me that David would probobly rather be sailing than anything else. These two toys have witnessed so much of the lives of this husband and wife, making this a sort of sweet, symbolic portrait of the couple. Thanks to Lynne for a wonderful idea!

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Pound Puppy 2.0

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011.
This portrait might look a bit familiar… it is my second painting of Meriwether’s beloved Pound Puppy, which she has had since childhood. When she recieved the original portrait, her mother liked it so much that Meriwether decided to order another one for her, too! This situation was an exciting first for me, although it is not the first time I’ve painted the same subjects multiple times: Here are two versions of a squishy Hello Kitty, and two of Hamtaro and Totoro posing together.

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Olivia’s Bunny

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

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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Yellow Bunny

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Funny how it happens like this, but a couple of weeks ago it seemed as though everyone who has ever won an auction or giveaway portrait contacted me at the same time! Stephanie was the recipient of an custom portrait at an auction benefitting a California elementary school in March. This bunny is the favorite of third-grade son, who is still very attached to it. I was very excited by the rich, Rembrandt-y tones of the photos Stephanie sent me, and had fun working with a darker palette. However, the overall surface of this thing is extremely shiny and difficult to photograph! I’ve been advised to look into flash diffusers…

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Breckin’s Giraffe

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Last year, my neighbor Colleen found me via a local Etsy search and had me paint her daughter Emilia’s pink bunny blanket-head. It was close to Christmas when I delivered the portrait, and I felt like Santa Claus pulling my daughter and Colleen’s package around town on a sled! She told me then that whenever her baby boy came to attach to a particular toy, she would commission a portrait of his favorite too. As it turns out, Breckin also chose a blanket-head as his favorite, this time a sleepy, funny-faced giraffe. Just as Emilia’s bunny did in her portrait, the giraffe blanket reclines on another special blanket, which is amusingly “meta” to me. I’m also honored to have painted Colleen’s beloved (real) cat, which I will post tomorrow!

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Puppy and Bear

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Ding ding ding! The bells are going off as Patrick racks up Awesome Husband points for finding his wife a unique and special birthday gift. When she happened upon my website a couple of months ago, Patrick’s wife mentioned in passing that she would really like a portrait of their children’s two loveys. I wonder if he let on that he had tuned into that, or, as my husband might do to fake me out, just made an affirmative noise while staring at his phone? Patrick covertly commissioned a little portrait of Puppy and Bear, belonging to Liam (1) and Jack (3), respectively. Jack’s favorite part of Bear is his tail, which is well-worn, and Liam loves the silky undersides of Puppy’s ears. I hope that this portrait preserves a sweet, fleeting period in the boys’ childhood for years to come!

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Pound Puppy

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. I was very psyched about my very first vintage Pound Puppy portrait, but not as excited as my husband, a true child of the eighties whose collection even included a Pound Pur-r-rie. I’m just enough ahead of him in years that the Pound Puppy phenomenon was of little interest to me when it hit. But I get it! They were quirky and cute, a little tragic, and had that distinctiveness that made them classic. This little portrait of “Doggie” commemorates the childhood favorite of fabulously-named Meriwether, who commissioned the painting as a fun gift to herself.

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Thumkin

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

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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Orange Anteater

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. I love worn, washed-out lovies, but Veronika rocked my world with this orange velour anteater and a preference for an aqua background! Because Veronika has friends who are local to me, I was lucky enough to meet Veronika personally when she came to pick up the painting and also to have the toy model “live” in my studio. It was such fun to see Veronika’s excited reaction! She bought this Jellycat anteater (or aardvark, according to the Jellycat site) while pregnant with baby Kamar, who is just about to turn one. Although Kamar has not specifically attached to the anteater yet, Veronika has, and she hopes that this portrait will help cultivate the toy’s importance in Kamar’s eyes!

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