9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. Well, this portrait was by far my most complex assignment! Cam, who is in his thirties, will present the painting to his mother as a belated Mother’s Day gift. The toys depicted are the favorites of her three children. I was provided with enough photographs showing the toys at various stages of wear and tear to paper the walls of my studio! Cam had a very helpful (but challenging) laundry list of requests for the painting. Trena, the baby doll, belonged to Cam’s older sister, and only required a little pinkness restored to her cheeks. Cam’s own unusual, stuffed monkey required more attention: I was to restore his orignal black and yellow body, as it has since been almost entirely replaced with patterned fabric. However, the color of his face was to be shown in it’s current “tan” condition rather than the original pristine white. A banana once held in the monkey’s hand is now entirely worn away, and Cam wanted the banana’s absence to be evident, as it marks the monkey as “his.” Sadly, the firetruck had been the last favorite toy of the eldest son just before he passed away as a very small child. Cam’s mother had recently had it fully restored save for its original lettering on the sides, so I worked from very old photos to add the white design to the new glossy red paint job. We agonized over the composition, and at long last the portrait came together. I hope that Cam’s mother enjoys this celebration of her childrens’ happiest moments! If you’d like to see another portrait I’ve done of a crazy-looking stuffed monkey, click here, and here for another vintage firetruck!
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I received the wonderful toy portrait today and was so thrilled that I cried! What a marvelous way to remember my babies! Kurt received the fire truck for his first birthday and, of course, was very excited about it. He couldn’t quite figure out the pedals but spent lots of time moving it with his feet on the ground. He loved to ring the bell.
Trena (my niece) was born about the time that Krissa received the baby doll. She immediately named it for her new cousin and felt very important caring for her baby as we cared for the real live one. Trena is wearing a dress that a friend made for her about 45 years ago. I remember that Krissa had one from the same fabric.
And Baby was most important to Cam! Most important. All packing for trips had to be done around Baby. He couldn’t be put in a bag but had to be in plain sight at all times so that we couldn’t forget him. One time we did just that for a trip from Louisiana to Texas. After we were in Texas, my husband actually called an employee and asked him to go to the house, find the hidden key, go in and find Baby and bring him on his trip to Texas. We met him someplace for the delivery and had a mighty happy and relieved little boy!
I thank you so much for painting this for me. I cannot tell you what it means to me.
Kerry Wilde
You just seem to continue to reach farther and wider. You, inherently, know what the feeling is that goes with each toy, and somehow, paint it in.
Remarkable.
Krissa Wilde Lopez
Thank you both for the incredibly kind comments! This group was so much fun to paint, and the fact that they were so rich with history was very inspiring!