5″x7″ acrylic, 2012. As soon my dear friends Jon and Brian began the process of adopting a baby, their friend Mary rushed out immediately and bought this owl. Since that point, a couple of years fraught with anticipation and frustration culminated in the very recent addition of baby Ian to their family. Jon and Brian made sure that this owl, which is certainly symbolic of the support and will of their loved ones, was tucked in next to Ian as soon as he safely home. While visiting the adorable baby, I was able to take my own photos of the little toy, and I can tell you that it is incredibly soft and has a sort of comical presence. It’s made by an offshoot of Tomy called My Natural. If I had a chance, I might advise the company the their little sewn logo by the owl’s foot looked alarmingly like an angry alien face to me before I found out that it was a stem-and-leaf motif!
Tag: acrylic
Bun Bun Pillow
9″x12″ acrylic, 2012. This portrait shall forever be known to me as the one that taught me a valuable lesson about social media! It was commissioned by Michele, who had learned about my business on Dooce last year but was actually local and had gone to high school with my husband. Small world! The painting would be a gift for her sister, Morgan, who was expecting twin boys, for her upcoming baby shower. Well, after she dropped off Morgan’s beloved childhood stuffed bunny, I was quite excited both about having a “live” model to paint and also about the challenge of making a printed-fabric toy appear three dimensional on canvas. So I took a snapshot of my floppy guest and posted it to my Your Toy Portrait Facebook page. Several hours later, I got an email from Michele telling me that a her cousin had somehow seen the photo on Facebook and, thinking, “Hey, that looks like Morgan’s Bun Bun!” he posted to Morgan’s page! Morgan evidently burst out laughing, looked around and found that Bun Bun was missing, and called Michele saying “What have you done?” Michele assured me (I was HORRIFIED) that Morgan had no idea what was happening specifically, so it would still be a suprise. Since this incident, of course, if there is any chance of the recipient finding out about it, I never discuss an in-progress portrait online! Lesson learned. In other news, this very soft, sweet-faced bunny is one of the few toys that have come into my studio that was absolutely adored by my daughter! We were both sorry to see Bun Bun go.
Warm and Cold Puppies
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. Well, I’m fascinated by the fact that small children can evidently distinguish warm colors from cool colors. I showed this portrait to my three year old and asked her to tell me which she reckoned was the Warm Puppy and which was the Cold Puppy, and she WITHOUT HESITATION pointed to the correct toys! They were given their clever monikers by Susan’s little boy Graham, who turns five next week. Susan tells me that, actually, “Cold Puppy” was so-called due to his less-substantial, de-fluffed state in comparison to Warm Puppy, but I’m confident that the dogs’ respective colors were intrinsic to the naming process. Cold Puppy was given to Graham at birth, and Warm Puppy was purchased later as a back-up. However, as has been shown repeatedly in my data-collection, such a hierarchy seldom lasts! Warm Puppy soon became a constant companion as well, although Cold Puppy still enjoys a bit of favoritism.
Baby Lion
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Just before the holidays I had the pleasure and honor of being included in a wonderful giveaway bonanza hosted by Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks. In a moment of expansive generosity, Karen concocted the Twelve Days of Chookooloonks, in which each day a reader recieved some manner of artistic prize. My custom portraits were featured on the fourth day of Chookooloonks, and Karen included a photo of her daughter Alex’s beloved Baby Lion. As far as she can recall, Baby Lion was a gift at Alex’s baby shower, and has been Alex’s favorite since before she could walk. His mane has been loved down into a matted helmet at this point… He travels everywhere with the family and sleeps with eight-year-old Alex every night. “When Alex’s alarm goes off,” Karen writes, “if she decides to crawl in bed with us for an early-morning snuggle before hitting the showers, invariably Baby Lion crawls in bed with us too.” I love to paint lions, and it was a joy to spend time contemplating this little guy’s unique expression and attitute!
Mr. Lion
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. You have a back-up for your little one’s favorite toy? Robin’s son has SEVEN of these lions! She tells me that he is obsessed — they keep one in the car (“Car Lion”) and he sleeps with almost all of them. (I assume Car Lion is the one who doesn’t make it into the bed.) Whenever another Mr. Lion appears on Ebay, Robin snatches him up to bolster the family’s supply. He’s a beautiful lion and is clearly deserving of such affection!
Pup-Pup
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Richard reckons that his nephew George attached to this stuffed dog partly to parallel his big sister Evie’s beloved Bug-Bug. But it’s clear from the graying and wear on Pup-Pup that George’s love for him is lasting and true! Evie’s portrait of Bug-Bug has been hanging in her room ever since her third birthday, and she is now approaching five. Their uncle Richard thought that George would enjoy having Pup-Pup watch over him at night, too! George will recieve this portrait for his own upcoming third birthday in February.
Lammy
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. I encounter so many adorable stuffed toys in my business that I’m, perhaps, slightly more immune to their charms than the average Joe. But this sheep… I covet this sheep. It’s a Jellycat which has clearly been loved ardently. Heidi tells me that to her daughter Caroline, Lammy is, like the Velveteen Rabbit, “real.” Lammy is subject to all kinds of “hairstyles” concocted by three-year-old Caroline, which mostly involve flower clips being attached all over her fur. Caroline is quite upset that she won’t be able to bring Lammy to preschool on due to her being larger than a back pack (take note parents!) This painting is one of two that Heidi commissioned for her children of their favorite things. The other is a group portrait of a stuffed dog and some classic books!
Phoebe With Books
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. As I’ve said before, you can choose a hand-stitched Waldorf doll or tone-on-tone felted owl from Etsy for your child, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Resign yourself to pink plastic or, perhaps, a color-blocked polyester velour dog. Phoebe was given to Arianna when she was very small by the family’s nanny, Lili. Both Arianna and her little sister Caroline adore Phoebe and love to dress her in brightly patterned outfits which further enhance her primary colors. She has lost limbs and her nose repeatedly over time, but Lili always lovingly sews Phoebe up as good as new. The books in this portrait belonged to the girls’ father when he was a child and in turn became favorites of Arianna and Caroline. This set of four by Maurice Sendak is called “The Nutshell Library,” and includes “Chicken Soup With Rice,” “Pierre,” “Alligators All Around,” and “One Was Jonny.” I have written about “Chicken Soup With Rice” in a past post, as it is the one book that I read every single night to my own daughter and was a huge part of my own childhood! This painting is one of two portraits commissioned by Heidi of her daughter’s favorite things. You can see my portrait of Caroline’s Lammy here.
Orange Pup
9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. According to the Chinese Zodiac, we’re just winding down the year of the rabbit. But around here? Definitely the year of the floppy-eared dog! There were certainly a lot of stuffed bunny portraits in 2011, but as the holiday orders ramped up, somebody let the dogs out. This long-eared specimen, known simply as “Pup,” belonged to Jean’s husband when he was a child, and is now the favorite toy of his son. His warm-orange fur might be specific to the dog’s era of origin, and was such a pleasure to paint! This portrait will be a birthday gift from Jean to her step-son.
Lily-Mae
5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Sometimes I feel like I’ve seen it all in the way of the blanket-head, that clever amalgam of stuffed animal and flatness… but this froggy blanket is new to me. I love her polka-dots, her bow, and the sweet expression on her face. Stephanie ordered this little painting as a Christmas gift for her daughter Lily, whose Nana purchased this frog because she couldn’t resist its name: “Lily-Mae.” It did turn out to be a fateful match, because Lily adored it from the age of about 4 months. There are several back-up Lily-Maes, but SO FAR Lily is not interested in them (we’ll see how long that lasts!). For Lily’s first birthday, Stephanie created a Lily-Mae the Frog themed party. As a little baby, Lily insisted on falling asleep with the frog’s blanket over her face, much to the terror of her mother. Even now at 20 months, Lilly sleeps with it tucked firmly under her arm all night. Lily-Mae is no longer allowed out of the house, after a couple of scary times when she was lost. Stephanie tells me that, upon seeing this portrait on Christmas morning, Lily kissed it and said “Awww!” This was one of a handful of local holiday orders that I had this year… There was a wonderful afternoon just before Christmas in which Stephanie and several others all came to pick up their portraits, and their excitement made me feel a bit like Santa Claus!