8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. As I was painting this floppy guy, it occured to me that it’s sort of odd that the North American black bear is fairly under-represented in the world of stuffed toys. This one seems to be referencing his species’ plight, reclining in a rather fur-rug-before-the-fire pose. When Vicky suggested the idea of having his toy immortalized in a painting to her eight-year-old grandson Ezra, he was very excited about it! Ezra has loved this bear ever since he was a toddler and still sleeps with him every night. The portrait will be a gift from Vicky to Ezra on his upcoming birthday.
Tag: black
Roland, Take 2
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. *Sigh* So, you may have noticed that I have already painted this guy, who is the distinguished CEO of I Only Like Monsters. Over a month ago I mailed the original portrait to J, who writes the hilarious posts for Roland’s website, and just heard yesterday that it had not yet arrived. So after J and I jostled the USPS from both ends, I franticly re-painted the portrait and had my husband frame it, all in one afternoon. This morning I recieved word that the first portrait suddenly showed up on J’s doorstep! I must say that it was actually lots of fun to revisit Roland’s funny face and I enjoyed painting him again.
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Jack (Pet Portrait)
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. When I learned that my friends Matthew and Erin were getting married, I began this painting of their dog Jack as a wedding gift. They married in March, and seven months later I’ve finally gotten around to finishing it! Jack, who poses on a braided rug that I has always been the centepiece of their living room, was a rescue dog adopted a couple of years ago. The shelter guessed that he is a lab/shepherd mix, between five and ten years old, and he joins 3 cats and two birds in that happy household.
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Roland
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Roland the Fingermonster is the CEO of the fantastic website I Only Like Monsters, which, each day, features a new toy monster. While J writes the very funny posts, Roland has creative and curatorial control over the content. J bought Roland as part of a package of fingerpuppets on a whim while in grad school. A hard drinker and a bad influence, Roland eventually convinced J to abandon her dissertation and provide him with an Ebay allowance. He purchased more and more friends, until J eventually began her website as a means to manage her houseful of creatures. When she happened upon my site, J figured that it would be appropriate for a CEO to have his official portrait painted! Check out Roland’s story here!
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Licorice
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. The most important part of this stuffed Blabla “Licorice” dog is not shown in this portrait. it is, of course, his tag! Like many little children, three-year-old Lucas finds the tag on his favorite toy to be the element most deserving of his attention. My own Sonja was also obsessed with tags, which was such an amusing suprise to me, as I had never heard of this phenomenon! Here she is, obsessing over the “best” part of a little pink bear:
Lucas has had this floppy toy, which he simply calls “Dog,” since he was a tiny baby. His mother, Amy, tells me that he loves to suck his fingers while snuggling with him. This portrait will be a gift for Lucas’ upcoming fourth birthday.
Order a print of this painting:
More info about prints here.