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.