Tag: custom portrait

Yellow Bunny

Posted on September 3, 2011 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 September 1, 2011 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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Pound Puppy

Posted on July 28, 2011 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 July 20, 2011 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 July 19, 2011 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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Reclining Dog

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. I painted this pup while on “vacation” with my husband’s family (read: frantically working while temporarily surrounded by babysitters!). It’s a classic Carter’s dog which plays music when its tail is pulled, and he belongs to the son of design blogger Kristen. It’s evident from her gorgeous blog that Kristen has extraordinary taste, and so I was sure to include in my portrait the lovely striped, ruffled pillow against which the dog was set in the photos Kristen provided. On a day too rainy for the beach, we ended up at a Carter’s outlet where I happened upon this very stuffed dog!
It felt bizarre but cathartic to meet him there while being so immersed in the minutae of his features… a bit like running into someone you’ve recently dreamed about or have been stalking on Facebook. What?

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Shaggy Dog

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. This old soul of a stuffed dog has weathered many washings and mendings and even puppy attacks over the years. He has been at Tim’s wife Erin’s side ever since it was given to her by her mother when she was six. “Dog” has accompanied Erin on her travels to swim meets throughout the country, and supported her through appenticitis, mono, and bad days at school. To this day, Tim tells me, Erin would not think of going to bed without Dog! This portrait is a gift from Tim for Erin’s upcoming birthday.

And Erin would love if you put a picture on your website. Erin’s mother bought her this stuffed animal (“dog”) when she was six years-old. She has slept with dog every night since then. Dog has provided Erin with support as she dealt with appendictis, bouts with mono and less-than-great days at school. As Erin grew up, dog followed her to swim meets throughout the northeast and then to new cities across the country (Eugene, Oregon; Tucson, Arizona; Boston). Dog has survived repeated washings and re-sewings, as well as attacks by Erin’s puppy, Gary. And even to this day, Erin wouldn’t think of getting into bed without dog.

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Double Snuffles

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. The worn pink noses on these two Gund Snuffles bears denote an incredible tale of destiny! These bears are the childhood toys of Katie’s sister and her husband, who are expecting a baby in September. Katie tells me that an uncanny thing that the couple has in common is that they both carried their bears around by the nose in their mouths! I wonder at what point in their relationship this was discovered, and did they immediately decide to marry at that moment? This portrait will be a gift to the couple from Katie in celebration of the new baby. Here is another Snuffles portrait I did a couple of years ago… apparently worn noses are par for the course with these bears!

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Emmett’s Hippo

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. Simplicity prevails when it comes to this irresistable stuffed hippo. Emmett, now four, was given Hippo as a Christmas gift by his grandmother when he was two. The hippo immediately displaced all the more colorful and seemingly attractive toys in the house in Emmett’s affections. Hippo sleeps with Emmett every night, and has even traveled to Italy with him. Emmett’s mother Andrea tells me that now Emmett’s one-year-old sister adores Hippo too, so toy companies, take note – less is more!

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Collin’s Bear

Posted on May 27, 2011 by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. This portrait is the second of two paintings won last year in a blockbuster Design Mom holiday jackpost giveaway. The big winner was Jo, and of her son Collin’s favorite things, she chose his toy ukulele and this wonderful blue bear to be painted. I love that the bear is sporting a rather boyish shirt along with a silky bow at the neck. He’s well rounded! He’s seated next to the same gorgeous avian pillow that appeared in the Ukulele portrait. Jo tells me that the arrival of these portraits might help Collin feel loved and special during the difficult adjustment to a new baby in the family.

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More info about prints here.