5″x7″ acrylic, 2013. This stuffed Mary Poppins doll and blue-patterned blanket belong to Alistair, who will turn four next week. On a recent family trip to Disneyland, the “real” Mary Poppins was delighted to meet him and tickled to see his beloved doll! Mary blew him kisses and bestowed her little effigy with some special magic, which she keeps in her hat, to stave off bad dreams. Alistair has had his Mary Poppins doll for about two years, and the “Blankie” ever since he was a baby. Alistair’s mother Stephanie had me paint big brother Graham’s favorite things a couple of years ago, and so now the boys will have a matched set of portraits! The painting will be a gift for Alistair’s upcoming birthday.
Tag: Disney
Star Wars Tub Toys, Two Boys
9″x12″ acrylic, 2012. Check out the expression on two-year-old Carter’s face! Those Star Wars squeeze toys are his, a birthday gift from his mother’s best friend, but it seems that big brother Grant has taken them over. Even though Grant, five, has never seen the movies, he loves to act out elaborate scenes with these rather infantalized versions of the classic Star Wars characters. Whatever — Carter will just be hanging out over here with Elmo. The boys love bath time, and their mother Laura commissioned this painting (which she calls “Toy Envy”) to hang in the family’s bathroom. The Star Wars tub toys were made by Disney.
Ariel
5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. At long last, my first “Barbie” commission! Well, it’s actually a Disney Princess Ariel the Mermaid, presented Barbie-style by Disney and Mattel. This princess is a queen amongst all the Barbies belonging to 4-year-old Annie, whose aunt Stacey will be giving portraits to her two nieces of their favorite toys as Christmas gifts. “Annie lives to dance, sing and spin, just like the princesses she adores,” Stacy tells me. “She is destined to spend some serious time on stage.” Click here to see Annie’s sister Lily’s beloved baby doll!
Toy Story Alien
9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. My customers are so much fun! The “models” for all three of Mary’s orders were sent without any setup, save for a few cryptic hints or instructions. The arrival of the first two illicited much excitement in this household, to say the least! The CatDog and Rugrat portraits were to be gifts for Mary’s grown sons, but one of the boys happened to stumble upon the paintings in Mary’s room. He advised her that the Rugrat portrait, which was intended for his brother, did not actually depict his true childhood favorite. So, deciding to keep the Rugrat painting for herself, Mary packed up another “suprise” model for me, emailing me only that he had three eyes! This stuffed Toy Story “Little Green Man” is actually extremely hefty. He’s about 12 inches tall and has hard plastic head and hands. Mary asked me to be sure to include his dimples, as they are a shared trait with the boy who loves this toy!