Tag: dog

Jack (Pet Portrait)

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy 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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Red Teddy and Scuppers

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

9″x12″ acryic, 2011. Here’s the second of two paintings in a multi-generational portrait project commissioned by Lynne for her family. While the first depicts the beloved toys of Lynne’s grandchildren, this painting commemorates their parents’ childhood favorites. Lynne’s daughter Julie was given Red Teddy when she was two years old. He was purchased by second-hand by Julie’s grandmother as a toy for her dogs, but Julie quickly claimed him for herself. Red Teddy was by Julie’s side through school, college, and into her grown-up life as a nurse and mother. Julie’s husband David loved the book “Scuppers the Sailor Dog” when he was small, and when his parents bought him this stuffed dog, it was named after the book. David continued to love boats and sailing all his life, eventually joining the Navy! Even though he ultimately became a physician, Lynne tells me that David would probobly rather be sailing than anything else. These two toys have witnessed so much of the lives of this husband and wife, making this a sort of sweet, symbolic portrait of the couple. Thanks to Lynne for a wonderful idea!

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Pound Puppy 2.0

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011.
This portrait might look a bit familiar… it is my second painting of Meriwether’s beloved Pound Puppy, which she has had since childhood. When she recieved the original portrait, her mother liked it so much that Meriwether decided to order another one for her, too! This situation was an exciting first for me, although it is not the first time I’ve painted the same subjects multiple times: Here are two versions of a squishy Hello Kitty, and two of Hamtaro and Totoro posing together.

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Puppy and Bear

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Ding ding ding! The bells are going off as Patrick racks up Awesome Husband points for finding his wife a unique and special birthday gift. When she happened upon my website a couple of months ago, Patrick’s wife mentioned in passing that she would really like a portrait of their children’s two loveys. I wonder if he let on that he had tuned into that, or, as my husband might do to fake me out, just made an affirmative noise while staring at his phone? Patrick covertly commissioned a little portrait of Puppy and Bear, belonging to Liam (1) and Jack (3), respectively. Jack’s favorite part of Bear is his tail, which is well-worn, and Liam loves the silky undersides of Puppy’s ears. I hope that this portrait preserves a sweet, fleeting period in the boys’ childhood for years to come!

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Pound Puppy

Posted on 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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Reclining Dog

Posted on 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 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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Licorice

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

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.

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Two Henries

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Stephanie’s husband grew up toting his stuffed dog Henry everywhere he went. When he found that the vintage ’70’s “Henry” design had gone back into production, he bought a new Henry for his 18-month-old daughter for Christmas. Strephanie commissioned this portrait of the two Henries as a Father’s Day gift for her husband. I must admit that my favorite thing about this project is that researching these toys led me to discover the origins of my own childhood favorite lion! I was struck by the familiar yellow fur and distinctive black belly-button, which the Henries share with my “Hubert.” Sure enough, like the classic Henry, my lion was made in the ’70’s by Animal Fair. Animal Fair became Princess Soft Toys, which is evidently in the process of being absorbed by Melissa and Doug. The lions were given away with new accounts at Chicago-area Harris Bank in the earlly ’70’s, which is where my parents got mine. Portraits of Hubert are here and here, and a painting of an identical Harris bank lion can be seen here. This was my first opportunity to paint old and new versions of a classic toy together, and I think it’s wonderfully symbolic of the parent and child who love them!

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Sir Puppers

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

5″x7′ acrylic, 2011. It was impossible to be anything but cheerful while working on this painting, as the fabulous moniker “Sir Puppers” became almost a mantra to me! Sir Puppers belongs to Parker, who will recieve this portrait of his stuffed pal for his upcoming fifth birthday. His mother, Jennifer, wisely chose a small canvas to suit the tiny stuffed dog, and asked that the background be blue, Parker’s favorite color.

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