Tag: group portrait

Maxie and Drum-Drum

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Sometimes the roles our most important possessions play evolve with our own needs. Such is the case with these two bears, which belong to 4-year-old Jackson. The smaller bear, Drum-Drum, was originally a gift given to Jackson’s mother when she was pregnant… it was, in fact, intended to depict an expectant mother bear! Maxie, the large Build-a-Bear, was purchased for Maxie by his father, Jon. Eventually, Jackson took ownership of Drum-Drum and declared that it belonged with Maxie. No longer a pregnant adult female bear, Drum-Drum is now the “baby,” and Maxie is his “daddy bear.” Jon tells me that Maxie’s persona and voice are often Jackson’s vehicle for explaining his own feelings. “Maxie has had all your experiences,” Jon says. If you tell Jackson that you’ve been skiing, Jackson might explain the Maxie has also been skiing, and he found it to be a just a little scary, but fun. Now that Jackson’s parents no longer live together, Jon is hoping that this portrait, a gift for his upcoming birthday, will make the bears’ presence felt in Jon’s home even if they have been accidently left at mom’s!

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Puffy, Chicka Chicka, Chicki Chicki

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. Although I adore bunnies and bears, this trio of unlikely bird friends was such a delight for me to paint! Puffy, Chicka Chicka, and Chicki Chicki have been the favorite companions of Bharathi’s daughter, who is now ten, since she was six. Bharathi writes, “It’s pretty adorable to see her in her airplane seat with these stuffies tucked under her arms (especially ’cause she’s a mature looking 10 and prone to reading things like “A history of ancient Britain.”) The contrast reminds me that even when she seems really grown up, she’s still a kid.” At one point, a proposed back-up Chicka Chicka was dismissed by her daughter as being “pretty much like suggesting we get a back-up brother.” Well put!

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Bear and Dog

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Six-month-old Thomas sleeps through the night only when tucked in with his bear blanket, and during the day this blue Gund dog rattle is his favorite. Thomas’ father Bob vividly describes the circumstances: “Lord knows my wife and mother-in-law have buried this child under toys, yet he always seems to dig through them to find this dog rattle to shove in his mouth!” Bob thoughtfully envisioned this painting as a Mother’s Day gift for his very loved and lucky wife!

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Puppy, Other Puppy

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Here is the second of two portraits given as Mother’s Day gifts by Dale to his wife Julie. These blue Carter’s stuffed dogs, known simply as Puppy and Other Puppy, belong to their 3-and-a-half-year-old son Henry. One puppy has been Henry’s “best friend” since birth, but when he found out that his parents had purchased a back-up puppy, he insisted on carrying and sleeping with them both. So ensconced in the family are these dogs that the night Julie gave birth to their younger son Evan, she kept one of the puppies with her throughout her C-section so that she would have a bit of Henry present with her. Dale wrote me about his wife in such adoring terms and it’s clear that so much thought and love went into this gift… this couple is very fortunate to have each other!

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Anna’s Doll, Pillow, and Blanket

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Anna is just about to turn sixteen, but these three objects have surrounded and supported her since babyhood. Anna’s Grandma put Dolly in her crib before she was born, and the pillow was made for her from a quilt by Anna’s aunt. The blanket was also a gift and is embroidered with Anna’s name and birthdate. The deep-blue, gold-starred wallpaper which adorns the walls of Ann’s room can be seen in the background. The now-tattered Dolly has been lost and found several times, and the family carefully considered how to preserve her. Anna’s Grandma suggested framing her, but Anna wanted to be able to touch Dolly even though she has (very recently!) stopped sleeping with her. This portrait is certainly a solution which immortalizes Dolly while leaving her available for even more love! It will be a birthday gift for Anna from her mother, Karen.

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Choo Choo and Hoo Hoo

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

11″x14″ acrylic, 2009. Here’s an older sketch of two of Sonja’s little favorites. They are each about the size of an adult hand, and she has an assortment of animals about that size lined up along the top of her head board. I will admit that most of them were collected by my husband and myself long before she was born! Choo Choo Chicken was named when we found Sonja chewing on his foot as a baby… so I suppose that, really, we should spell it “Chew Chew?” It occured to me to post it today when I was amazed to stumble upon this post about a lost stuffed chicken identical to Choo Choo. We purchased ours from Target many years ago around Easter time, but I’ve never seen it anywhere since… hope they’re able to find another! Here are pre-Sonja portraits of Choo Choo and Hoo Hoo.

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Blabla Babies

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Campbell has had her “Blabla Babies” since she was very small, and even now at three and a half, keeps them close at nap and bedtime. These dolls clearly have a wonderful, huggable texture, and I love the little bird and heart motifs woven onto their chests! This painting will be a gift for Campbell from her grandmother, Dotti.

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Twin Hippos and a Quilt

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. You might think that these hippos are identical, but four-year-old Charlotte can tell them apart — it’s “something about their smiles,” she says. Charlotte also has twin two-year-old sisters, and so having two alike-but-distinct hippos seemed important to her, Charlotte’s grandmother Pat tells me. The quilt was handmade by Charlotte’s other grandmother. I’ve painted several portraits of late that include multiples (or one representative of multiples) of the same toy which are all in circulation at once — very interesting! Pat will give this portrait to Charlotte for Christmas.

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Mousey and Lovey

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. Oh, the irony… for years I wanted to paint nothing but the human face close-up, because it frustrated me to have to deal with lots of clothing or surrounding space. And now, here I am completely immersed in painting fabric — an loving it! The two subjects of this portrait were super exciting and challenging with their stripeyness and strongly-lit textures. Also, this painting was a last-minute Christmas order which had to finish within three days! The painting is a gift for one-year-old Leah from her mother Denise, who bought Mousey while pregnant as a clever way to let her husband know they would be having a girl. Leah gravitates toward a special spot with a snap and a tag on the blanket, Lovey, who “revolutionized sleep in our house,” says Denise.

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Francis, Francis, and Nose

Posted on by Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait

8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. I love this: The two rabbits, each named Francis, function as a unit known as the “Franci.” The flat blanket animal of ambiguous species (giraffe?) has always been referred to simple as “Nose.” Megan, who will give this painting to her nephew Carter, says that there was originally only one Francis. Carter’s mother bought the second bunny as backup, and Carter found it by mistake. From that point on the Franci have been equally loved.

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