8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. Thirty-six years ago, Sami’s mother’s company had a Christmas party which featured a visit from “Santa.” On that occasion, this doll was Santa’s gift to Sami’s then-two-year-old sister. With her soft, bean-bag body, a sweet-faced, plastic head, and a fabulous floppy hat, “Beans” was a cherished toy throughout childhood. Eventually the doll went into safe-keeping in their mother’s cabinet — until it was spotted by Sami’s neice, Ramsie! Beans now enjoys the adoration of three-year-old Ramsie and sleeps with her every night. I love to hear about toys that are beloved by multiple generations of a family!
Tag: plastic
Wind-Up Hello Kitty
5″x6″ acrylic on cardboard, 2012. A couple of years ago, whenever then-two-year-old Sonja was asked what she wanted for Christmas, she would only answer “A wind-up kitty.” My husband, who loves an internet hunt, ordered an assortment of waddling, jumping, and spinning cats. Sonja did not actually show much interest in any of them when she found mechanical kitties under the tree… I suspect that, to Sonja, a “wind-up kitty” sort of represented a Victorian, classic idea of what children recieved as gifts in books such as “The Night Before Christmas!” In the years since, we’ve gathered quite a collection of wind-up toys and have fun staging races and parades. This Hello Kitty is one of our favorites. Check out my wind-up monkey portrait here!
Adam’s Family
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. For this custom family portrait, Adam had to decide which vintage Fisher-Price Little People best represent his family. So that’s Adam’s oldest son, Dean, in the front with the baseball cap, and his strawberry-blonde son, Jon, on the right. But Adam figured that his wife, Jen, most resembled a little freckle-faced girl Little Person he’d seen in a photo I’d sent him. “I’m informed that’s a kid,” he wrote me, “so perhaps you could put freckles on a brown-haired woman?” I love a modification challenge! The classic “mom” features and the cheery freckles combined nicely. And for Adam himself? “Non-descript dude (classic green-bodied ‘dad’) works for me!” The portrait will be a Christmas gift from Adam to Jen.
Screwver and Blue Shobel
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. And now for something completely different! Just like any beloved stuffed toy or blanket, these unlikely loveys were taken to bed, bath, daycare, family trips, and beyond by 11-year-old Sofia! The screwdriver came from a toy workbench when she was two, and the plastic shovel was also chosen as a favorite during her toddler years. The famiy never left home without “Screwver” and “Blue Shobel” throughout Sofia’s childhood. This portrait will be a Christmas gift to Sofia from her mother, Caroline.
Jolene’s Little People Family Portrait
20″x24″ acrylic, 2012. You read that right — this painting of tiny little toys is quite huge! In fact, their scale is enlarged about 500%, according to my math-inclined husband. I’ve been taking some liberties with colors and style within the general design of the classic Little People to more closely represent the members of the family members in these custom vintage Fisher-Price family portraits . In this case, Jolene, who found me on Etsy, has been given a brownish head of hair that (as far as I can find) was not actually made in combination with a red dress. Jolene is planning her nursery decor for her baby twin girls, who will be born in December. Initially, she wanted to order a large print of my classic Little People trio painting, but loved the idea of having a piece specifically representing her family (and their dog, Rex!) I absolutely love the tension in scale of this painting — I never would have thought to paint such small figures so large, and the effect is amazing! Great idea, Jolene!
Baby Nathan
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. Don’t be fooled by the color of his clothes — this sweet doll has been known as “Baby Nathan” ever since 6-year-old Anna recieved him as a Christmas gift when she was one. She named him after her big brother Nathan, and to this day finds it perfectly natural that the doll retains his gender and moniker along with the pink pj’s. Anna asked her mother for a portrait of her beloved doll after Nathan recieved a painting of his favorite stuffed bunny last year!
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.
Wind-Up Monkey
7″x8″ acrylic on cardboard, 2012. This cymbal-crashing monkey regularly leads a parade around our house… he is followed by wind-up robots, waddling chickens, swirling teacups, disembodied walking heads, and countless cats which showed up the year Sonja decided all she wanted for Christmas was “a wind-up kitty.” He’s always seemed pretty innocuous to me, but, upon seeing this painting, a friend just reminded me of the menacing monkey from Toy Story 3 and it’s sort of hard for me to look at him the same way! This portrait is currently featured in my exhibit at Uncommon Grounds in Albany.
Harry Potter Lego
8″x10″ acrylic on canvas, 2012. About eight months ago, Karen Walrond of the wonderful Chookooloonks blog was kind enough to include one of my custom portraits in her 12 Days of Chookooloonks giveaway bonanza. The winner of the portrait, Leah, and I have just now gotten around to making the painting happen! She and her husband, who were just married this year, both adore Legos and had seen my Boba Fett Lego guy painting. They took some time to carefully consider what sort of Lego they’d like to have hanging on their wall, and ultimately settled on Harry Potter! This little minifigure is actually attached to a keychain, which Leah asked that I omit.
Cora’s Doll
5″x7″ acrylic, 2012. This sweet doll looks just like eight-year-old Cora did as a baby, and is now her most beloved toy. Cora’s mom Erynn tells me that when Cora’s little sister Hero was born, Cora changed, nursed, and burped the doll alongside Erynn and Hero. Cora adores her little sister, and now that Hero is older, she sometimes lets her play with the babydoll too. Erynn has commissioned a portrait of each of her three girls’ favorite toys… click here to see little Phillipa’s stuffed sloth! Hero’s Lamby is up next.