My job would not be half as fun as it is without Mary, who has come back to me repeatedly with projects that are as hilarious as they are heartfelt! For her grown children, Mary has commissioned portraits of a CatDog, a RugRat, and a stuffed Toy Story Alien. When she contacted me about immortalizing the family’s beloved dog dressed in a Santa suit, I shouldn’t have been suprised, but I burst out laughing anyway! She bought the Santa suit a decade ago, and every Christmas morning her family waits to open gifts until “Santa” has arrived! This portrait has special importance, Mary tells me, because Toto is now almost twenty years old. The painting will be brought out yearly as a Christmas decoration. Marys is clearly very attuned to the things that mean most to those she loves.
Tag: puppy
JoJo
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. Thank goodness that I sometimes remember to bring business cards to the playground! While at our local park with Sonja last fall, we met Juliette and her very sweet five-year-old daughter Jenna. Jenna was very kind and big-sisterly to my little-er one, and Julliette and I had a nice chat. And then this spring, just before embarking upon a huge move to Pennsylvania, Julliette commissioned this portrait for Jenna’s upcoming July birthday. Jenna’s floppy pup JoJo has been by her side since babyhood. He’s been lost a couple of times and had several stitches and re-stuffings. He’s even made a few appearances at Jenna’s kindergarten this year! I’m sure JoJo has been a great source of comfort during the family’s move… best of luck to Juliette and Jenna in their new home!
Doggy and Bun-Bun
9″x12″ acrylic, 2012. This was my fourth occasion to paint this particular style of white Jellycat bunny! This time, however, I got to witness in person how soft and irresistable Jellycat toys are, and the devotion they inspire. These two belong to the children of Jenny of the wonderful Mamatoga blog, who won the custom portrait I donated to an auction benefiting the Children’s Museum of Saratoga. I had the pleasure of visiting Jenny and meeting the adorable kids, and was able to set up the “photo shoot” for the toys myself! “Doggy” was originally a baby toy for Leven, who is now almost four, but was adopted by Finn, who is five. Levy now has this bunny in three sizes, and she sleeps with all of them! This middle-sized one is known as ” Bun-Bun.” It was really fun to watch the kids interact with the toys… they were quite relieved that I showed up just to take photos and not to take them away for an extended modeling session!
Fleagle
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. I’m sure that this is not an uncommon position for favorite toys to find themselves in these days, propped up or flung upon various technological accoutrements! I was unreasonably excited when Clint, this pup’s owner, gave me the thumbs-up to include the phone and the computer mouse in the final portrait. So modern! Fleagle was originally given to Clint’s younger sister by their parents when they were little, but Clint was more interested in him and quickly claimed ownership. The toy has traveled with Clint into adulthood and now into the arms of his own little girl, Mia, who is highly amused by the wacky personality which Clint has infused in Fleagle via a sort of puppetry! Clint recieved a gift certificate for this custom portrait from his sister-in-law Deanna.
Warm and Cold Puppies
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. Well, I’m fascinated by the fact that small children can evidently distinguish warm colors from cool colors. I showed this portrait to my three year old and asked her to tell me which she reckoned was the Warm Puppy and which was the Cold Puppy, and she WITHOUT HESITATION pointed to the correct toys! They were given their clever monikers by Susan’s little boy Graham, who turns five next week. Susan tells me that, actually, “Cold Puppy” was so-called due to his less-substantial, de-fluffed state in comparison to Warm Puppy, but I’m confident that the dogs’ respective colors were intrinsic to the naming process. Cold Puppy was given to Graham at birth, and Warm Puppy was purchased later as a back-up. However, as has been shown repeatedly in my data-collection, such a hierarchy seldom lasts! Warm Puppy soon became a constant companion as well, although Cold Puppy still enjoys a bit of favoritism.
Pup-Pup
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Richard reckons that his nephew George attached to this stuffed dog partly to parallel his big sister Evie’s beloved Bug-Bug. But it’s clear from the graying and wear on Pup-Pup that George’s love for him is lasting and true! Evie’s portrait of Bug-Bug has been hanging in her room ever since her third birthday, and she is now approaching five. Their uncle Richard thought that George would enjoy having Pup-Pup watch over him at night, too! George will recieve this portrait for his own upcoming third birthday in February.
Phoebe With Books
8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. As I’ve said before, you can choose a hand-stitched Waldorf doll or tone-on-tone felted owl from Etsy for your child, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Resign yourself to pink plastic or, perhaps, a color-blocked polyester velour dog. Phoebe was given to Arianna when she was very small by the family’s nanny, Lili. Both Arianna and her little sister Caroline adore Phoebe and love to dress her in brightly patterned outfits which further enhance her primary colors. She has lost limbs and her nose repeatedly over time, but Lili always lovingly sews Phoebe up as good as new. The books in this portrait belonged to the girls’ father when he was a child and in turn became favorites of Arianna and Caroline. This set of four by Maurice Sendak is called “The Nutshell Library,” and includes “Chicken Soup With Rice,” “Pierre,” “Alligators All Around,” and “One Was Jonny.” I have written about “Chicken Soup With Rice” in a past post, as it is the one book that I read every single night to my own daughter and was a huge part of my own childhood! This painting is one of two portraits commissioned by Heidi of her daughter’s favorite things. You can see my portrait of Caroline’s Lammy here.
Orange Pup
9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. According to the Chinese Zodiac, we’re just winding down the year of the rabbit. But around here? Definitely the year of the floppy-eared dog! There were certainly a lot of stuffed bunny portraits in 2011, but as the holiday orders ramped up, somebody let the dogs out. This long-eared specimen, known simply as “Pup,” belonged to Jean’s husband when he was a child, and is now the favorite toy of his son. His warm-orange fur might be specific to the dog’s era of origin, and was such a pleasure to paint! This portrait will be a birthday gift from Jean to her step-son.
Brown and White Dog
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Floppy-eared Stuffed Dog week continues — it’s like shark week, but with stuffed dogs and floppy ears! This brown and white pup is the favorite of one of Michael’s two boys. A portrait of his other son’s two blue dogs can be seen here. These paintings will be given to the boys for Christmas by their father.
Two Blue Puppies
8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Ah, it’s floppy dog season! I’m suddenly swimming in big-eared, sweet-faced stuffed puppies. There are three between Michael’s two sons alone! This sunlit portrait of two blue pups is the first of two paintings he commissioned as Christmas gifts for the boys. Check in tomorrow for the second portrait, which features a brown and white dog of somewhat more upright posture!