Custom Toy Portrait » bear

Blue Bear and Yellow Bunny

Custom Toy Portrait — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 14:51:06 +0000

9″x12″ acrylic, 2010. These are the battered and beloved childhood toys of Donna’s husband Andrew. She commissioned this portrait for his upcoming birthday. Donna notes that in most photos of Andrew as a child, these two are close by. She says that whenever he sees them even today, he remembers the warmth and safety of his childhood. I hope that this painting will have the same effect!

Snuffles

Custom Toy Portrait — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:44:32 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. Mamaista was kind enough to host a toy portrait giveaway, and the winner was Casey from the excellent blog www.mooshinindy.com! Snuffles, a classic, Gund bear, is her own childhood toy. His velvet nose is long worn away and he has bald spots behind one ear and on his belly. Although this general type of Gund bear was pretty common when most of us were kids, Casey points out that it’s rare to find one that is dark brown! Casey’s daughter Addie also been given two of these bears, both of a light tan color. I had a white one, myself. Had. Hmmm, where is he?

Maddie’s Bear

Custom Toy Portrait — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 00:38:54 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2010. This portrait will be the second I have painted for Melissa’s household… a hopefully less disturbing counterpoint to the first, which was of “Choppable,” Melissa’s husband’s childhood toy. This red bear belongs to her daughter Maddie, who is now 12. You can read about the sweet relationship between Maddie and her bear on Melissa’s wonderful, very funny blog.

Stuffed Bear/Real Cat Challenge

Custom Toy Portrait — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:53:53 +0000

9″x12″ acrylic, 2009. This was a very tough asignment! As a Christmas gift for his girlfriend, Jonathan asked that I paint a portrait of her childhood teddy bear next to her beloved, recently deceased cat. In order to keep the project secret, Jonathan was only able to provide me with blurry, tiny photos of each of them. We had a couple of discussions about relative scale, and then I just dove in and did my best. I hope that what might have gotten lost in the details comes through in spirit!

Golly

Custom Toy Portrait — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:40:09 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2009. This little painting was covertly commissioned by my husband for his sister for Christmas. Golly, Kris’ childhood bear, now sits overlooking our 3-month-old nephew Kevin’s crib. Amid some extended family chaos, Greg and I abducted Golly and absconded to a bathroom to take pictures for me to work from. And in keeping with family tradition, no one has any explanation for Golly’s exclamatory name.

BearBear

Custom Toy Portrait — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:22:35 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. This stuffed bear has been with Kelly since she was two, but she commisioned this painting for her mother! Bear Bear has had a long life filled with unusual purpose. Kelly’s mom is very fond of Bear Bear, and when she is feeling low, Kelly sends him to her for comfort. When Mom comes to visit Kelly and her husband, the bear sleeps in Mom’s room. Kelly is hoping that the portrait will bring Bear Bear’s presence to her mother even while they are apart.

Grover and Bear

Custom Toy Portrait — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:04:00 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2009. These are the favorite toys of Paul, an old friend of mine and an ADULT! I’m extremely psyched to be asked to paint time-tested toys that have hung around so long that they have come to subtley exude their owners’ style and character. Trust me, this Grover does just that. Also, I’m pleased to get to paint a classic Sesame Street personality after recently tackling nkotb Abby Cadabby!

Ned

Custom Toy Portrait — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:15:46 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic on canvas, 2009. So this blanket-with-a-head trend is no joke! I would say that a majority of my recent work has been centered around intensely beloved blanket animals. So far the variations on this theme that I’ve encountered have included: Head at one corner, no arms; head in the center, no arms, and head at the center, arms. In this painting we have Ned, a blue blanket with a very cute white bear head (no arms) in its center and a matching blue sleeping cap. He belongs to six year old Henry, whose affection has worn Ned into a state of obvious contentment.

Choo Choo Chicken/Ikea Bear

Custom Toy Portrait — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 18:58:32 +0000

9×12 oil on canvas 2005 — I have to confess — I not-so-accidently misplaced this white bear when we moved into this house. I just always got a bad vibe from it. I bought it at Ikea many years ago, liking it’s bizarre proportions, but it had a weasel-y, unpleasant expression and creepy felt claws. I never wanted it to be in the room with the baby, so now it’s gone. However, the chicken in this picture has become Sonja’s most crucially important toy!

This painting arrives wired for hanging and framed simply in pine.
$100.00 plus $7 shipping