Your Toy Portrait - Custom Toy Portraits by Jennifer Maher » brown

Brown and White Dog

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 04:49:18 +0000

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.

Puppy the Puppy

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 04:59:31 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. There are fifteen years between Lisa and her younger sister, but as children each had beloved stuffed puppies, both named “Puppy!” Lisa’s sister, now twenty, still brings this floppy-eared, brown-and-white pup along on all her travels. As a Christmas gift, Lisa envisioned a portrait of the toy with her sister’s favorite Tiffany blue as the background .

Fritters and Fritters The Other One

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 04:58:13 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Kit, who is almost three, started with just one monkey. It was given to her at birth by her grandmother, and naturally the “back-up” monkey was discovered and absorbed into everyday use. The monkey blanket-heads are known as “Fritters” and “Fritters The Other One,” a fantastic variation on the “Lovey” and “Other Lovey” template for naming twin toys that I often see! The spotted green blanket behind the monkeys is also a beloved favorite. This portrait is one of two commissioned by Kit’s mother Beth for her daughters, so check back soon to see five-year-old Elsie’s giraffes “Tito” and “Tito The Other One!”

Order a print of this painting:

More info about prints here.

Stewie

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 03:51:34 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. A couple of days each week, I pack Sonja and what seems like everything we own into my car and commute 45 minutes north to my parents house. There’s one bag for Sonja’s stuff, one for my running clothes and shoes, a cooler for food and drink, my laptop, my giant purse, and a big bag of art gear. A welcome uptick in business this year has caused me to need to use these visits to cram in as much painting as possible while Sonja enjoys her grandparents. This was fine when it was cold, but now that it is gorgeous and warm, it hurts a little when they run off to go canoeing or swimming. My parents live in Lake Luzerne, NY, which is packed with all manner of Adirondack-y delights, such as this spot:

…where I could be found last summer basking on a rock….

…but this year, I’m mostly here at my parent’s dining-room table while the three of them are off playing.

But this past Friday, I had remembered the kitchen sink but forgotten the correct-sized canvas for the portrait commission I was planning to work on. Frustrated, I turned to the stash of toys that my mom keeps there for Sonja (which deserves an entire post unto itself – stay tuned!) and decided to paint the main bear of the house, Stewie. In keeping with what seems to be trend in my recent work, Stewie reclines on an embroidered pillow. I think that if this happens again, I should probobly go out and enjoy the lake instead… summer is short!

Pyjama Bear

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 04:22:49 +0000

9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. Stephen wrote me that his wife was looking at my website and “complaining that our kids don’t actually have favorite stuffed animals to paint.” His clever, thoughtful solution to this problem was to order a portrait of his wife’s own beloved chilhood bear as a gift for her upcoming birthday! This well-worn bear is missing an eye, which he strategically and stylishly hides with his pyjama cap.

Order a print of this painting:

More info about prints here.

Brown Giraffe

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:57:54 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic on canvas, 2009. What would I do without my mother’s ridiculous garage sale radar? I think that I would have about 25% of my current possessions and my daughter would be naked and really bored. I’m embarrassed say that due the generosity of our families and friends it rarely occurs to me to buy anything for Sonja beyond food! Anyway, this tiny giraffe is something that my mom intended for the baby, but I greedily confiscated him and put him to work.