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

Bryn’s Elephant

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 04:06:29 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. I was beyond excited when Bethenny Frankel’s very nice assistant contacted me! Bethenny, the hilarious entrepreneur and former Real Housewife of New York City, asked me to paint her daughter Bryn’s pink stuffed elephant. As far as I can tell from the Bravo show “Bethenny Ever After,” adorable one-year-old Bryn has an enviably placid and easygoing demeanor. And it’s a good thing, because she has one busy mama! I hope that this portrait of a beloved toy in a sunlit chair adds to the atmosphere of calm in Bryn’s nursery.

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Lion, George, and Elephant

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 03:47:33 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Allisyn’s son Oliver has several VIP toys, three of which are honored in this portrait. This is one of two portraits which will be gifts for Oliver’s upcoming first birthday. I was thrilled to paint my first Curious George! All three of the toys in this painting keep Oliver company in his crib each night, and he has extended conversations with George every morning. In addition to the two paintings for her son, Allisyn also ordered a painting earlier this year for of her friend’s baby’s knit, stuffed monster.

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Oliver’s Elephant

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 04:08:35 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Oliver has many close friends, but this elephant blanket is his main squeeze. It’s so special that it warrants its own separate portrait, while the rest of Oliver’s adorable cribmates share another canvas entirely. Oliver’s mother Allisyn commissioned both portraits for his upcoming first birthday. Working on this piece reminded me so much of the portrait I made of Heather Armstrong’s daughter’s lovey, which was another sweet elephant blanket-head personalized with the child’s embroidered name.

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Mason’s Ellie

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Mon, 09 May 2011 04:06:54 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. This interestingly lit elephant belongs to two-year-old Mason, whose mother, Carrie, ordered portraits of each of her two children’s favorite toys. He sits in the kitchen, surrounded by its cool, blue glow. Check in tomorrow for Mason’s brother’s stuffed puppy!

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Dooced

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:48:06 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Oh my goodness… I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be able to completely change someone’s world by typing a few words! I’m so grateful to Heather Armstrong for posting about this painting. This blanket belongs to her younger daughter Marlo, and when I saw this terrific photo of it I knew I had to paint it. I don’t know how long it will last, but I just love the steady stream of loyal Dooce readers who are contacting me with their wonderful stories and photos!

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More info about prints here.

Bunny, Bunny, Quack Quack, and Mr. Elephant

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:59:16 +0000

11″x14″ acrylic, 2010. Sharon has 3 children with four favorite toys between them. There are two “Bunnies,” the largest belonging to five-year-old Luke. The second “Bunny” and “Quack Quack” are three-year-old Lilah’s blanket animals. “Mr. Elephant” belongs to 8-month-old Daniel. Sharon commissioned this portrait of the entire group to hang in her own bedroom! I love this idea — it’s like a sort of symbolic, metaphorical portrait of her children.

Ellie

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:27:16 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2010. A tiny portrait commissioned by Kara for her nephew Nici — Ellie T. Smith was bought by his grandmother at a Carter’s outlet when Nici was one, and is being immortalized in paint because she is already showing a lifetime of wear after only two years. Nici’s mother suggests that Ellie may embody some yin to the yang in Nici’s personality: she notes that one of her favorite photos of her is of Nici and his friend wearing baseball hats, and Nici is carrying Ellie. “I think she represents his sensitive side,” she writes. Kara made the poignant observation that, as Nici grows older and she looks back on his childhood, she will always think of Ellie. I love that this portrait has significance for the grownups too!

Baby Bowling/Elephant

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:13:46 +0000

Baby Bowling/Elephant 10×12 acrylic on canvas 2009

My daughter Sonja was given two different sets of “baby bowling,” each of which consist of limbless stuffed animals and a soft ball. One of the sets contains farm animals, and the other, bought by my sister while in Australia, is mostly jungle animals plus some “mystery” creatures, rendered unidentifiable by their creative coloring and their…Australian-ness, I suppose. Purple wombat? Not sure. But it’s fun setting up a virtual army of crazy un-armed (ha ha) animals to be mown down by a merauding toddler. Here are a few of them, clearly coveting the four apendages of a small felt elephant.