Your Toy Portrait - Custom Toy Portraits by Jennifer Maher » giraffe http://customtoyportrait.com Original, Affordable Works of Art Thu, 17 May 2012 13:28:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Sophie the Giraffe http://customtoyportrait.com/toyportraits/sophie-the-giraffe/ http://customtoyportrait.com/toyportraits/sophie-the-giraffe/#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:45:28 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=3117 8″x10″ acrylic, 2012. A couple of months ago, Colleen from Saratoga Mama brilliantly suggested that I should paint a Sophie the Giraffe so that I could make prints available of the classic, iconic teething toy. This particular Sophie is one of several(!) recieved by my close friends’ sweet new baby, Ian. Here, Sophie stands atop Ian’s blue Boppy, where I also posed Ian’s stuffed owl. These giraffes, currently a go-to status baby gift, have been made in France since the fifties. Here’s a wonderful video showing how these hand-painted, natural rubber are made:

Prints of the Sophie portrait can be ordered here!

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/toyportraits/sophie-the-giraffe/feed/ 2 Giraffey http://customtoyportrait.com/toyportraits/giraffey/ http://customtoyportrait.com/toyportraits/giraffey/#comments Thu, 22 Dec 2011 15:44:29 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=2934 5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Like her brother Zachary, three-year-old Summer favors the companionship of both a blanket and a stuffed toy at naptime and at night. Here are Giraffey and the pink blanket, perhaps bonding over their shared spotted condition. Lee Ann will give portraits of the children’s favorite toys to Summer and Zachary as Christmas gifts.

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/toyportraits/giraffey/feed/ 0 Longly http://customtoyportrait.com/toyportraits/longly/ http://customtoyportrait.com/toyportraits/longly/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2011 04:27:30 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=2897 8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Recently the wonderful Saratoga Mama blog, which provides info and discourse relevant to my area (near Saratoga Springs, NY) and my current position in life (mama,) was kind enough to host a toy portrait giveaway! I was thrilled when the winner, Becky, let me know that her 6-year-old daughter’s beloved toy is a stuffed giraffe — one of my very favorite motifs! This adorable Gund giraffe was hanging out in Calli’s crib when she first arrived, just waiting for her to notice him and fall in love. This she did, and he has been at her side through thick and thin ever since. After accidentally leaving Longly at Calli’s grandmother’s house, it became clear to Becky that there needed to be a back-up giraffe, just in case. Longly #2 now sits on a shelf in Calli’s room, and he occasionally comes down to play. (If you follow this site at all, you may have a prediction about how that situation will turn out!)

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/toyportraits/longly/feed/ 2 Tito and Tito The Other One http://customtoyportrait.com/blanketheads/two-titos/ http://customtoyportrait.com/blanketheads/two-titos/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:13:54 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=2605 5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. When five-year-old Elsie was born, she was given an Angel Dear giraffe blanket-head by her grandmother. At least it started as only one giraffe, and he was named “Milton” by Elsie’s father. Elsie is now five, and of course she has discovered and claimed Milton’s “back-up.” Also, Elsie has rejected the “Milton” moniker in favor of the fantastic “Tito” and “Tito The Other One.” Check out Elsie’s little sister Kit’s monkey blankets called “Fritters” and “Fritters The Other One” here, and another portrait of an Angel Dear giraffe here.

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/blanketheads/two-titos/feed/ 0 Orange Giraffe http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/orange-giraffe/ http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/orange-giraffe/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:48:30 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=2188 8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. This big, floppy, orange Circo giraffe with wide-wale corduroy feet has all his adventures ahead of him! The giraffe and his portrait will be baby shower gifts for Kris’ longtime friend Stephanie. I love portraits of worn, much-loved toys, but it’s great to capture one when it’s crisp and new and eager for the embrace that will shape its form and its future!

Order a print of this painting:

Print Sizes

More info about prints here.

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/orange-giraffe/feed/ 0 Breckin’s Giraffe http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/breckins-giraffe/ http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/breckins-giraffe/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:22:38 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=1935 5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Last year, my neighbor Colleen found me via a local Etsy search and had me paint her daughter Emilia’s pink bunny blanket-head. It was close to Christmas when I delivered the portrait, and I felt like Santa Claus pulling my daughter and Colleen’s package around town on a sled! She told me then that whenever her baby boy came to attach to a particular toy, she would commission a portrait of his favorite too. As it turns out, Breckin also chose a blanket-head as his favorite, this time a sleepy, funny-faced giraffe. Just as Emilia’s bunny did in her portrait, the giraffe blanket reclines on another special blanket, which is amusingly “meta” to me. I’m also honored to have painted Colleen’s beloved (real) cat, which I will post tomorrow!

Order a print of this painting:

Print Sizes

More info about prints here.

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/breckins-giraffe/feed/ 0 Memorial Giraffe http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/memorial-giraffe/ http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/memorial-giraffe/#comments Mon, 04 Apr 2011 04:08:19 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=1347 8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. This portrait was emotionally frought for all involved, but perhaps it may contribute to a family’s healing from the tragic loss of a loved one. This giraffe, who was the favorite toy of a child who has recently passed away, serves as a lovely, symbolic remembrance. The painting is a gift for the child’s mother from her very thoughtful aunt. I truly hope that this portrait will serve as a subtle commemoration of a child’s happiness for the grieving family.

Order a print of this painting:

Print Sizes

More info about prints here.

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/memorial-giraffe/feed/ 0 Gee-raff http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/gee-raff/ http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/gee-raff/#comments Sat, 26 Mar 2011 04:25:41 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=1359 5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. There have been a plethora of giraffe portraits happening in my studio lately and I’m loving it! I adore giraffes… at least, in their abstracted, stuffed-toy manifestations. This particular yellow Carter’s giraffe is dear to me because we bought exactly the same one for our Sonja before she was born. This portrait depicts Gee-raff, who belongs to Dale’s 4-month-old baby Evan. Dale commissioned two portraits of their children’s toys for his wife as a Mother’s Day gift. As Evan appears to be determined to devour Gee-raff in its entirety beginning with his horns, Dale and his wife were wise to have also purchased a back-up giraffe!

Order a print of this painting:

Print Sizes

More info about prints here.

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/gee-raff/feed/ 0 Gigi Giraffe http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/gigi-giraffe/ http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/gigi-giraffe/#comments Sat, 19 Mar 2011 04:18:44 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=1337 9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. I absolutely love the design of Carter’s stuffed toys, and I’ve had a blast over the past few weeks painting several adorable specimens. They have such amusingly exaggerated proportions and that sweet, rather blank expression often seen on contented babies. The simply-rendered eyes and lack of a mouth borrow from the Sanrio school of less-is-more. This portrait of Gigi the giraffe, commissioned by Bill for his little daughter, will be an Easter gift. And here’s a watercolor sketch I did a few years ago of our own “Jingle Giraffe.”

Order a print of this painting:

Print Sizes

More info about prints here.

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/gigi-giraffe/feed/ 0 Francis, Francis, and Nose http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/francis-francis-and-nose/ http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/francis-francis-and-nose/#comments Tue, 07 Dec 2010 04:36:47 +0000 Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait http://customtoyportrait.com/?p=964 8″x10″ acrylic, 2010. I love this: The two rabbits, each named Francis, function as a unit known as the “Franci.” The flat blanket animal of ambiguous species (giraffe?) has always been referred to simple as “Nose.” Megan, who will give this painting to her nephew Carter, says that there was originally only one Francis. Carter’s mother bought the second bunny as backup, and Carter found it by mistake. From that point on the Franci have been equally loved.

Order a print of this painting:

Print Sizes

More info about prints here.

]]> http://customtoyportrait.com/customportraits/francis-francis-and-nose/feed/ 0