Your Toy Portrait - Custom Toy Portraits by Jennifer Maher » group portrait

Warm and Cold Puppies

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:51:30 +0000

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.

Phoebe With Books

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:19:33 +0000

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.

Two Blue Puppies

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:11:26 +0000

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!

Baby One and Baby Two

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 04:45:52 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. JD’s two stuffed rhinos, which are based upon a character from the very funny Susan Boynton books, were originally of primary and secondary status. But of course the “back-up” was discovered, absorbed into daily use, and is now equally beloved. Both “Baby One” and “Baby Two” were recently by JD’s side through some minor surgery. This portrait will be a Christmas gift to JD’s mother from his dad, Doug.

Doggy and Dog-Dog

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:07:05 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. After seeing her neices’ favorite toys immortalized alongside their doppelgangers, Barbara commissioned portraits of her own children’s twin stuffed animals. Brooke has her floppy froggies, and here are Bryce’s Doggy and Dog-Dog. “Back-ups” and extra versions of beloved toys are definitely a theme on this website recently!

Right Boggy and Left Boggy

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 05:07:45 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Continuing the recent twin toy trend around here is this pair of adorable floppy frogs! Barbara’s two children each have a pair of beloved toys, one of which was intended to be the back-up for the other. Despite their initial rank, Barbara’s daughter Brooke loves each of these frogs equally. They were once known as “Boggy” and “Baby Boggy,” but Barbara wrote me with an update while the portrait was in progress to let me know that they had graduated to being “Right Boggy” and “Left Boggy.” Duplicate toys seem to be a tradition in Barbara’s family, judging from the portraits of her nieces’ two giraffes and twin monkeys!

Puppy Family

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 04:39:32 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. When Melinda’s 8-year-old son was born, he recieved “Puppy,” pictured here second from the left. “Puppy Mommy,” the large one on the far right, arrived for his first Christmas. Puppy Daddy sits next to (and is somewhat alarmingly dwarfed by) Puppy Mommy, and Puppy’s baby brother is at the far left end. The puppy family portrait is one of two paintings commissioned by Melinda for her children — check out her six-year-old’s two knit bunnies here!

BlaBla Bunnies

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 06:20:52 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Melinda’s six-year-old son’s white Blabla bunny eventually became so tattered that it was no longer repairable. When it became evident that she wouldn’t be able to find a bunny with the exact same coloration to replace it (not sure that would have worked, Melinda!), a story was concocted about bunny having a cousin who was coming to live with them. In this way, some of the affection (and wear and tear) was diverted onto the stripey new addition to the family!

Tito and Tito The Other One

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:13:54 +0000

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.

Dolly and Bear

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 14:54:19 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. One of my very favorite toy stories is the one where the parent falls in love with a toy and is subsequently victorious in convincing her child to love it too! The bear in this portrait was purchased by Jennifer when she first became pregnant with her twin daughters Zora and Jane. “Having twin girls has been the greatest blessing in my life,” Jennifer wrote to me, “far more joyous (and exhausting!) than I could ever have imagined, and that Zora loves this bear represents this to me.” Jane’s favorite is Dolly, and is dragged to school each day, smothered in blankets and kisses while playing “mama,” and taken to bed every night. If Dolly is lost in the covers, Jane calls out “Dolllllllllyyyy” and Jennifer must come and find her. Jennifer notes, “They have many toys but these are the most cherished by far.”