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

Lammy

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 06:06:14 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. I encounter so many adorable stuffed toys in my business that I’m, perhaps, slightly more immune to their charms than the average Joe. But this sheep… I covet this sheep. It’s a Jellycat which has clearly been loved ardently. Heidi tells me that to her daughter Caroline, Lammy is, like the Velveteen Rabbit, “real.” Lammy is subject to all kinds of “hairstyles” concocted by three-year-old Caroline, which mostly involve flower clips being attached all over her fur. Caroline is quite upset that she won’t be able to bring Lammy to preschool on due to her being larger than a back pack (take note parents!) This painting is one of two that Heidi commissioned for her children of their favorite things. The other is a group portrait of a stuffed dog and some classic books!

Blue Dog and Lamb

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:37:12 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. As I head into the final stretch of my busy holiday season, I am listening to lots of stand-up comedy on Youtube to stay sane while painting. And so this little portrait of a stuffed dog and lamb will forever conjure Margaret Cho for me, as she happened to be keeping me company while I made it! This is one of two portraits commissioned by Michelle for her grandchildren. Interestingly, the two kids each have the same sort of floppy blue dog, but Sophia, who is five, also has this fabulous lamb blanket-head. I adore the mixed patterns of the flowered blanket and checked scarf on the lamb!

Bandana Lamb

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 05:11:04 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. Holly’s sister takes photos of each of her two children posed alongside the same favorite toy on a regular basis, and the resulting series of portraits is beyond adorable. As Christmas gifts, Holly commissioned small portraits of the two toys for her niece and nephew. This lamb belongs to one-year-old Elliot, who lives with his sister Maddie, two, and her bunny rattle Miffy in Switzerland.

Rugrat

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 03:53:14 +0000

9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. Mary is giving her two boys, now 21 one and 23, portraits of their favorite childhood toys for Christmas, both of which are stuffed/doll versions of 90’s Nickelodeon characters. This Rugrat Tommy Pickles doll’s sheep costume was taken from another toy by one of the kids and was henceforth his permanent attire. The heart on the front of the wooly outfit is embroidered with the words “I love ewe.” For more Nickelodeon bizarro-cuteness, checkout my other portrait for the guys, which immortalizes their stuffed Catdog.

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Linnie Lamb

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:00:43 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. When fifteen-year-old Sophia was a baby, these lambs were named after Linda, the woman who assisted the family with Sophia’s adoption from China. After years of travel and affection, they are now devoid of their polka-dots, stripes, and, well, their faces! The two toys, which currently look like this:
were initially intended to be rotated to slow wear-and-tear. In my “research” I have found that, in most cases, a child’s “back-up” lovey eventually becomes absorbed into daily use along with the primary toy. Such is the case with Linnie the Lamb and her twin, ultimately known as “Magic Marker Linnie” and “Other Linnie.” In this portrait, Linnie rests upon Sophia’s red fleece blanket, which was also a childhood favorite.

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Piglet and Sheepie

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 03:49:55 +0000

9″x12″ acrylic, 2011. This is the first of two paintings in a multi-generational portrait project involving four toys, each belonging to a different close member of Lynne’s family. Here we see Piglet, who belongs to Lynne’s fifteen-year-old granddaughter Alexandra, and Sheepie, who is the favorite of seven-year-old granddaughter Reilly. Piglet once shared Alexandra’s crib and affections with a stuffed Barney, but proved to have more staying power. As a small child Alexandra fell asleep each night stroking Piglet’s silky tag, which is now threadbare. Lynne suspects that Piglet will be attending college with Alexandra in a few years. In Reilley’s crib, Sheepie’s floppy, bean-baggy appeal also outlasted other stuffed toys. Sheepie’s real name is “Mary,” but Lynne is pretty sure she wouldn’t answer to that.
The second painting in this duo will feature the beloved toys of the girls’ parents, Lynne’s daughter Julie and Julie’s husband David. I absolutly adore the idea of portraits of couple’s toys together – I’ve been lucky enough to do one other , and hope for many more!

Piglet — this belongs to my 15 year old granddaughter Alexandra. We all know and love Piglet, and he’s been with her since her days in the crib. In the very early years he had to share space with Barney, but Piglet had staying power. Alex fell asleep each night stroking Piglet’s silky tag, which is now threadbare of course. When she travels cross country to visit me, Piglet always comes along. I’m sure he’ll be attending college in a few years too.

Sheepie, or “Mary” — Sheepie’s official name is Mary, but no one calls her that. (She probably wouldn’t answer). She is the best friend of my 7 year old granddaughter Reilly, and they were both born in Guam. There were lots of stuffed animals that visited Reilly’s crib and bed as a youngster, but most of them just came and went. Sheepie stayed, and now gets to go on car trips and vacations. She has a floppy beanbag feel, and because of that she is an expert cuddler. She’ll be coming to see me later this month, when Reilly flies out for a visit.

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Sleepy Lamby

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 03:56:53 +0000

5″x7″ acrylic, 2011. In this second of two portraits for Jennifer’s daughters, we see a prime example of a situation I often encounter: The “real,” slightly battered, well-loved toy vs. the “back-up” toy, which is pristine. Originally identical, they now are barely recognizable as related objects! In this case, the “real” Sleepy Lamby had just recently been accidentally burned and subsequently patched on its head. Jennifer sent me photos of the untouched “back-up” lamb as well in order to help me spiff up Sleepy Lamby in his portrait. So here is the lamb with his scalp intact but all the evidence of Jennifer’s daughter’s affection honestly represented in the folds and wrinkles of his face.

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Liam’s Lambie

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 05:39:40 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic, 2011. Recently, New York Family Magazine featured my portraits and also ran a giveaway. Here is the painting of the winner, a lamb blanket belonging to 20-month-old Liam. Liam’s father Stephen entered the giveaway perhaps hoping to preserve Lambie in as many ways as possible after it had recently gotten lost. Liam was fairly despondent without it, and when he had finally managed to fall asleep with a substitute toy, his parents ordered a backup “Lambie II.” The next morning they were relieved to find that Lambie had just been left behind at daycare!

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Lambie

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 04:05:40 +0000

12″x12″ acrylic, 2010. Many times when people send me photos of a stuffed animal, they send images of the “real” toy and also the “backup” toy — meaning, of course, the one in current circulation that is missing facial features, is dingy and worn and beloved, and the identical one that was purchased to replace it when it is lost or just completely dissolves. Such was the case with Lambie, who belongs to Holly’s 9-year-old daughter. It was absolutely striking to see the difference between Lambie and her unused counterpart. The real Lambie’s face has taken on an uncanny, soulful, human-like expression, while the backup Lambie is simply very cute. I suspect that if I worked from the photos of the backup toy, Holly’s little girl would not have recognized her!

Lila’s Lamby

Jennifer At Your Toy Portrait — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:11:50 +0000

8″x10″ acrylic on canvas, 2009. I’m that crazy lady with the camera at your kid’s birthday party who takes a zillion pictures (to make up for my terrible photograpy skills — thank goodness for the excess that digital allows for!). But what makes my paparazzing a bit unusual is my tendancy to focus on the children’s toys and stuffed animals. Always in search of fun subject matter! We recently took Sonja to her friend Lila’s 2nd birthday party and got to meet her VIP possession “Lamby.” But perhaps the most significant thing about that event for me was my introduction to Lila’s mommy’s native cuisine, the Utica Tomato Pie!