Portraits of a Lady and Gentleman, Formal Portraits of Rabbits in Miniature

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Pair of rabbit miniature portraits

Portrait of a Gentleman and Portrait of a Lady, oil on aluminum, 5″ x 5″

Making portraits of rabbits is serious (and silly) business

Living with animals means forming unusual patterns of communication and quite powerful loving bonds. These two bunnies reside in my painting studio and we’ve become quite good friends. I’ve made many paintings of them over the past several years, some silly and some serious. These two paintings take the prize for the most formal in the bunch, however, yet these portraits are also as serious and silly as the rabbits they portray.

17th century Dutch portraits heavily influenced how I composed these portraits. Vermeer’s, “Girl with a Pearl Earring” is a prime example of this type of painting. My fascination for this genre can also be seen in my Into the Country monthly miniatures, created at the same time as these two.

The paintings explore our relationships with animals and their relationships with each other. I’ve spent most of my career painting portraits of people and my portraits of rabbits reflect that. There is an irony in a formal portrait painting of a rabbit because relationships between animals are seen as less legitimate than between humans. And more so this diptych since it anthropomorphizes the bond between this pair. Yet these two rabbits did dearly love each other and the feeling that an animal is “part of the family” is certainty not uncommon. So beyond being both silly and serious, they also feel at once ironic and genuine.

June Miniature Pet Portrait Special!

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empty-frames

Help Me Fill These Frames!

I have a three of each of these miniature frames, and I want to make paintings to fill them! To welcome Summer, I’m offering miniature pet portraits custom made to fit one of the above frames for 20% off. The paintings will be approximately 2.5″ – 3″.

This discount is only good for the month of June. You provide the photos, and pick one of these frames for your painting to live in. It’s first come, first served, so if you’ve thought about commissioning a tiny portrait of your favorite fuzzy or feathery friend, now’s the time! Check the Commissions page to see how many slots are still left to fill for each frame. Take a look at the Upcoming Portraits section or contact me to find out current wait times for completed paintings.

Contact me to start your portrait or ask a question! (Hand-finished antique frames are also available, contact me for pricing.)

miniature frame sample paintings

Snow Rabbit Painting is Open for Bidding!

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Snow Rabbit oil painting miniature by Rebecca Luncan

Snow Rabbit – December 2015, oil on aluminum, 3.75″ x 5″

 

December’s Monthly Miniature painting auction is now live!

Half of the proceeds from the sale of this painting will be donated to Special Bunny and Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation. Please visit my Facebook event to bid and to follow the auction over the next week. The auction will close on Sunday, December 13th at 5:00 PM Pacific time.

Thank you for your interest!

Charity Auction for December’s Monthly Miniature Rabbit Painting

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Snow Rabbit In progress oil painting

Snow Rabbit – December, 2015 in-progress, 5″ x 3.75″, oil on aluminum

Get your bidding cards ready, this painting is going up for auction December 7th!

Painting the Monthly Miniatures has been an amazing journey. Each month I’m creating one new painting of my rabbits, and I love how each new painting ends up inspiring new ideas for the next two or three paintings.

I’ve been humbled by all of the support from everyone out there. Each painting has sold, most within 24 hours of being released (sometimes in minutes!). For the paintings to go to loving homes is such a huge blessing. My heartfelt thanks to all you Monthly Miniature owners out there.

Why an auction this month?

First, since they’re selling so quickly, I thought it would be nice to give more people the chance to purchase one of the little paintings.

Second, I’d like to engage my audience and get more exposure. I love painting, and the more people that know I exist, the better for my art career. So please spread the word!

Third and most important, 50% of the sale price of this painting goes to two local nonprofits who helped my rabbits and their litter mates. Read the story of my two long-eared muses and how Special Bunny and Seattle Animal Shelter Foundation helped them come into my life on my last blog post.

How to bid?

Bidding will be simple and take place on Facebook (but I will do my best to accommodate anyone interested who does not have an account). Bids will be entered directly in reply to a post featuring the finished and framed painting. It will be live for about a week, Monday December 7th at 8AM PST to Sunday December 13th at 5PM PST. Bidding instructions will be found under the “Notes” tab on Facebook, but basically each bid will look like:

Bid $100

If you are the winning bidder, please confirm your method of payment within 48 hours of winning the auction. I would like to get the painting shipped as soon as possible!

No Facebook account or want to be anonymous?

If you don’t have an account or if public bidding will ruin a surprise (or it’s just not your thing), contact me with your maximum bid, and I’ll post for you, complete with an Anonymous Bidder Codename. I will periodically update the leading bid by increments of $10, up to your maximum bid, and send you an update email if you aren’t on Facebook.

Payment Method

Paypal is easy for most people, but I happily accept checks and credit cards. Just make sure I have a current email and mailing address for you, and confirm your method of payment within 48 hours of winning the auction. If paying by check, make sure to get it to me within five business days to keep your winning bid status.

Will I continue to do auctions?

If all goes well, I may do another one next December, but expect all the future monthly Miniatures (at least January – November) to sell directly from the website as usual.

Questions?

If I seem to have missed something important, please contact me. Thanks for you interest, and happy bidding!

 

Rabbit Greeting Card Giveaway: the Monthly Miniature Series is Half Finished!

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Rabbit_greeting_Cards

Celebrate with me!

I’m pleased to say I’m halfway through my “Monthly Miniature – Rabbits” project. I’ve printed greeting cards of all six paintings to mark the occasion, and now I want to give some away! The first six subscribers that reply to the September Monthly Miniature Newsletter will get a set of cards for free, so check your inboxes! If you miss your chance, don’t worry, you can purchase them from my site starting September 7th.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed making these paintings, and I’m excited for the next six. It’s amazing how there’s always something new to explore within such a narrow focus. The project so far has been really inspiring for me, and I’m brimming with ideas for the miniatures. I’ve also been dying to do some larger paintings of the rabbits, like a giant portrait of Charlie that will have to come into the world one day. But for now, the little ones will keep coming, once a month, as promised.

Thanks for following the Monthly Miniatures. And if you aren’t already on my newsletter, please sign up!