Anona'a painting

There are some people that come into our lives that make a huge impact. My friend Anona is one of them. I have never met someone so completely selfless and thoughtful and genuine in my life. She is a great example to me. I have never heard her complain and she always has a smile and it's not a fake smile. I just love to be in her presence so I can do my best to try to be just a little bit like her. She asked me to help her decorate her house and I felt it such an honor because I got to be around her and because I love to decorate. She was so sweet. She thinks everything I suggest is gold, and does everything I recommend, which makes working with her a pleasure. She is a great deal finder. She found this comforter for her master bedroom for about $70. She bought 6 or 7 bed sets and let me pick the one I liked best. I chose this one and we used it as a base to decorate her room. She found this headboard on Craigslist for $20 and repainted it. She found the side dressers there too for I think $60 for 3 and painted them. The lamps were a garage sale find that she spray painted. (Did I mention she is an amazing do it your selfer?) I thought the room needed some big artwork since it was such a large room and since the budget was tight I thought I would paint something for her and trade. She has really made it worth my time with how generous she is, and I had a great time painting this for her.
Her wedding song was "grow old along with me" so I painted the words up the trunk of the tree. I think trees are lovely symbols for family, growth, change, seasons, bearing fruit, and shelter which all seemed very appropriate for a painting hanging above a master bed.
I think this piece turned out pretty nice and I will definitely use the stencil technique again.
I always worry when I do commission pieces that the recipient won't like it as much as I do. The last thing I want is someone to think, "oh great, how long do I have to have this up before I can take it down and not hurt her feelings." Fortunately, I think they do like this piece and I hope they will for some time. Thanks for letting me do it for you Anona. You're truly a gem.