This is probably my favorite picture of my daughter, Meredith, from when she was little. She was about 3 years old in this photo, enjoying a summer day on Grampa and Gramma's farm. Vibrant colors paired with the simple sweetness of this child without a worry in the world -- the potential for a fantastic canvas piece was irresistible!

The first job was to digitize and crop:

Then, bring an impressionist flavor to the piece.

The colors muted a little bit in that step, so I went back and found those richer, deeper colors and pulled them out over the course of a couple of different steps. First from the surface with color adjustments . . .

. . . from behind the image with a paper filter application.  And there it was!  Perfect colors and feels from that day. I can almost smell the flowers, the soil and the grasses. I can hear her little voice.

This little one is 19 now and I am so proud of the young woman she has become.  I love her spirit and her fire, her humor and her heart. And whenever I want to, I can sneak back in time with just a glance at this piece, to remember where both she and I began.