This painting is a gift for my niece and her groom. Everything in the painting is symbolic like in a dream. The flowers, trees, and even the waterfalls all have meanings for things I wish them in their marriage. The books are very personal to my niece. She loves books, so very much that her groom proposed to her in a book store. He set things up ahead of time. He hollowed out a place for the ring in the book that was my niece's favorite childhood book. He wrote on the blank page in the front, "Will you marry me so we can have a Happy Ever After together?" Then when they were in the store he pretended to knock to book off the shelf and knelt on one knee to pick it up in front of her. He said something like, "Look, someone wrote in this book!" as he handed it to her. She opened it, saw the ring and the proposal and him on one knee and she was so happy and shocked at how he had done it. So in this painting I borrowed the idea from Cinnamon Cooney of a book staircase. It is leading them into adventures. In the background a giant book is open and creates a bridge across waterfalls. And hidden in plain sight in the foreground is a little ladybug, which is a symbol for the bride's nickname since infancy. So, this is my gift for them, my dream for them.

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