William Schriever

January 26, 2026
My wife passed away a little over a year ago. As I went through photos of our life together, I found a very special one that I took on our honeymoon in Jamaica. Carrol was holding a lovely hibiscus flower to her cheek, and the look on her face struck me as “I dare you to tell me which one is prettier!” A friend suggested that I have a portrait painted based on that photo. My top priority for the project was to capture that look. I found R Gregory Photography’s website; and their sample portraits did capture the subjects’ looks, so I commissioned a work. Adelaide Rooney was my artist, and she quickly grasped what I was striving for. We went through several iterations of digital images, especially alternate backgrounds. Then she went to work on the painting. When I saw the finished work, I cried—it was so beautiful….and LIFE-LIKE! I gave Adelaide an old, faded photo taken by an amateur (me), and she gave me a Mona Lisa. Now I have a masterpiece of my own. How can I ever thank you?

My wife passed away a little over a year ago. As I went through photos of our life together, I found a very special one that I took on our honeymoon in Jamaica. Carrol was holding a lovely hibiscus flower to her cheek, and the look on her face struck me as “I dare you to tell me which one is prettier!” A friend suggested that I have a portrait painted based on that photo. My top priority for the project was to capture that look.

I found R Gregory Photography’s website; and their sample portraits did capture the subjects’ looks, so I commissioned a work. Adelaide Rooney was my artist, and she quickly grasped what I was striving for. We went through several iterations of digital images, especially alternate backgrounds. Then she went to work on the painting. When I saw the finished work, I cried—it was so beautiful….and LIFE-LIKE!

I gave Adelaide an old, faded photo taken by an amateur (me), and she gave me a Mona Lisa. Now I have a masterpiece of my own. How can I ever thank you?