Hi Mike, thank you, I feel that I have been blessed by the photography God.
I asked my husband for his gut reaction and that's the one he picked also. I think you may be right about the cushion, changing it will be no problem. Eliminating the flowers is easy also, I looked at it cropped higher (at the dress line as you suggested) and it certainly does look more elegant. I will think on the feet, with everything simplified they may still work. I know its not "congruent", old rebellions die hard. I planned on giving it more head room on top, as for cropping I'll have to check on the scale (canvas size) as I'm having a stretcher built for this and I'll have to catch Steve before he builds it if I need a different size!
The first photo has a Billie Holiday feel to it. That's the first thing I caught from it anyway. I'm going to do a small one, 20"x14" or so just for fun. Maybe pastel.
Thank you for looking and commenting, I appreciate it. Wanna see my tornado???
Jean