Personal Favorite

I'm cheating a little bit here as my favorite work isn't currently in my portfolio. I wanted to post about it anyway, because I think it's an important step in my development as an illustrator.
This piece was created for my son's nursery. I realized as I was painting it (acrylic on canvas)that since no art director or anyone else "in the field" would be seeing it, I was free to follow whatever whim hit me. This led me to play more with color choice and brush movement, with no thought to my current "style".
As a result, I'm more in love with this piece than any other piece currently tucked into my portfolio. I feel like it shows more of who I am as an artist.
I've labored over many of my portfolio pieces: vigorously critiqued myself along the way, analyzed layout, palette, line quality, etc. By doing that I think I unconsciously box myself in. This painting will serve as a reminder to let go as an artist, and I might be pleasantly surprised with the results.