I'VE MOVED!!!

PLEASE VISIT ME AT MY NEW
SITE, SHOP AND WORDPRESS BLOG
 AT
www.sandymillustration.com
Hello everybody!

It's been some time since I've posted here on the blog!
You may remember that I mentioned that a new
website was being created.
Well ....
NOW IT'S HERE!

Because of my extremely busy custom illustration schedule,
the designing of the new website, with it's new
SHOP and new Wordpress blog
took so much longer to create than I ever dreamed!
But I'm so excited to now have a great home base
to regularly add fun new items with my illustrations,
as well as have my new blog right there within my website.

I will no longer be posting here on this blog
now that I have launched the new one.
If you followed me here, I so appreciate all of you
and hope that you join me at the new site and blog!

The website just launched a few days ago
and the first blog post on the new blog
just posted today, so please come visit me!

The first (and only at the moment) item in the new SHOP
is my new
SANDY M 2015 Fashion Illustration Calendar
and is available now!
It was just released in December
and has been flying off the shelves of the studio,
so get one of your own while quantities last.
Here's a peek:
This is the cover:



And this is the January's frameable 8" x 10" calendar page:



The very first post on the new Wordpress blog
is dedicated to the Calendar,
and I share with you the fun background
stories of each of the fashion illustrations!
For instance, look at January's girl.
I bet you wonder where she is and what she's doing.
Come see me and find out!

The new website address
with it's SHOP and new blog is:
www.sandymillustration.com

By the way, if you don't already follow me on Instagram,
please do, I share all things new there as they happen!
I am @sandymillustration on Instagram.
I am also on Twitter
Pinterest and Facebook.

For custom illustration inquiries,
please contact me at:
artistsandym@gmail.com

See you there!
SANDY M

PRETTINESS COMING!

You know those signs you see
when construction is going on:
"Pardon Our Dust?"

Well, that's sort of what I dropped by to say.
But it's more like "Pardon My Absence"
while my concentration has been needed
in order to get a new site and shop up and running.
Things have been pretty quiet around here ...
but I certainly haven't been laying around!

Thanks for your patience everyone ...
I'm stopping by today just to say that
while the construction is going on for the new website,
shop and wordpress blog,
things around here will be a little sporadic
but I'll stop by every week or so to keep you posted
on how it's going.

It takes a lot to add something like creating a
new site and shop
to my normal heavy illustration schedule,
but I'm working hard to get some pretty
things created!

You may have seen this on Instagram:
The design of the illustration for the first journal cover
has begun and this was the beginning ...
more girls have been added and it's almost ready to paint!

Thanks for hanging in there!
I'm excited to launch!

xox

Till later,

SANDY M

OOH LA FROU FROU

is the blog of illustrator

SANDY M

For custom illustration inquiries
contact SANDY here:
artistsandym@gmail.com

Winter Magic

So ...
is wishing for spring on the top of your list these days?
If it's been as snowy as it has here,
my guess is that the answer is a resounding yes!

Winter weather is on my mind this evening
as I type this post simply because
yet another snowstorm is on it's way ...
in fact the first of the snowflakes are beginning
to fall as I write (Tuesday night).
I will sleep through much of it, blissfully unaware,
and peer out at the magic in the morning.
The snow is supposed to continue through most of tomorrow, as well.
I remember winters that were "real " winters like this
when I was a kid but we haven't had this kind of weather
in many, many years.
In fact, January of this year broke all records of the
most snow ever recorded here.

I recently shared a few photos on Instagram
of one of the many snowstorms of this season
and since we're heading into another snowy night,
I thought you may enjoy seeing them here.

The following photos were taken on quite a magical night.
The snow had been falling hard all day.
As night fell and dinner seemed a good idea
with not a lot of food in the house,
the thought of driving out onto winter-slick roads
wasn't particularly appealing.
Luckily, the house is only a block from town where
a choice of restaurants were beckoning.
You can see from the photos that
 my charming town that has a New England feel to it
with many lovely historic homes.
Normally, when it's a snowy whirlwind outside,
the grown-up me views the beauty and fury from indoors.
On this particular night, however, a late evening walk
sounded like it just might be fun to be a kid again.
And it so was!

When there is that much snow on the ground,
the light is reflected so beautifullly, as you will see in the photos.
Everything seemed to glow all around
and I felt as if a Christmas card had come to life.
On this particular evening, even though it was after Christmas,
many homes still had their trees and outdoor lights up.
It was a magical evening and one that made me remember
to be a child more often
and "play" outdoors where magic is all around ...
all of the following photos are of the street  where I live
and were taken by me with my i-phone ...

I left the house bundled in coat, scarf, boots & gloves ...
but, the cement dog outside my door wore a top hat of snow ...

It looked quite peaceful in the previous photos, didn't it?
And it was ... it was so silent all around.
But ...
it was actually coming down like this the whole time ...

 

I'll remember that walk always, I think.
I'll have to remember how much fun snow can be
tomorrow when I wake and it's still coming down.
I admit that I do enjoy the snow more
because I don't have to drive anywhere in the morning ...
my studio is right here at home.
A walk is much safer territory than a drive in this weather ...
which always gives me white knuckles!

Since I've been sharing a few Instagram photos,
I'll share just a few more ...
in a moment of spring-craving I bought some
hot pink and lilac OPI polishes and went for the hot pink first ...
now I really do feel much more like spring just may appear
at some point!
 

I decided on February 1st that my
Instagram and Twitter friends were so special,
I wanted to post a "Valentine"  each day for
"Fourteen Days of Valentines."
These were the first four ... 

I'm sure you've probably discovered the Waterlogue app
if you're on Instagram, as many are posting photos
turned into iphone "watercolors."
As I'm an artist and illustrator, I thought I'd limit my
iphone versions of art to a minimum but did post
a Waterlogue photo of my living room ...

The following photo wasn't posted on Instagram
but it is the Waterlogue version of my pug, Lily.
Too fun!

I have quite a heavy workload of custom illustrations
this month, currently finishing one with a backdrop
of Tiffany & Company's Fifth Avenue store.
The new website is still underway, as well,
and will launch as soon as I have a few more things
created for the store.

What's been happening in your world?
Fill me in!

xo
Till next time!
SANDY M

OOH LA FROU FROU

is the blog of illustrator
SANDY M

For custom illustration inquiries
contact Sandy at
artistsandym@gmail.com

Who Are You?

Who Are You?
Does the answer come easily?
Is it resting on your tongue ready to leap off?
Or is it elusive?
I'd love to know.

Who Am I?
I am a Dreamer.  A Romantic.
A Writer of Words and a Painter of Dreams.





... there are dreams of poems and stories yet unwritten ...
kisses yet unkissed, walks yet unwalked,
dreams yet to be captured by my paintbrush ...
and that's a marvelous thing ...
for, to me, what is a life without dreams?





I've mentioned before that as a child
my mother was told by one of my teachers:
"She is a dreamer ...
I catch her staring out of the window, far away in a dream."
That teacher was obviously not a dreamer
or she would have known ...





For a time as a child we lived on a pretty canal
that led to a beautiful lake.
If was the stuff of childhood dreams with
a weeping willow tree in the backyard
and a rowboat that I'd go out with my dad on.
I had a favorite spot at that house.
The backyard sloped down to the water
and there was an area by a grouping of trees
way over in the corner of the backyard
right by the water's edge
that I loved to tuck myself into
and listen to the sounds of the trickling water
and dream ...
I couldn't tell you today what I was dreaming of then ...
but I know even now that it was my happy place.









Today I find myself living in a house
with a deep backyard for dreaming.
As you enter this wonderland, there are scented flower gardens
that were there for years and years before I ever came.









... this house is on the water again ...
another perfect dreamland ...













Sometimes it seems that my dreams
are asking me to follow ...



... sometimes my dreams lead me to an obvious destination ...
"paint this" they whisper ...
"write these words down before you forget" they remind me ...
and when I "get it," it's as if the world
is filled with sparkle ...

But sometimes I get just a hint of where to follow ...
a thought that evaporates before I can grasp it ...
like a misty train on it's way to a destination unknown ...


... those dreams make me work for them ...
it's as if they're hiding behind a veil
waiting for me to find what I am meant to see ...





... it gives me a sense of deja vu ...
and it makes me squint my eyes
to see what I'm not seeing
and tilt my head to listen for what I'm not hearing ...
and when it finally appears,
it's usually filled with more sparkle
than the dreams that present ideas
so quickly.

If I could step back in time,
I'd tell that teacher of my childhood
that my childhood dreams were simply preparing me
for a career that requires
daily dreaming ...

 Sometimes these things are difficult to put into words
and when I mention these things to someone that is
not a dreamer, someone that is practical,
I know they can't hear what I say,
can't see what I see.

Tell me ...
are you a dreamer?


Till next time ...

XO ~ SANDY M

OOH LA FROU FROU
is the blog of illustrator
SANDY M

For custom illustration inquiries
contact Sandy at
artistsandym@gmail.com

The sources of these images
can be found in my Pinterest board
entitled Dreamy

Winter Dreams

What have you been dreaming?

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Someone's been very busy planning and creating
 some chic things to come for the new site ...
and since I can't divulge too much yet,
it leaves me with my lips rather zipped ...

So ...
since I can't share current illustrations
being created for the shop
or any of the many illustrations
I'm currently working on for some lovely clients yet,
I thought why take us away for a moment
on a virtual vacation.

I don't know about you ...
but winter this year where I live
has been way too ... well ... winter-like for me ...
the hardest winter we've seen in a long time!
I just checked my weather app and it shows
0 degrees (F).
Yep.  0 as in 0.  See what I mean?

So I thought whisking us away for a moment visually
with dreams of lying by the sea or
thoughts of booking a week-long (or more?) stay
at an exclusive tropical resort with nothing more to do than decide
which umbrella drink would go best with the book
we're reading would be just the ticket for today!

Are you planning on an escape this winter?
Since I feel this wish to escape for a while
every year in January or February,
I'm thinking the smart thing to do would be to
actually plan one for next February ...
I think I may have to do a little travel research.
Any suggestions?

Thanks so much for dropping by
while the construction of the new site
is underway ...
till next time!



OOHLAFROUFROU
is the blog of illustrator
SANDY M

For custom illustration inquiries
drop Sandy a line at
artistsandym@gmail.com