Magic and Timing

Let me start with the bad news right off:
I have had to make the gut-wrenching decision, with much angst, 

that my first illustrated calendar that I just recently decided to create

and had begun working on

is being postponed until next year.

My sincerest apologies.

But it is truly necessary.

The good news is

that the calendar I would have had the time to create this year

(given that I decided to do it wayyyyy too late, I now know)

couldn't possibly have had enough time to become as magical

as I needed it to be.

There just wasn't enough time. 

And that by taking the appropriate time needed to create the magic

by working on it throughout next year
and introducing it in the fall
will get you, my treasured friends,
much more magic to hold in your hands.

Let me explain ...

Let me begin by saying that

if you know me,

you know how I feel about magic ...

it's what I'm all about ...

If you are one that recognizes magic ...

then you are one that realizes it truly is hiding everywhere ...

it hides in the folds of sheer fabric ...

... It's there in the glimmer of the sparkle that winks in the light ...

It smiles at me from a crisp white awning ... 

especially if the sun should decide to play with pattern,

as if it has tossed a handful of sequins across it ...

... it whispers to me from uniform shapes of topiaries ...

... and from the golden glow from windows ...

... it looks up at me from the unexpected beauty of blue that sits amongst

a party of formal white tables ...

It's there, always, in whimsy ...

... but it's also there with it's eyebrows raised,
looking inquisitvely at me
from the table where a girl may sit alone in thought ...
whispering to me from across the room,
"Don't you see a story here?  A perfect painting?"

Magic.

It's always there everywhere for me.

And that magic is what whispered to me in the night

just a short time ago ...

"you should create a calendar."

So, I awoke with the magical ideas floating in the air all around me ...

they were sparkling off the walls as I descended my circular staircase,

floating in the whipped cream atop my morning coffee ...

I would create a fairytale of a beautiful calendar.

So I announced it to all and began the work.

YES, YES, YES ...

I DID KNOW
that I was only just beginning the work on an elaborate calendar

when many others had been working on their calendars all year

and had already introduced them to the public as finished.

And
NO, NO, NO,

I had not thought of doing it earlier in the year
when it now clearly should have begun.

But, did I stop?

NO.

But to do a calendar the way I do a calendar

is no quick thing.

If you know me, you also know

that I am a painter of detail.

And you  know what they say ... 

"magic is in the details" ...

and they're right.

Creating a calendar the way I want to create my calendar

requires the preparation sort of needed for creating a mini novel ...

before even beginning to paint the illustrations, you need to:
think of the settings, the characters,

the plot, so to speak ...

you have to choose the fashions for each month

and the look of the girls to illustrate to tell your story.

It's rather like being a stylist, author, and magic wand waver all at once.

And I have NOOOOOO problem with being a magic wand waver.

I do it all the time.

But something hit me when November 1 happened.

I looked at my illustration calendar filled with client illustrations to complete

by the end of November in addition to the many calendar illustrations still left

and realized there was no way I would be able to finish

the calendar dancing in my mind in that amount of time.

After all ...
who would want to go to a designers runway show
squeezed in at the last minute only to see a girl in jeans walking down the runway?

Just as designers need time to get their models chosen,
their background created,
the gowns designed and created,
the hair styled, make-up applied ...

the same is true for a work of illustration magic ...
you get the idea.

That morning that magic whispered the sentence to me

that said "you should create a calendar"

probably ended with "... next year" and I just awoke too soon.

I so hate to disappoint anyone.

And that's why I try to never {ever} do it.
Let's hope this is the last time I'll ever have to.

xox

OOH LA FROU FROU

is the blog of illustrator
SANDY M

For custom illustration inquiries
contact Sandy here.

The images above were found
on my Pinterest boards.