Challenge 31 - Fairyland

Carol Bailey Floyd is hosting the Diva's challenge this week and she asks us to create a Zentangle environment where fairies would feel at home.

Well that's right up my fairy alley! I love Zentangles and fairies and all their magical powers to influence our lives.

As a child, The Giant Golden Book of Elves and Fairies was my favorite book. My mother read it to us almost every day. It's was a wonderful anthology of stories collected by Jane Werner and beautifully illustrated by Garth Williams. It was magical, and began my creative experience. There was a story about a mermaid that made me want to learn to swim and never cut my hair, so someday I could be a mermaid too.

My mother was not one of those "cherish the memories" sorts of moms. She didn't try to preserve our childhood clothes, toys, books, etc. She would throw out "old crap" as she so gingerly put it. She was great, and I loved her dearly, but she definitely wasn't into those soft and fuzzy types. Anyway... I remembered that book (long gone from our house) and looked for it for most of my adult life. It's one of those books that many of us baby boomers remember fondly, and I discovered that it went out of print in the 60's. I ran across old original copies online, rarely, and very expensive (minimum of $100). So I kept looking...

One day, I was helping my dear friend Shirley doing some organizing. She's one of those who does cherish and preserve family memorabilia and items from the past. We were going through her treasure of children's books and ran across an original Elves and Fairies book. It was beautiful, and I sat down and leafed through those wonderful old pages and it was just as I remembered it. She saw how enamored I was. It had been her children's book, and unbeknown to me, she called them, and they all agreed I should have it. A few days later surprised me with the book. It was one of the loveliest gifts I have ever received. I cherish it and still leaf through it often.

So, to make a long story long, fairies have always been a favorite of mine. I'm illustrating a children's book for a friend of mine. She has written a collection of fairy poems that she asked me to illustrate. What a joy and honor!

Here is my fairy garden interpretation, hope the fairies enjoy it. This seems like a perfect challenge this week since Rick and Maria's daughter Molly just had a baby girl. What more do little girls love than fairies? They are there to inspire, watch over, and bring magic to the lives of all little baby girls. Welcome Mazzy Martha Hollibaugh!