Fantastical

fan·tas·tic  (fn-tstk) also fan·tas·ti·cal (-t-kl) adj. 1. Quaint or strange in form, conception, or appearance. 2. a. Unrestrainedly fanciful; extravagant: fantastic hopes. b. Bizarre, as in form or appearance; strange: fantastic attire; fantastic behavior. c. Based on or existing only in fantasy; unreal: fantastic ideas about her own superiority. 3. Wonderful or superb; remarkable: a fantastic trip to Europe. n. An eccentric person.

I've had an epiphany! Last week, I sat down with too much time on my hands and discovered what a lot of my work has been missing. It is all whimsical, but it is not all fantastical! And that is what drives my creative spot. That's what mesmerizes me and leaves me in admiring awe when I read Shel Silverstein's poems or watch Jim Henson's muppets. When I study the dark illustrations filling the pages of Where the Wild things are, I get this twinge inside. An exciting kind of cool feeling in the pit of my stomach that doesn't leave me saying, "that's cute" but rather, "that's fancy and clever and witty and magical and what a wonderful mind to have thought of that!" Princesses are whimsical but a mouse with an umbrella is fantastical. Are you beginning to see what I'm saying?

I am going to be in the process of adding/removing and redirecting my work. Cats should wear birthday hats, birds should have human faces, and anything should be allowed to carry an umbrella! It will be a process but I'm excited and inspired.