As I ran my fingers across the glossy surface and inhaled its
fresh scent, a sense of wonder and a warm fuzzy feeling began to grow within
me. No, it wasn't a new sports car, not even a slightly used one. But nevertheless, it has
been a vehicle that's taken me on quite a journey these last three
months. Yes, I am talking about Art
the Spiffy Spider.
The proof copy arrived in the post today.
Holding the book for the first time was a strange experience. Up until now, this
version of the book only existed on my PC. Lots of JPEG files, and I mean
lots of them. First the storyline sketches, then slightly more developed black
and white drawings, and then finally the colored versions. I had lost count of the
time spent studying every fine detail, changing one or two scenes, and making
sure I've dotted all my i's and crossed all the t's so to speak. Yet,
during this time, I never turned a single page.
I guess Art has been a fragment of my
imagination for many years - half of my life to be exact. The story was
written one evening and then placed inside a box with pages of my other
creative writings. Every so often, I'd pull Art out of the box and think I should do something with this, before putting the paper away once
again. But to be honest,
Art never really ever left my mind. Whenever I'd see a black spider in
the corner somewhere, I'd let out a little shriek and then say, "It's
Art!" Then I'd smile and let the spider go unscathed.
It was only this February when I should turned into I will. Perhaps it
was a case of the After Christmas Blues or my creative juices just went into
overdrive and made me a bit restless. Whatever it was, the time felt
right to bring Art to life.
The only way to do this was to find an
illustrator, someone who could feel as passionate about my little eight-legged
friend as I did. So the ads went out and the bids and samples came flying
in from more than forty artists. I clicked through files and files of
overly excited spiders, skinny spiders, plump spiders, and one or two rather
scary ones. Then I came across Marina Saumell's spider and I knew that
the time for this adventure was now the right time indeed.
The hours spent on the book turned into
weeks, and then months, and now Art is finally here. No longer a part of my imagination,
not just on a PC screen, but in a tangible book form. My eyes were certainly
strained and put to the test as the book developed, but I'd be lying if I said
they didn't feel rather teary as I gazed into Art's golden eyes this afternoon.
And as I stood in the garden with the book
in my hands, trying to take a good picture of it with my somewhat average phone
camera, something funny happened. From out of nowhere, a little brown
spider parachuted down, landed on the book’s cover, and began to crawl across its surface.
To understand the humor in this, you will have to read the book!
