Start from square one!

On the hunt for another illustrator! The next day after Erin Griffin QUIT, I called all the highschools, Selkirk College, Art Galleries and sent out emails and messages to everyone I knew in the "Art World".  I got three leads the same day! Maybe everything was going to be ok? I met one illustrator at a time and unfortunately all three were very good. So I was going to have a tough time deciding again! I was able to narrow it down to 2 right off the bat because one of them, Catherine Nixon, (amazing artist!) could not get the paintings done in time. She reminded me of someone I knew too. She reminded me of ME! She and I both agreed that we were a lot alike in the way we think, act, and dream. It would have been nice to work with her on this project but she couldn't simply fit the time line. 
The next day I met with another artist, Shawna Erback. She gave me 4 hours of her time and 100% of her attention to detail. If I were to work with her, I know she would give me what I wanted, when I wanted it, and how I wanted it...I just had a really good feeling about her. I trusted her and trust is something I would be willing to pay extra for. Unfortunatley she was over my budget. But I liked her soo much I thought of doubling up on pages so it would even out the same price as having all the pages separate.  I thought about it all night and into the next day and I was pretty sure, somehow I would come up with the money...but how???

I interviewed a third illustrator, Zim, we'll call her, short for Ximena Abresch, and I met her the following day but I had already made up my mind before meeting her.  I was going to go with Shawna Erback! She was just so...GREAT! So  there she was at Clive's Coffee Bar with her coffee and her portfolio and ohhhhh I wasn't feeling good about what I was going to say to her....so I sat down akwardly and prepared to break her heart... I was feeling horrible! I watched her open up one side of the porfolio and the detail was astonishing! She opened up the other side and presented her drawings to me and an unbelievable rush of feelings engulfed my body. OMG was the first thing I said as tears welled in my eyes.  Wait till you see her illustrations is all I have to say. I looked up at this 16 year old girl before me and wondered how such beauty and talent could come from a girl at such a young age. Her hand was over her mouth as she was quite unsure how I felt about her drawings and she actually looked a little overwhelmed so I quickly said, "I LOVE THEM!" She was so happy! And so was I! Guess what I am doing RIGHT NOW????