One Sunday night a rainbow burst
Through a child's bedroom wall
Freeing all the Dream Painters
Like a magic waterfall.
from Victoria Bell's Dream Painters
Americans are not sleeping.
Study after study shows that we are not sleeping enough hours every night; and that when we are sleeping, we are waking up repeatedly and not feeling rested. With both mental and physical health linked definitively to sleep, it is not wonder that more people are looking for ways relax, rest, and get better sleep.
Sleep has been an important constant in my life: when I get a good night's sleep, I am happier and more productive. Sleeping well is essential to facing emerging problems and moving towards my goals. On the other hand, when I am not sleeping well I am not productive and I am not happy.
Recently I came across artwork with sleep as its central theme. Looking at the images each night instills a sense of calm, helping me go and stay asleep. Their author, Victoria Bell has a simple objective: justice for all and to keep good dreams afloat. As the mother of four children and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology, Victoria channeled this ambition and hope into a children's book with mesmerizing illustrations and soothing words. I asked Victoria to share some of the background in creating this work and the incredible images themselves.
Steve Mariotti:How did you get into creating children's books?
Victoria Bell: My education helped immensely. My high school art teacher was awesome (Hi, Jan from Pittsford Mendon). My parents took me to art lessons and sent me to Carnegie Mellon to study art (thank you, Mum and Dad!). My teachers taught me to see and think for myself (Mary Weidner, Ada Medina, Joanne Mayer, and Douglas Pickering).
The most helpful books were Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards and Brian Bomeisler, and Writing With Pictures by Uri Shulevitz. Other artists are a source of inspiration such as M.C. Escher and Paul Gauguin. Working in a cognitive psychology lab with Dr. Patricia Carpenter and Dr. Marcel Just was a fascinating look at the human mind. At Princeton University, I studied under Dr. Philip Johnson-Laird and his Mental Model Theory shaped my thinking. I learn everyday from my amazing family and I dedicate this book to them with all my love.
SM: What type of book is Dream Painters?
VB: Dream Painters is a poem that tells a story of hope, and is accompanied by illustrations. The book can be read to a child at bedtime. Alice went through the looking glass; and here, the Dream Painters burst through the sleeping child's bedroom wall.
Dream Painters is a picture book; its artwork and poetry can be shared with a child. I hope that both the reader and the child have fond memories of that sharing. The book can be read alone. Later a glance at the book on the coffee table may recall the imagery in the mind's eye. I find comfort in contemplating mental images, others may too.
We plan to have the hard printed book out this summer and an online version can be viewed at my website. I am working on individual stories and animation.
SM: Why do you think sleep is so important?
VB: Children are our great dreamers. We should give them time and a safe space to do what they do best. I have found in my role as a mother that lack of sleep can result in a sense of despair for a child. And yet children continue to request to stay up, as if they fear sleep itself. Simple bedtime rituals can help put a child to sleep and a child's hopeful dreams can guide them in their life and their education.
SM: Who are the Dream Painters?
VB: In this book, the Dream Painters are the virtues personified. We are all dream painters because we can imagine ourselves as courageous and as kind. We can embody each of the virtues ourselves. The inspiration for each Dream Painter came from people in my life.
SM: What other messages are in the story?
VB: This is a bedtime story with a happy ending: it is a future where each person, each dream painter, ends up with their own space, their own tree. Despair turns to hope when there is justice for all and a healing stream provides the resources to sustain life.
SM: What do you hope to achieve with your work?
VB: I wish I had more to give than books -- if I knew how to make a healing stream or bring justice to all. I feel sure that it is wisdom itself that will show us the way. I wish for each child to have a safe place to think and good teachers to help them find their own voice. I support access to the arts in education.
SM: What do you plan to do in the future with your art?
VB: I'm working on a larger painting about the making of a mind. There are three more paintings in this series. Each of the Dream Painters will have their own story eventually, but that will take a lot more thinking. Meanwhile, I have to figure out how to animate each picture.
All images courtesy of Victoria Bell. See more here.