In the children’s book “We Dream a World,” a menagerie of airy purples and wispy greens creates a dreamlike bed of wildflowers at the bottom of the first page.
The watercolor illustration by Chesapeake artist Nicole Tadgell shows Martin Luther King Jr. standing among those flowers, his arms wrapped around his wife, Coretta, below the opening line: “Granddaddy and Grandma … ”
Tadgell, 54, illustrated the book which was released recently, in time for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and written by Yolanda Renee King, the 15-year-old and only grandchild of the civil rights leaders. Tadgell considers it the most prodigious job of her 20-plus-year career as an artist.
“I’ve been lucky enough to illustrate the books of some pretty fantastic authors out there,” she said. “Yolanda Renee King is probably the most famous, recognizable person I’ve worked with.”
She’s painted pictures for over 30 children’s books and “We Dream a World” is more akin to poetry than a short story. In it, Yolanda ruminates on her grandfather’s role and work in the Civil Rights Movement and how she aspires to lead a new generation to overcome the injustices of her time.
“You helped us we the dream,” the book reads with different colors highlighting important words. “Now we’re here to be the dream.”
Because of the book’s poetic nature, Tadgell was not restricted to painting every new happening or action by the main character. She had the freedom to use her imagination.
She paints Yolanda as a 9-year-old pondering her grandparents’ ideals — “kindness, truth, equality and service” — playing or promoting the power of goodwill and love.
“Yes, Grandma Coretta! Yes, Granddaddy Martin! I. Am. Ready,” Yolanda declares, holding a microphone and delivering a speech in Washington D.C. as her grandfather famously did in 1963.
Tadgell used heavenly pinks and otherworldly bright yellows for a sunset over the Washington Monument and blues, purples and greens to create a crowd of people surrounding the reflecting pool.
Tagdell’s style of blending colors gives the illustrations a striking vibrancy.
“I am a very emotional painter,” she said. “I use colors that make me happy. I feel like the process of watercolor is a process of being in the moment. So I choose colors that I feel resonate with the words that the author is writing.”
Watercolor has been her primary medium since around 1999, and she lived in Worcester, Massachusetts most of her career. She moved to Chesapeake in 2020. In a homage to her new home, Tadgell painted golden herons flying across a portrait of Yolanda in the book.
“Since I moved here, I’ve just seen so many of them.”
Even when the book deals with serious issues such as gun violence — “We Dream a World where guns are not games” — the illustrations remain upbeat, portraying Yolanda dunking a basketball, wearing a huge smile or showing a young person blowing a giant soapy, green bubble.
“We Dream a World where the only walls are those that hold safe spaces,” the book reads,” and have windows and mirrors that reflect our unity.”
Where Yolanda writes about “blazing a new path,” a painted rocket ship blasts off with candy reds and rosy pinks into an imagined future.
Colin Warren-Hicks, 919-818-8138, colin.warrenhicks@virginiamedia.com
