If you have ever set foot on a beach or a hiking trail in Hawaii, then you know the power of the island. The smell of the earth, the depth and color of the foliage and the vast array of wildlife…this is what set the flame in a 21 year old Rachel Dinda aka Dreamscaper, when she relocated there for a few years and realized that she needed to take her talent with paints to a whole new level.
When she returned to Colorado a few years later she hit the ground running with not only becoming a nurse but also putting up murals all over the state, and when she ran out of walls here she started going national with murals in Connecticut and Washington DC. Next up, global by completing a mural in Italy and soon the UK. All while helping people stay healthy and donating time and art to the Linked4life fund, an organization focused on mental health.
We were lucky enough to catch her returning from another painting trip and fresh out of her scrubs to ask her a few questions about her love of books.
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Rachel Dinda on Art, Books, and Libraries
- What book as a kid, influenced your imagination to pick up a crayon and begin making art?
I was a huge fan of the Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke, it was such a cool story that incorporated nature and talking animals as well as books as one of the main characters is a bookbinder. I loved the idea that reading about a character could make it pop from a book and I think as a kid I kind of drew with a bit of imagination, hoping that drawings might do the same. It also gave me a sense of adventure with the characters traveling and exploring while trying to continue the art of bookbinding and the stories that came from it, the book definitely had a small part to play in my adventures in Hawaii.
- What book are you currently reading that influences you in either a creative way or a professional way?
Currently I am deep in the War of Art: Winning the Creative Inner Battle by Stephen Pressfield. It’s a book that addresses the resistance that many artists feel when trying to express themselves and gives them steps on overcoming it and freeing your creativity. As I grow as an artist I want to make sure I can paint outside the lines and always challenge myself to go bigger, brighter and always more colorful.
- What do you think is the most important resource that Libraries provide to you as an artist?
As much as I love running my fingers down rows of books about art and nature I have to say that access to information and having a safe place to use the internet has saved me more than once in my travels and I am sure is the same for people traveling to Denver. It is nice to have a place to research designs or animals when you are not in your own city and then make printouts while having Librarians to help you with the whole process.
- What is your current/favorite/most-used branch of the Denver Public Library?
I think it would have to be the Central branch downtown. I split my time between Denver and Colorado Springs with my nursing job so having a centrally located branch with all the history that building has is pretty cool. The art book collection is massive and as an artist who often has money tied up in projects and travel, free DVDs and Books on CD are a total plus.
- If you were offered a gigantic wall on the outside of a Library, what would your paint to display what a library means to you?
I thought a lot about this question, as I have always wanted to do a gigantic mural based on Aesop’s Fables. There are so many cool animals and characters with so much emotion tied into them as well as fun metaphors to play with. I think it would be awesome to try to pack as many as I could into a giant wall that would be impactful to kids and adults alike, a library would be the perfect canvas for that idea.
Ex Libris: Denver Artists is a series featuring local street artists, focusing on their connection to books and the importance of libraries to the artistic community. Series concept and interview by Sean Ryerson.
