When Meg Lemieur was just 12 years old, she was plagued with horrific, blood-curdling nightmares. "Somebodysuggested writing them down to better understand what was happening inthem," she explains, while sitting in a Kensington cafe. "Just allowingmyself to contemplate what was happening on the subconscious levelhelped me work on how I was feeling about my real life."Journalingproved habit-forming; Lemieur now has piles of notebooks describinghundreds of somnolent adventures. Her new self-published book ofillustrations, "And Then I Woke Up," explores six of her most vividR.E.M. narratives. In addition to the finished product, Friday's bookrelease will feature her early in-progress sketches, detailing themonths of trial and error involved with getting her dreams down onpaper."In college I thought I wanted to illustrate fables, but atsome point I realized that within my dreams I had my own originalstories that are interesting in their own right," says Lemieur. "I chosethese six particular dreams because they helped shape the way I viewedmy life. So they're my own personal fables in a way, because they allhave a pretty instructive moral at their core."During the past sixyears, Lemieur has worked professionally as an illustrator and graphicdesigner, creating everything from velvet coloring posters to paper dollsets. But "And Then I Woke Up" has been a labor of love -- a chance toblend her professional skills with her philosophical passions.Thebook comes with a blank section for readers to try their hand atintrospective sketching. "Recording your dreams can definitely befruitful. You can interact with yourself as if you're your own muse --illustrating things that are a part of you, but not something youconjured up in your conscious thoughts," she says. "It's an opportunityto take a completely different perspective on yourself."If you goStop by the “And Then I Woke Up” book release party on Friday, 7-8:30 p.m., at F&N Gallery (2007 Frankford Ave.)“And Then I Woke Up” is available now at www.paper stampede.com.
