Cece Bell
As a child
I was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1970. I have an older brother and an older sister who drew a lot, so I learned a lot from watching them. I was a pretty competitive little kid, and was always trying to draw better than they did.
In 1975 I got really sick with meningitis and had to be in a hospital for two weeks. I drew hundreds of pictures of the same thing: a green-faced little girl standing under a rainbow. During that two weeks, I lost most of my hearing, and soon after had to be outfitted with hearing aids. Soon after, it was time to go to Kindergarten, so I went to a school in Richmond that was for deaf and hearing-impaired students. I did well enough that year that when we moved to Salem, Virginia the next year, I got to go to first grade with kids who did not have any hearing loss. I had to wear an enormous, and powerful, hearing aid, and my teacher wore a microphone that amplified her voice. The great thing about it was, I could hear the teacher no matter where she was in the entire school – in conferences, smoking in the teachers' lounge, using the bathroom! Lots of material for my twisted imagination.
In the end, I probably focused on drawing because it was a visual thing. I didn't have to be able to hear to get good at it.
I still remember the books I received during this period of illness and recovery, and they are a couple of my favorites still: Our Animal Friends at Maple Hill Farm, by the Provensens, and The Meanest Squirrel I Ever Met, by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham. Good stuff! GREAT stuff!
As an adult
I studied art at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA. I met my future husband there, the writer Sam Riddleburger (The QwikPick Adventure Society, and Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run). I got a Master's Degree in Illustration and Graphic Design from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. I then worked in packaging and advertising for a small company that made pet supplies, and then became a freelance illustrator and designer for local and national clients (my favorite being Binney and Smith, the makers of Crayola crayons). I sort of stumbled upon writing accidentally: I had too good a story about my own sock monkey that I really wanted to illustrate, so I wrote it up myself. My life as a writer and illustrator just kind of took off from there.
I have two sons, aged 5 and 3, and four crazy dogs. I can't believe I have four crazy dogs.
As an artist
I work in a small barn that I purchased from Home Depot a few years ago. I hired a very nice man to wire it and finish it for me. It's a great place to work, mostly because the space belongs to me, and me only. No boys allowed!
Things you didn't know about Cece Bell
- She really likes interesting pickles.
- She can whistle the Andy Griffith theme song fairly well.
- She is terrified of airplanes.
- And riding on elevators.
- She lives in the country, across from a river and the train tracks.
- She does not like taking pictures, or having her picture taken.
- She is a terrible square dancer, but enjoys it anyway.
- She likes the way dogs smell.
- She likes throwing parties, and making punch.
- She tries to like winter, but it is too long.