WARNING: This blog contains much fan girl gushing. I make no apologies for it!
Years ago, my friend Ailie Snow, gifted me a copy of
The World of Richard Stine
by Richard Stine.
Ailie was a massive fan. It wasn't hard to see why, when she showed me his book.
We'd ooh and arr and laugh over the musings of
Richard Stine and enjoy the cleverness of his drawings.
I've often got his book out over the years and looked at it for inspiration.
I have to say his work has been instrumental in my own journey
as an artist who also loves wordplay.
So imagine my surprise and delight to suddenly discover I'd been in an
email interaction with his lovely wife Margaret.
And then, to discover they lived in AUCKLAND.
AND THEN TO BE INVITED OVER TO MEET RICHARD HIMSELF!
I wish I'd taken a photo of Ailie and me outside their house, books tucked under our arms, giggling and squealing like two fan girls.
But I think our adoration is shown in the photograph above!
I am not drunk, I'm somewhat giddy with excitement.
Margaret and Richard were great fun to hang out with, feeding us homemade biscuits and lemon cake while we chatted endlessly about art and life.
We shared our stories and Ailie and I ended up at Richards studio a short car ride away.
Hanging out with an artist who has lived and is still living such an extraordinary artistic life was intoxicating. Richard, now in his 80's is still experimenting, exploring and creating and boy does it show in his playful spirit.
I've been around 50 year olds who are much older than he is.
Richard is indeed proof that a creative existence is the elixir of life.
His creativity seeped into every corner of his studio spanning over several floors. He was fascinated by our individual art practices as much as we were captivated by his.
The three of us talked non stop for nearly 4 hours!
Learning about the process of an artist such as Richard is a privilege and an inspiration.
He knew from a young age it was his path in life and began his career by drawing on the nursery wall. His parents supported him wholeheartedly to be who he was destined to be, his mother encouraging him to go to New York as that's where all the artists were.
There were discoveries to be made all around his studio, works in progress,
the juxtaposition of certain items delighted us with their placement.
Richard isn't particularly active on social media so it was an extraordinary gift to be inside his studio and see his various projects and gain insight behind them.
I just loved his labelling system!
I finally got my book signed after all these years!
AND..........
I now have a Richard Stine original on my mantlepiece.
What more could a fan girl ask for?