Photos: Robert Trathen.
Celebrated Kiwi artist Dick Frizzell is one heck of a happy man. Married for 61 years to his beloved wife Jude, the young lovebirds met in 1960 while studying at Ilam School of Fine Arts.
“I arrived in Christchurch a gormless boy of 17 and all the girls looked like Joan Baez, then I saw Jude,” recalls Dick, 81. “We even had our first baby at art school, which was a bit of a bohemian thing to do.”
Six decades on, Dick and Jude are still going strong. Proud parents of Juliet, Josh and Otis, at last count, they had five grandchildren and two great-grandkids, Florence, four, and Violet, one.
Dick is also chipper because his memoir Hastings: A Boy’s Own Adventure has been released – and it is charming.
“The book began a few years back when Radio New Zealand ran a short story competition. I had this idea to write something from my childhood. I was a bit of an oddball growing up,” explains Dick.
But there was a hitch – the organisers didn’t allow published authors to enter. While Dick didn’t actually see himself as a published author, despite having released a few art books, Nicola Leggat [publisher at Massey University Press] suggested it could be an impediment.
But having got wind of Dick’s literary aspirations, Nicola suggested he write something for her. The result is this evocative collection. Thirty spirited stories that paint an affectionate portrait of 1950s Hawke’s Bay as seen through a young lad’s eyes, it’s already on its second print run.
“Once I started, I kept searching for the next little seed of memory. Then all these other memories would flow into my head,” explains Dick. “Occasionally, I wondered if I was recalling things or making them up. Although, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. One thing I’ve learned is you have to write an incredible amount of fiction to make non-fiction sound real!”
It’s no surprise, either, that Dick’s vivid stories have a strong pictorial quality.
“When I was writing, I often felt I was seeing scenes from my childhood,” he reflects. “That I’d gone back in time and I was standing, looking, then I’d paint that scene with words.”
Arguably best known for his iconic Kiwiana prints and sublime landscapes – “Painting is the thing I love most because when I’m at my easel, I feel most alive” – Dick is delighted to have discovered how much joy he derives from writing.
“Although I don’t write much at home – besides my daily journal – because my easel always draws me in,” he tells. “But the fabulous thing about writing, I only need my notebook and an HB pencil, so I can be anywhere. On holiday, in an airport lounge or at someone else’s kitchen table. I can just sit and once I get going, it doesn’t take long for a story to take shape.”
Dick also recalls the joy he felt when he held the book in his hands for the first time.
“Having this book published makes me feel quite dizzy,” he shares. “When it came back from the printers – this perky little thing in its hard cover – hells bells, I just fell in love with it. Sometimes I’ll pick it up and read a bit. Then, I think, ‘God, did I write that?’ and I’ll laugh at my own jokes!”
As for Jude and the kids, they’re proud as punch.
“They’ve all read it, but they’re interesting people in their own rights. To them I’m just Dad, with their main role in life to keep me level-headed. But they’re all really lovely,” he enthuses.
“Years ago, not long after Otis had his rapping career, he and I were giving a talk at Auckland Town Hall at some big design conference, and someone asked, ‘What was it like growing up in your father’s shadow?’ And Otis replied, ‘I always felt I was growing up in his light.’”
Before Dick returns to his studio, there is one final question the Weekly needs to ask. Is a sequel in the pipeline? Because Hastings ends at the train station with brave Dick setting off for art school. “Toilet paper tied to all the outside appendages of the railcar, it unrolled and fluttered in the slipstream as the railcar picked up speed and I slowly chugged off south,” he writes in the final essay.
“I’ve already started jotting things down in my little notebooks,” divulges Dick. “So maybe next year, I’ll give that a whirl. When you live an open life, with an open heart and an open mind, there’s a story every day.
“But first I have to deliver a load of landscape paintings for a huge exhibition with Gow Langsford, so that’s taking all my time and energy. But when that’s done, I’ll be roaming free!” And with that, Dick returns to his easel, the place he feels most at ease and most alive.
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