Thirty-six years ago....?

Where did thirty-six years go...?

At 8.30a.m. on October 30th, thirty-six years ago, my eldest son Christopher King Perryman was born. Through my tears of joy, my most urgent thought was, I must draw this little miracle! Now, many drawings, paintings and photos later, I wonder where time went.....

My first sketch of Chris, eight hours old. I was in tears.

I am going to play a little joke on you!

At four, practising with Mami, who is sadly no longer with us.

At nine, trying to keep a straight face during a watercolour sketch in a tent, on vacation.

Chris at fifteen. The left-hand side of his face betrays the subtle humour. On his right the quiet thinker. Try covering up each half alternately. This works with almost anybody, if you're wondering about the makeup of their personality.

The humourist was there very early on, and the musicality, the acting ability and ultimately, the hilarious "Brokstukken" Comedy-Trio theatre show - and more: like most actors, he's multi-tasking. He's always so busy - I'm lucky if I can even get a glimpse of him on television! But I'm proud that I can always phone him in a crisis, for wise advice. Check out the link: www.chriskingperryman.nl. (King after his mother, the American cellist Vivian King).

At thirty-six, Chris the actor. The two sides are still there.

The strong sense of humour in the Perryman family may get pushed to extremes, as when I had just solved a technical problem: "Hey Pop, you're not as stupid as you look!" (translation: "Thanks Pop - love you"). Happy birthday Chris! Love you too!