My boyfriend, of almost 4 years now, and I sat upstairs at their bar drinking wine and taking in all the illustrations on the walls for hours. I hoped to be able to get Peter de Seve and his wife, Randall de Seve's autographs. Their book together, The Duchess of Whimsy was a purchase I made before it was even out on shelves! I brought the book with me on the off-chance I would have the opportunity to meet them. When I first saw the great Peter de Seve standing amongst his work in the gallery it was un-real. I think every artist has an idol, someone whose work they can just stare at for what could be hours, whose books they can buy just so they can always skim through it if they are not feeling inspired. Just a few glances over Mr. de Seve's A Sketchy Past is sure to remind me what to aspire to. I've been a fan of Peter de Seve's since the moment I learned his name in High School. All throughout college I referenced his work, studied his work and tried my hardest so master watercolors. It was not really in the cards for me to be a traditional painter as I have moved mostly to digital. However what I really love more than anything in Peter de Seve's work is his amazing sketching ability and his line quality. He is able to capture an expression with just the slightest of touches. He has worked on some of the best animated films in the last 15 years and I have watched every single one and always stay to see his name in the credits. When I graduated, for whatever reason my professors had all of us send our portfolios to various places. I sent one to Pixar, one to Blue Sky, one to Dreamworks and one to Peter de Seve. Of course this was folly as each of these places (and person) are probably swamped with this kind of thing. But it just goes to show how incredibly honored and excited I was to be in the same room as my greatest idol.
We kept waiting for the opportune moment to try and talk to Peter de Seve. His adorable daughters were there as well. His youngest sat on a windowsill drawing the entire time, her talent showing already! She was drawing Disney's Frozen characters. I find myself listening to the Frozen soundtrack at least once a day and asked her to draw Sven the reindeer and within minutes she did! Incredible. The moment just never felt right to interrupt Peter de Seve to get his autograph. It was a moment that I never thought would happen, everything was so surreal. I had known he lived in the NYC area just from following his blog but I never thought I'd have this kind of opportunity and I was close to spoiling it!
Then the talented, hilarious and humble Tom Bloom started up a chat with Zack. (The boyfriend). They spoke about beards for what felt like 20 minutes and eventually he looked down to see my copy of Duchess of Whimsy. He asked if I had gotten it signed yet and I admitted I hadn't found the right moment. As he was leaving the Society and saying goodbye he turned to me and said, "you better go talk to him!" I laughed and thought, 'easier said then done'. He must have read that in my face because he then took it upon himself to tell Peter de Seve he had cowardly fan of his sitting in the corner of the bar nervously sipping red wine. He laughed and waved me over.
I sheepishly walked over to him with his book clutched in my hands. From there I barely remember what I said or what he said! But I do know it was one of the coolest and most surreal experiences of my artistic life. He gave me a hug and handshake and then went on to sketch and sign my copy of his book! He was so kind and I was so honored. I have attached a drawing I did for him of his late pit bully Darla, as well as his and his wife's signature in the book.
