Ducks inspires artist to dabble in writing

Joan Grehan

A collection of never-before-exhibited children's book illustrations by artist Joan Grehan (1920-2007) is currently on show in Seeing Doubles at Sarjeant on the Quay.

The detail and observational flourishes in the drawings bring the subjects to life in a way that suggests the artist was inspired by real life events and in conversation with Joan's son Martin Oldfield, the true story behind the book unfolded, and became one of the most exciting finds of the transition project to date.

Born in Whanganui in 1920, Joan attended the Canterbury College of Fine Arts in Christchurch before leaving New Zealand in 1950, firstly for Australia and then London in 1954. There she undertook further study, leading to a lifelong artistic career spanning countries all over the world.

In 1983 she returned to New Zealand, initially settling in the Bay of Islands and then her home town of Whanganui in 1996.

I first saw Joan's work during my time as a collection transition assistant. Drawings from her time abroad were the first items I catalogued and among these was a complete set of illustrations with a typewritten manuscript for a children's book entitled Dibble, Dabble and Some Doubles.

The inspiration for the book began when Joan moved to Cooma, Australia, with her first husband Donald Oldfield and their son Martin in 1950.

Don grew up on a farm and was the animal enthusiast of the family. Around 1951 it was his idea - which would prove fruitful for this tale - to purchase a young female duckling to keep as a pet from a nearby Tantawangalo Farm.

Don named the duckling "Dibble" after the noise a duck makes when foraging in muddy water, and she became a much loved family pet.

Martin remembers fondly calling Dibble the "lily-white bread jumping duck" (or LWBJD for short), which explains why in the book Dibble likes jumping for bananas. She had an old bathtub in the back yard as a pool and went swimming with the family in the nearby Murrumbidgee River.

After a while they decided Dibble was lonely, so a drake called Dabble (of course) was bought to cheer her up. Dibble and Dabble were great companions, although Dabble had a twisted back and never quite managed to give Dibble her ducklings.

It was perhaps due to this that Joan decided to end her story with the pair having many ducklings, year after year.

I found the Dibble, Dabble and Some Doubles story so charming that I wanted to share it with a wider audience. With the blessing of Joan's son Martin, the Sarjeant has now published the book for all to enjoy.

I would like to thank Martin for giving his permission to publish this book and allowing me to tell the heart-warming tale of the real life Dibble and Dabble.

A limited edition of Dibble, Dabble and Some Doubles is available from the shop at Sarjeant on the Quay, or online at www.shop.sarjeant.org.nz