I caught up with my friend Richard at the launch of Covent Garden Super Design, where some of his work for Phillip Michael Wolfson was being exhibited. He had also just gotten a copy of the Christmas card he had been commissioned to design by the Tate. You may wonder why me bragging about my successful friends is proper blog content.
When I moved to London, I moved into a room that was vacant in Richard’s house, it was a very small house and we became very good friends. At the time he was an intern working for Tom Dixon. I was living the life of a very sociable girl about town, which means that I would stumble home sometime around midnight (on a school night!!) and relay the evening’s events to Richard as he waited on his renders.
I have friends who want to be stylists, musicians, artists of every bent across the creative spectrum. Most of them are very talented. Many of them speak of their craft and how they need to create in the most elaborate ways. However, only one of them sat down every day interning for free for months in the hope that he might get enough experience to get paid for what he loves. Only one of them came home every night and continued working until 2am. And even now, only one of my friends from this sphere gets paid to do what they love.
I suppose there is a lot to be said for talent, but there is a lot more to be said for hard work and sheer determination. Which is why every time I hear about his success (of which there is quite a bit), or get an invite to a launch of something he has been working on I get a special burst of happiness knowing how much he’s earnt it.
Richard keeps telling me that he’s been where I am right now and that I’m on my way. I hope that he’s right.
PS No tribute to Richard’s determination would be complete without mentioning that it would have been a lot more difficult without the support of his long-suffering girlfriend, Catherine.