{ miffy & me }

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Last week I read the news that Dick Bruna had died.  He was the creator of a little white rabbit, originally named Nijntje, who became more commonly known as Miffy.  A bunny drawn in a starkly modernist form, always white, with a painted black outline, with pops of stark primary colours;  red, blue, green and yellow.  She's remained virtually unchanged, with only subtle improvements made by Bruna himself.  As he says himself, "It seems a little bit silly, but I find it very hard to do even Miffy.  I've done so many drawings of her, but every day I try to do it a little better than yeserday."

The first two books, "Miffy" and "Miffy at the Zoo", were published in 1955, with Bruna having written & illustrated more than 120 titles by the time of his death, and having sold more than 85 millions books, translated into more than 50 languages.  The simplicity of the character, and her timeless quality, are driving factors in her popularity.  Whilst Miffy now graces more than just books, every product has the same quality & stylistic cool as Bruna's illustrations.

Reading the many obituary's written about Dick Bruna, and articles written whilst he was still alive, you have an image of a gentle, quiet man.  He is described as unassuming, living a simple life, marked by a love of routine;  from his early morning cycle along the canals of Utrecht, coffee at the same cafe, to the picture he drew for his wife every day.  He admitted to being slightly perplexed by the success of Miffy, "When I see children, I think, yes, that is wonderful, but then I just come to the studio and do my work like everybody else.  Of course I'm happy that Miffy became quite famous, but if she hand't I would have carried on working just the same."

Bruna retired in 2014 and announced that the rights to Miffy would not be sold.  Happily, she will continue through all those wonderfully drawn books.

{ have a happy day }