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Lifestyles of the English Courtesy of Mango and Pickle
By Heather Gaghan
For those of us who call the good ‘ole USA home, visions of
the English countryside may conjure up pastoral utopias where sheep, cows, and
horses mingle about the rolling green hills as far as the eye can see. We may
think of Shakespeare and proper gents and genteel ladies strolling through the
perfect wild beauty of English gardens.
For Bryn Parry and his family who currently reside near
Salisbury on the edge of the New Forest in southwest England, life sounds
almost as ideal as a picnic scene from a Jane Austen novel. The homepage of Bryn Parry’s website, Bryn Parry Studios,
Cartoons and Gifts from the English Countryside, reads true to form as any
visitor immediately feels at home traveling through the various pages of
brilliant products all designed by the artist. It reads, “We are a family
business with me doing the pictures and Emma, my wife, running the clever part
of the company as well as organizing the family of Sophie, Tom and Louisa… not
to mention the dogs, Mango, the black Labrador and Pickle, the scruff. We are
based at Downton near Salisbury on the edge of the New Forest and have a
showroom at our new premises if you are ever passing.” I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a
visit!
The artist’s biography is as adventure-filled as is the
images throughout his works. Bryn was born in 1956 at Salisbury, Wiltshire in
the southwest of England. His father was in the Army so his first years were
spent in the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, and Germany, but their time traveling
was cut short after his father’s accidental death when Bryn was four years old,
so his family returned to the UK and lived on a friend’s farm.
Art always came easily to Bryn, but at age of 18, the need
to follow in his father’s footsteps was stronger so he entered the Royal
Military Academy Sandhurst. It was here during his officer training that he
began to draw the “occasional cartoon of [my] fellow cadets.” He served in the Royal Green Jackets for 10
years and was serving as a jungle warfare instructor in Australia when Bryn decided
to resign to pursue his “hobby” of painting full time.
Already married to this wife Emma and having two children,
Sophie and Tom, the Parry’s packed up their jungle home and returned to their
cottage near Salisbury, where they set up as picture framers while Bryn looked
for work doing caricatures. Their framing business really took off when Bryn
began drawing pictures on the mats of the photo frames. The work was so
successful that they began exporting their high quality frames and products to
gift shops in the USA and throughout the UK. Their most popular products
included images of dogs, especially Labradors.
In 1995, the Parry’s family circle expanded with the
entrance of Mango, a black Lab puppy, and in 1996 Pickle, a mutt with a strong
Cairn resemblance came on the scene. Not surprisingly, Bryn’s drawings began to
include Mango and Pickle and before long they were featured in Emma’s best
selling cast-iron recipe book, “Home on the Range.”
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Mango is happy at age 9 spending a lot of her time in the
kitchen keeping warm lying next to “Mrs. Aga” the range cooker (stove) and
behaving like a real lady until suppertime when she is said to become more like
a wolf.
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Inspiration for the artist comes from life, “from being out
with my dogs and especially going out with Mango who loves what we call
shooting, hunting for pheasants or pigeons with Mango retrieving the birds.”
The cartoons in Parry’s book, “Mad Dogs and Englishman” are inspired by these
times spent with his favorite black Labrador.
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It’s been said that Bryn Parry’s “cartoons capture the fun
and frustration felt by field sportsman as they enjoy their sport with their
not too faithful canine companions. His book gives an insight into a world that
can really only be understood by a participant for whom it is more than a
sport; it is a way of life.” and I think this sums up the artist’s brilliant
and unique insights into the connections between people all over the world and
their dogs- especially their Labradors!
Check out these popular gifts of Bryn Parry’s artistic
work in our All Labs Store
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