[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-happy-birthday-gary-northfield":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"A very happy birthday today to my fabulous studio matey \u003Ca href=\"http://www.garynorthfield.com/\">Gary Northfield\u003C/a>! Every year I draw him an uglier card:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/gary_bdaycard_zps0f88e276-7c7a7f3ba6.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nGary's a good 'un, and the person who taught me how to do events (\u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/246243.html\">here was one of my first events with him\u003C/a>), and the person who's stuck with me in the studio since we set it up in 2009. (Here's a \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/224205.html\">blog post from our first day!\u003C/a>) If I ever can't do events, I always pass people on to Gary, knowing that he'll do them as well (or much better!) than I can. He's great at making kids laugh and at getting them drawing.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/gary_bday14_zps8cdf3af9-0c2de0a23b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nElissa Elwick and I love working with Gary at the Fleece Station studio, but not only is he loads of fun, but his work's hugely inspiring, and has influenced my own work quite a lot. He has an art college background in printmaking and understands loads about artists techniques, and his storytelling skills in comics are second to none. He totally understands how stories - and jokes - work. If you haven't seen his book \u003Ca href=\"http://www.garynorthfield.com/2012/07/24/teenytinysaurs/\">\u003Ci>The Terrible Tales of the Teenytinysaurs\u003C/i>\u003C/a> with Walker Books, go out and find a copy now. And sign up for \u003Ca href=\"http://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/\">\u003Ci>The Phoenix Comic\u003C/i>\u003C/a>, where his \u003Ca href=\"http://www.garynorthfield.com/2012/07/24/garys-garden/\">\u003Ci>Gary's Garden\u003C/i>\u003C/a> strip is a regular favourite. You can follow him on Twitter as \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/gnorthfield\">@gnorthfield\u003C/a> and Instagram as \u003Ca href=\"http://instagram.com/stupidmonster#\">@stupidmonster\u003C/a>. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.garynorthfield.com/2012/07/24/garys-garden/\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/garys_garden_zps6b6b0425-021aefee43.jpg\">\u003C/a>","2014-06-02T12:03:00.000Z","happy-birthday-gary-northfield",[],"happy birthday, gary northfield!",1776628726467]