Six year old Max Siddell sits at his grandparents' dining table gulping milk, chewing apple pieces and listening to them talk about him.

"He's lovely," says the boy's grandfather, Peter Siddell. "He's very interested in everything." Grandmother Sylvia Siddell agrees. "He loves insects and natural history and parts of the body.... The boy is the most junior member of what must be one of the most creative households in New Zealand. Peter and Sylvia Siddell are two of New Zealand's most celebrated artists.