Good as gold...

The new view outside my living room window, January 2020.

"Some say the view is crazy,

but you may adopt another point of view."

David Bowie

Sorry! It has been a while since my last blog entry...
Happy New Year! And decade!! Still no flying cars, but hey!!!

Since my last post, I have moved.

Home. And city.
Well, to be more accurate: 
Town.

After three years in Dunedin, late last year
(with the support of three wonderful friends)
I made the BIG move...

To Oamaru. Google it!
 It's a tiny seaside town on the east coast of the South Island,

here in Aotearoa (New Zealand). 
I was going to move here in 2008,
but I somehow ended up moving to Australia for eight years...

WHY OAMARU?

What happened (or more to the point, wasn't happening)
in Dunedin? That will all come out in another blog entry.
But not this one.
And I will (of course) be doing a lot more of the same,
here in my new town...

In the last five to six weeks, I have been getting out (a lot!)
and meeting/drawing the locals...
 ...And tourists! Oamaru attracts a LOT of those, too.

So, I guess it is (kind of) creative business as usual?*

The locals here move at a much slower pace of life.
I even feel bad (sitting here in the public library) typing that last
sentence so fast!! No longer can I run into a bank and expect to be
served by the teller in mere minutes... But I am adjusting to this slower pace of life.
Quickly. Or should that be slowly?

Anyways, I digress.

I am renting a big old house (built in 1930),
and it is minutes walk from a beautiful beach.
And an old Victorian district.
It is filled with shops, cafes, breweries, distilleries, galleries & creatives. 
Lots & lots & lots of creatives!!
And tourists, LOTS of tourists!!

(Oh yeah, I mentioned them already - see above.)

AND... A penguin colony! I'm very excited about that one!!!

* So, as well as the usual things. You know:
Drawing caricatures. Teaching cartooning with children.
Working in schools. General entertaining...

And befriending (and drawing) LOTS of local dogs...
I have actually lost count how many dogs
I have drawn since I moved here!!

... But I am also going to spend a great deal of 2020
working on & writing children's books, memoirs & poetry.

And getting back into my painting again.
I miss that. Very much!!
Here's what the view looks like from my new studio window...

"There should be at least a room, or some corner where no one will find you
and disturb you or notice you. You should be able to untether yourself
from the world and set yourself free, loosening all the fine strings and strands of
tension that bind you, by sight, by sound, by thought, to the presence of other men."
Thomas Merton

Oh, and I want to start inviting all my creative friends over,
(from other parts of the world)...

...To stay.
Create.
Collaborate.

An artist (and teacher) in residence sort of thing.
And I'll also consider offering refuge, retreat & respite;
for anyone seeking temporary sanctuary or escape,
from climate chaos.
Or political despots.
Or both!!

That's the plan. Watch this space!! More details coming soon...

Arohanui
(Aroha = Love / nui = much)
from Brent XO

“Always we hope

someone else has the answer,

some other place will be better,

some other time,

it will all turn out.

This is it.

No one else has the answer,

no other place will be better,

and it has already turned out.

At the center of your being,

you have the answer:

you know who you are and

you know what you want.

There is no need to run outside

for better seeing,

nor to peer from a window.

Rather abide at the centre of your being:

for the more you leave it,

the less you learn.

Search your heart and see

the way to do is to be.

Abide at the centre of your being.”

Lao Tzu

PS As always, if you find yourself featuring in my blog 
(and you would prefer not to be), please contact me and
I will promptly sort it out! Promise!!

(c) Brent M Harpur, 2020.

Eleven years and one day ago...

(16th September, 2008.)

This photo was taken eleven years & one day ago,

on the 16th of September, 2008.*

An auspicious date that I'll always remember.

It was the day I packed two suitcases of my nicest clothes & a large box

(mostly filled with hats, props & my CD collection)...

And I moved from New Zealand to Australia.

For the first three years I was based in Newtown (in Sydney)

and from mid-Winter 2011 (until late 2015) I lived in Melbourne.

I made SO many wonderful friends & clients in the (nearly) eight years I lived in Oz.

And now I am living back in NZ, I miss you all (over there) very, very much!!

At the time I thought that uplifting my roots & moving to a whole new country

was the most challenging & confronting thing that I'd ever done. Now, in hindsight,

I think that returning home to Aotearoa (after nearly ten years away)

has been equally as heartbreaking, hard & challenging.

But here's what I now know: Home, it's not really about geography or a physical place.

It's people. And that is why Sydney & Melbourne are still very much my

two home(s) away from home.
Thanks for ALL the delicious, precious memories, friendships,

relationships, professional gigs & Aroha, Australia! 

“One never reaches home," she said.

"But where paths that have an affinity for each other intersect,

the whole world looks like home, for a time.”
Hermann Hesse

* My Mum looks so heartbroken in this photo. She was losing a second son to Australia.

(This blog entry originally appeared as a Facebook post on 17/9/2019.)

Art imitating life or life imitating art...?

(A scene from television series 'Bosch'. Used without permission. Please don't sue me!)

Have you ever wondered how directly art (in all its wondrous forms) affects & influences us, our daily lives & our tastes?

I've just finished binge-watching four (!!!!) seasons of the American TV show 'Bosch'...

Harry, the main character in it, listens to a lot of jazz. And it is used extensively throughout the show's soundtrack, too.

I listened to a little Miles Davis in my art school years (from the late 80's - early 90's). But it's one style of music that doesn't feature largely in my (very large & eclectic) music collection. I think I have sold most of my Davis CDs over the years.

But now (well), this has happened. In the last week I have found myself listening to more & more jazz. And really, really enjoying it!

So, there you go! An example of art (television, music) influencing my life and my choices...

Thanks Dunedin Library!! And, I guess, Harry Bosch (and your creators) too!!!

“Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television.” (Woody Allen)

(This blog entry originally appeared as a Facebook post on 30/8/2019.)

Remembering Mr. Sacks...

(My social media cartoon tribute to Oliver Sacks, in 2015.)

Oliver Sacks (and his writing) has been a HUGE influence on my life, both as a person and a visual artist, for nearly thirty years. I first discovered him & his unique vision and voice when I was at art school in the late 80s/early 90s. "How could a man mistake his wife for a hat?" I thought. I was immediately, completely intrigued (and hooked), right from the first paragraph!

In January 2008, I saw on Oliver's website that he had gone blind in one eye. Being a huge fan of his published works, I sat in an internet cafe & wrote him a quick, short email (through his website). In it, I told him of my very own experiences with 'mono-vision' and how it affected my life & art career. But I never expected or imagined any more would come of my action.

So, try to imagine my delight, joy and complete surprise, when three months later I was sifting through bills from my letterbox... And I found this:

A hand-typed (!!) letter (complete with hand-scribbled notes throughout) from the man himself!!! To this day, I am still incredibly blown-away that Oliver took the time to write. TO ME!! And a real letter, sent in the mail, no less!!!

Mr Sacks sadly left this earth four years ago this week. But I'd like to have a chance (albeit, a little late) to say: "Thank you, so, so much, Oliver!!" For the ongoing inspiration... And your wonderful, rare intelligence, humility, compassion, intuition & generosity that you showed (and shared), in both your spirit & creativity. There are so, so many millions of people that you've touched & affected through your life's work (all over the globe)... In your lifetime, and beyond!! Thank you, for taking the time to write to me. And together, for us to briefly connect over our shared experience of sight-loss & its consequence.

"Language, that most human invention,

can enable what, in principle, should not be possible.

It can allow all of us, even the congenitally blind,

to see with another person’s eyes."

(Oliver Sacks)

(This blog entry originally appeared as a Facebook post on 31/8/2019.)

the joys of discovering op-shop treasures...

YAY! I just discovered this little treasure in the (Dunedin, New Zealand) Hospice Op shop...

In the 90s/early 2000s Rixon Groove was a tiny menswear label/shop (stocking one-off, innovative and independent, lovingly hand-made works of wearable art), hidden away in Willis St, Wellington (New Zealand).

I still vividly remember buying a wonderful purple suit from Rixon (it had gorgeous green-gold lining) - and I ended up wearing it out, I wore it so much!! *

RG made unique, incredibly colourful fashion statements, boasting the finest fabrics & buttons ever! I spent hours & hours in his shop (boutique?), in complete awe... Wishing I could buy half the stock on his hangers! The waistcoats were amazing!! I still have one (that I purchased for my first big solo art show (opening), way back in 1992.

Opening of "Wear My Inside Out" solo art exhibition,
Mt. Victoria Cafe, Wellington (July-Aug 1992).

And now (twenty-five to thirty years later) I'm finally the proud owner of a Rixon Groove tie!! Undoubtedly the BEST $3 I've spent in an op shop... EVER!!!

*Friends and whanau of much-loved Wellington-based (Nelson-born) muralist/artist Maru 'Marz' Cummings will remember I wore this purple suit (proudly) at his memorial service / farewell, in October 1999. It was his favourite colour.

Maru 'Marz' Cummings, Muralist/Artist (1966-1999).

https://inthishurricaneseye.blogspot.com/2011/01/for-marz-cummings-1966-1999.html

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only.
Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas,
the way we live, what is happening."
Coco Chanel

(This blog entry was originally posted on Facebook on 3/9/2019.)

Soundtracks to films that were never made...

Career & Creative Influences, Part One.

 Vale, Mark Hollis.

Your incredible voice & musical legacy have kept me

company over so, so many years..

.

I first discovered you as a young art student,

in the late 80s/early 90s.

Your music was perfect to paint and create to

(influencing but not distracting);

your ethereal singing & lyrics becoming

yet another instrument in the mix.

And there were many.

But your production skills were out of this world.

Those of us that discovered, loved and treasured your (truly) original,

haunting, fragile (and at times, dear I say it, violent?) aural "masterpieces":

(I don't use that word lightly)

We saw beyond that 'big single'.

And our lives were transformed from the encounter.

This was not merely music to listen to,
but to transcend to...

And an experience to completely soak and immerse the senses in

.

Who needed drugs, when there was music like this being created.

I always described his latter releases as
(to my more commercial-loving friends,
who stopped listening after 'Life's What You Make It):

"soundtracks to films that were never made".

If you have never heard Mark / Talk Talk's music before,

this is where the magic really began...

'Spirit of Eden' (1988)

  'Laughing Stock' (1991)

  'Watershed AKA Mark Hollis' (1998)

These are the three essentials 
for late-at-night headphone listening.

Music that completely defies
labels, genre, expectation or description. 
 
The world has lost a rare, unique & uncompromising
voice, musician and producer.

Do yourself a huge favor tonight
& dust off those headphones.

Discover Mr. Hollis & Talk Talk
(perhaps for the second time?). 

And be prepared.
To be transported.
Somewhere else entirely.



(26 February, 2019.)

a (true) labour of love...

What is

'A Labour of Love' ??

A couple of weeks back, I was contacted

(by a local woman, via my FB page)

to work on a very special & top secret illustration job...

A series of water-colour cartoons

(a life in pictures) to accompany a Mother's loving speech to her son at his Wedding.

This project was very timely, as I am still recovering from recent hernia surgery,

and have been unable to get out and draw/busk in the street.

So, it meant I could work from the comfort of my purple couch, at home.

This little project became a "real labour of love" for me, seeing how much love

my client had for her son, and wanting to do something *very* special & unique for him.

If you look close enough at the cartoons, you'll see the blood, sweat & tears!!

I don't usually do watercolour in my cartoons... But, realising (very early on) the scope

and life of this project (and how much aroha was needed/expected),

I invested in a nice pad of watercolour paper, and worked my little heart out!

There were a few sleepless nights, and LOTS of coffee consumed...

The deadline was tight! But these pictures were a real joy to create!

And (perhaps?) some of the best work I have ever created

(in a career spanning nearly thirty years!!).

I hope my client doesn't mind me sharing them so publicly, now that the wedding is over.

I am very happy to report that she was SO happy with my work that she even paid

me a (much-appreciated!) bonus!! And she gave me a huge hug as I left, too.

I wish I could have been there, at the family wedding, seeing her proudly

tell her son's life-story, and holding up each of these cartoons as she did so. 

I am very grateful for some of the smaller

(but much bigger, if you know what I mean)

contracts and people that come to me through my work.

"Do what you love - Love what you do."

PS I am very happy to live in a country
where we leave the u in labour, making it "our".
The same with the word humour.

❤️