And so it begins (part one)...

"Only those who will risk going too far can

possibly find out how far one can go."

T.S. Eliot

(Photo: Meg Gallagher, 2020.)

The day before the country officially shut down...

The BEST cheese sandwiches EVER!!

Wow. Helluva day.

I woke up nice & early this morning & unlocked my front door,

so my caregiver could get in. I went back to my bedroom,

lay on the bed & closed my eyes... I thought I was only dozing,

but I must have fallen into a deep sleep.

When my caregiver arrived and knocked on the door,

I awoke with a jump, sat up in fright, and...

CRACK!!!!!!!!!!!!

My first-ever dislocated shoulder and arm!

I won't bore you with the details, but OMFG.

I was screaming & crying in pain for the next three hours.

Thank you, to the wonderful ambulance staff, who got me down

to the hospital Emergency ward promptly.

But, more importantly, somehow helped me get my underwear & my jeans on.

And that damn-fine "green whistle of pain relief"!!

If you've had a baby before,

I'm sure you know what I'm talking about!!

The next four hours is a blur of X-rays, doctors,

second opinions, codeine, ibuprofen, excruciatingly painful examinations...

And (finally) somehow being turned over onto my front,

having a weight in a stocking tied to my drawing arm, stretching it to the floor...

No mean feat, when most of the morning it had been

locked into my chest, like a demented chicken wing!

Not a good look, when you're supposed to be recovering

from (very) recent hernia surgery.

Somehow, finally, after nearly an hour in this position

(and being even more thankful at this point for the aforementioned assistance

getting into my boxers), everything just "clunked" & fell back into place.

And, instantly (by some sort of miracle),

after nearly fours of intense pain & so, so many tears

(this, folks, is one of the numerous reasons why I'm NOT an All-Black!!),

my shoulder, arm & hand pain (and paralysis) all but abated.

Nearly completely.

Just like that.

I've had a near-miss with a kidney stone.

I've experienced the aftermath of a rejecting cornea graft - don't ask!!

And the pain today was definitely up there with both

of those medical misadventures.

A female friend on Facebook said that she had given birth "twice" and

had also had a dislocated shoulder. And she told me she would choose
childbirth before the dislocated shoulder!!

That made me feel a lot better.

I'm so, SO thankful...

To ALL the staff at Oamaru hospital - You were absolutely amazing!!!

And to my caregiver, who I probably scared half to death this morning.

I'm also SO very grateful, for the three friends I reached out to,

who I texted or called during a whirlwind of emotions, agony, terror & confusion...

And I was high on hospital drugs, not a good way to make a phone call...

 Thank you for being there!! You're AMAZING!!!! 

And thank you, too
to the District Health Nurse who helped to get me home again...

Right at the end of my brief hospital stay, THIS.

(see photo at the top of this post)

After the ordeal was all over (and I was waiting for my ride home)
 a nurse brought me in some food.

And these (my first feed of the day)
were the BEST cheese sandwiches

EVER!!!!!

Happy to report:

I'm home. Safe, eating my body-weight in Whittakers,

and, like the rest of Aotearoa, awaiting day one of our month-long lockdown...

I'm a little scared, but I've got this. We've got this!!

We'll be okay. The world is watching!

And we've got the BEST damn Prime Minister on the planet!!

We are SO lucky! And to have free public hospital care!!

The BEST damn Prime Minister on the planet!!

Just be kind.

To yourself. And to one another.

We'll get through this, I promise!!

I just listened to Crowded House for inspiration.

Neil's song, "Together Alone".

It speaks so, so much of the unity we' re about to face.

You can listen to it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ESoGnWk830

Side by side, or far apart, we are united. One.

And hey! If you need a friend at the end of the phone,

just reach out. Text or call...

Just not tonight, 'cause I'm high as a kite

on codeine & chocolate!!!

(This blog entry originally appeared as a Facebook post on 25/3/2020.)

(c) Brent M Harpur, 2020.

Creativity Can Create Community...

Kia ora!

"Creativity Can Create Community..."

Aotearoa (NZ) is officially going into lockdown at midnight on Wed 25th March.

Schools are closing and families are being urged to stay at home

and to isolate for the next four weeks.

It is a scary time for us all.

And as a children's entertainer and art teacher, I thought:

"What can I do to help?"

I had planned on running some cartooning classes in the

upcoming April School Holidays.

So, here's what I am planning on doing while

I am in lockdown for the next four weeks.

Starting from this coming Thursday 26th March

(at approximately 7pm NZTime), on this Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/drawingonthelightside/

I will be sharing (every day) some cartoon lessons

& fun activities for tamariki (children).

I will also be encouraging children (through their parents, online)

to share around (on Social Media) with each other

the results of these online lessons.

And because this page is Public, anyone on Facebook can take part.

Teachers and educators will be encouraged to participate, too.

Be sure to "Like" the page and share it around.

If you have friends (and their families) who would benefit

from this (but are not on Facebook), every couple of days

I will put some of these lessons up HERE on this blog, too. 

Next year, I am celebrating 30years as an art educator!

I ran my first ever class (with adults, in Wellington) in July 1991.

I am very proud of this. And look forward to celebrating this big year with you all,

in a more public setting, sometime in July 2021!!

I hope you enjoy the content I share on here.

By all means, keep in touch during these next four weeks.

If you like, you can take some photos of the cartoons that you create

and send them to me, via F/B or email... (contact details below)

In these uncertain times, I truely believe that:

"Creativity Can Create Community".

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drawingonthelightside/

Email: cartoonbrent@gmail.com

In the meantime...

Take good care of one another!

Be kind!!

And keep using your intuition and initiative.

If you see someone struggling or needing help,

reach out & do what you can. 

It is the little things we do for one another that have

a big ripple affect & can change the world.

Never forget that!!

Arohanui, Kia Kaha!!

From Brent Harpur, the 'Kiwi Cartoonist'.

"What we need in this world are more people

who specialise in the impossible."

Theodore Roethke

The Child Whisperer...

(Vogel St Party, Dunedin, NZ, 2017.)

“For life is the best thing we have in this existence.
And if we should desire to believe in something, it should be a beacon within.
This beacon being the sun, sea, and sky,
our children, our work, our companions and, most simply put,
the embodiment of love.”
Patti Smith

At the tender age of 51, I struggle to articulate verbally

just what it is I do for a living (and have been for nearly thirty years)...

This photo popped up in my social media memories this morning. It was taken

at the Vogel St Party (in Dunedin) in late 2017. In it, I am doing what comes naturally to me,

and I started way back in 1991. I don't understand how it happens.

But a lot of my closer friends & creative allies (over the years) have referred to me

as a "Child Whisperer". It is a role I am allowed to continue based on

reputation & hard-earned trust. Not by the children themselves, but by their parents

& guardians. And for this, I am extremely grateful & immensely thankful.

This connection & magic that flows back and forth between myself and my students

comes with a huge amount of responsibility. I take this very seriously.

And I feel very humbled that people continue to trust me and

allow me to work and create with their children.

The other night I attended a talk where the speakers talked about language & words.

And how some things (like music & poetry) completely surpass & transcend the

boundaries & limits that language contains. Having had the good fortune to
work with children in both Mexico & Brazil,
I have had firsthand experience of this "international language"
of cartooning. It is a language that not only bridges gaps in spoken words
but also in connections between children and adults.
I still don't understand how this works, but I'm constantly learning (even now) as an educator/entertainer to just let go, follow my heart + intuition
and give freely of my skills, experiences & knowledge.
I don't know how this changes my students/recipients,
but now (more than ever, in this world that we've created & 
leave for the next generation)
I think this work is vital. And important.

I'm doing my small bit for youth and tamariki. Does it help?
I hope so. It makes me happy. And, if in the brief exchange between
teacher & student, it makes a difference... 
If, just for a moment, I can create (or share) a little joy with another.
Give them a safe space.
And perhaps install in another growing human being
a creative means of self esteem, confidence
(an outlet / tool for expression, and being alone, but not lonely).

This is it.
What I do for a living, my life's work.
My everything.
My legacy & contribution.
I hope that it is enough.

And thank you (again)...
 For the continued belief, support.

And trust.

(c) Brent M Harpur, 2020.

(This blog entry originally appeared as a Facebook post on 9/2/2020.)

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.