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.