...Such is the duty of the artist.

"To send light into the darkness of men's hearts...
...Such is the duty of the artist!"
Robert Schumann

As most of you know by now, I do a LOT of random 'joy scattering'.

It even resulted in a doco being made about me ("Scatter Joy") 

- thanks, Amy Hoogenboom!!

https://vimeo.com/114459898

So, even on a quiet day, I might give away 2-3 cartoons or caricatures!!

Usually to completely random people, and I don't usually hang around

to see people's reactions. I just do it to make a stranger's day or to 

(hopefully) make them smile...

I like doing it for people that work very hard,

and sometimes (in their jobs) don't always get thanked for it.

I have drawn a lot of cartoons for waitresses. And flight crews

(when I'm lucky enough to be flying somewhere)...

Sometimes, I'm rewarded for these random acts of cartooning kindness, too.

The crew sometimes gives me gifts of First Class chocolates & wine.

But most of the time, I do it and never really hang around to witness the 
magic or reaction or what may happen next.

I do this a lot. I enjoy doing it. If i am having a tough day for some reason, I go out and 

make someone elses day. My Mum taught me that lesson when I was very young.

And sometimes, I admit it freely here. I might take for granted

how this affects other people.

That kind of happens when you do something all the time, I guess...?

Anyway.

A month or two back, I was out busking in one of the streets

in my new hometown in Dunedin (NZ)...

A young person walked past,

made a comment about how cool it was to see me drawing.

As they walked away, I randomly handed them a (pre-drawn) cartoon.

And just as quickly, they were gone.

However.

A few minutes later they came back.

And handed me this...

I was suddenly very touched!
And reminded (from the generosity of a complete stranger)

what it must feel like to receive

a random cartoon drawing from me!!

It was timely.

And it has (since) gone on to become one of my fave possessions.

I even found a little frame for it:

(c) Whina Pomana, 2017.

Thank you, Whina!!

For reminding me why I do what I do.

You're awesome!!!

PS.

(Footnote, of sorts...)

Whina has gone on to become my new designer.

They has just finished designing my brand NEW business card...

I have decided that
 Blue is the New Black!!

Whina has done a superb job! 

Here's what it looks like...

 

 

You can see more of Whina's wonderful work here:

 https://www.facebook.com/deathhairball

Kia ora!

Thanks for reading...

PPS

"The Paradoxical Commandments."

 (c) Kent M. Keith.

 
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be

shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have

and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Old Blog, New City, New Beginnings...

“I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life,

but my life was never ordinary.

I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was.

Likewise, I never imagined that home might be something I would miss.”
(Ransom Riggs)

I have recently moved back to New Zealand.
I was living in Australia,  and had been since 2008.

I used to think moving to a new country was the hardest thing I have ever done.
I have been back in NZ for over a year now. And in some ways, coming back home
(after being away for nearly ten years) has proven even more challenging.

But in late November of last year, I moved to the deep South city of Dunedin.

And...    

Dunedin is great!!! I love it here!!!!
I only just moved here, but straight away

I have felt VERY at home...
People are so, SO friendly!!

(Dunedin, South Island, Aotearoa)

(Dunedin, South Island, Aotearoa)

Anyway. I haven't worked and lived in NZ for quite a while.
A lot of people are getting back in touch with me from my past...
They want to know what I have been up to. And want to hear
what I am going to get up to, too!  

So I have decided to re-visit this here blog on a regular basis...
  And to post some of  my more recent 
cartooning & teaching adventures, among other things.

This blog will probably also include upcoming events,
things I am doing (etc) too. 

So please - Stay tuned! Watch this space!!

And thanks for reading...

Kia ora,

from Brent Harpur, the "Kiwi Cartoonist" !!
(late March, 2017.)

PS
Here are some recent pictures of me working
in one of my fave new cafes, here in Dunedin.
It's called 'Morning Magpie'.
If you are heading down this way, 
check them out! And say hi from me!!
You might even see me drawing in there some days...

 

 

 PPS

If you see a photo of you on this blog and you want it removed,

just email me and I am happy to do that!

Thanks!!

email: cartoonbrent@gmail.com 

 “Home is the place where, when you have to go there,

they have to take you in.”

(Robert Frost) 

  

What does it really mean to be "legally blind"...?

Here it is:

An insight into a lack of sight.

So many times I have told people: "I am legally blind".

But if I am honest, even I don't really know what that means...

I am not completely blind. That is obvious.
Painfully, sometimes even more so when people see me drawing.

An eye doctor once told me it is all about 1/20.
For every metre I can see, most people can see twenty.

 
This may surprise most of you but this photograph has captured perfectly my world and how I see people... I am legally blind and have been since I was eleven.

Until I am about 1.5 metres away from someone (even with my glasses on), this is what they look like to me through my one good eye. Once I have met them for the first time, there are a lot of other factors that allow me to recognise them again the next time we meet. These include senses (i.e. smell), people's clothing choices & colours, posture/body-language, hair colour or style, hats & other fashion accessories, voice (this is a BIG one), etc.

Perhaps this is why I am (personally) very drawn to people with
accents & brightly coloured hair.

There is a lot of guessing and bluffing involved too.
And a photographic memory for colour (and blurred, smaller details on someone's face).
I have also had 35+ years to develop & fine-tune my strongest sense of all...

My intuition.

This (somedays) impressionist, (other days) surrealist world I inhabit is a constant source
of wonder, awe and joy. However, (on a day-to-day level of survival and well-being) this can often also be very scary, intimidating and frustrating. Smaller details in this world like seeing out of a tram window or reading street signs are near impossible. Crossing the road safely is a constant, at times nerve-racking adventure.

In some areas (like the suburb I live in), it would appear that pedestrians are an annoyance to local drivers, visually-disabled or not. It would probably scare those nearest and dearest to me if they knew how often I nearly get run over in an average week.
 And I won't even begin to bore you with how bad my night vision is.
Ever since I was a teenager, I have had an irrational fear of people driving (after dark)
who have forgotten to put their car headlights on. More common than you may think.

I sometimes wish I could share with those closest & dearest in my life this very unique way
I see the world and everything in it. Then there are other days that it becomes too much to bear... And I wouldn't want to wish "my vision" upon my worst enemy.

But I have no doubt that this way of seeing makes me more of an artist
(in my words as much as my cartoons and paintings).
And (at times) it allows me to see (ahem, for want of a better word)
the more important things in this life.

Those who love me (and know me very well, or for a long time) will know what I mean.

I personally have a very warped (and not very popular)
view (sorry, another ironic choice of word there)
that sight is a very overrated sense. I get it. That most people in this world
are blessed with perfect sight, and that the world is just... Well. Visual.

But I feel that the other senses are very undervalued.
We need to invest just as much time (and effort) into them on a day-to-day basis, too.
I am sure my friends who are professional chefs or musicians will agree. 
Even writing this blog, I have come to realise that the written & spoken word (world?)
is littered in references pertaining to sight.
 
 In conclusion...
I personally feel very blessed (and thankful) for the higher sensorary (is that even a word?) experiences that come from my senses of smell and taste.
In short, food and eating are a constant source of joy!!
And recently, I was very blessed to meet someone
(with a wonderful accent and love for words/poetry)
who shared with me an over-abundance of consensual, loving touch.
A sensual meeting, coupled with trust and equal measures of primal lust,
(in short)) like no other I have ever experienced...

This pure, unadulterated (mutual) experience with another gentle, sexual, brave & intimate human-being (and wordsmith) will stay with me (haunt me) for the rest of my days. *

I hope you have enjoyed this little 'insight into a lack of sight'.
Feel free to share it around if you find it amusing, inspiring or vaguely interesting.

It is one thing to try walking in the shoes of another.
Try seeing the world through another's eyes.

 
PS Further reading?

A book I read recently -yes! the legally blind read, too!! ;) - that I really enjoyed was
"Planet of the Blind" by Stephen Kuusisto.
 This wonderful, heartbreaking yet joy-filled & life-affirming memoir reminded me
that every legally-blind person has a very unique and separate experience
of the world in which they live, inhabit & co-exist.
It has a lot of references in it to poetry and birds, too - two of my other big loves.
I can't recommend this book enough.

PSS Further viewing??

http://vimeo.com/114459898

"Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked." 
(Ralph Ellison)

* "God! Yes!! I would have looked..."
 (Brent Harpur)

Scatter Joy FINALLY on the net...

Photo: (c) Amy Hoogenboom.

Just a few minutes ago, Amy Hoogenboom and I decided it was the right time

to finally put her doco Scatter Joy online and share it with the World!

Now, the film will take on a different shape and have a life of its own in cyber space!

Click here to view the film... Please feel free to share the link!!

http://vimeo.com/114459898

It's been an incredible journey for the two of us... We started production together in early 2012 (here in tMelbourne) and the finished doco took us to film festivals in both Times Square (New York) and Byron Bay. And just last week, it finally got a showing in its hometown of Melbourne at the 'Flooding in the Garden' Festival at Abbottsford Convent.

 

Brent (and friend Trudy Kelder) attending a screening of Scatter Joy at Abbottsford Convent.

I would like to say a HUGE thanks to Amy, who after meeting me in late 2011, wanted to tell my story. I was a little reluctant at first (and remember telling her I was over "being famous"). But I later relented, on the proviso that she would be (quoting myself):

 "very ambitious with it, and want to take it to the world".

 And to her credit, she more than rose to the creative challenge!!

Amy's hard work and dedication have been incredible. She completely self-funded and produced this little film all by herself, and spent nearly another two years entering the film into festivals all over the world (all without funding, on her minimal barista wage).

She is an exceptional film-maker & storyteller, whose unique vision,
professionalism, patience & dedication was an absolute joy to work with!!

Thanks to everyone else who was involved in its production, too, and all those that have supported the film. I'd like to acknowledge (and thank) Elyn, a muse & soulmate I sadly lost. She inspired so much of what I talk about in Scatter Joy, and I wouldn't have been so interesting or articulate without her influence.

I would also like to say a special thanks to Dennis Cieri, who organised the festival 
in New York we took part in. He singlehandedly gave Amy & I a
"professional" reason to finally visit New York!

Scattering Joy in NYC (October, 2014)

This trip (a dream of over half a lifetime) completely changed my life!!
I would also like to acknowledge & thank the Rennagel family
(who so kindly & generously opened up their beautiful New Jersey home to me
during my stay). I was so humbled & touched by the "frank yet friendly"
nature of everyone I met in NYC. Americans really are some of the most
generous & kind-hearted people I have ever encountered.

Watch this space, I really hope to return State-side again during 2015.

So, anyway, rant over! Watch the film and, if you enjoy it, please
SHARE IT
(with all your friends, family, work colleagues & clients)...

Amy & I give you our complete blessing!!!

Enjoy! Kia ora, Kia Kaha!!

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all."
(Helen Keller)