Artists are usually highly-strung and low paid. Strong in their opinions and weak in asking for their dues in the form of compensation for their craft.
Hence most artists are usually pohara (poor) if cash is the currency we measure success by.
However, many, or most artists in my life are rich in knowing what they leave behind will be a legacy for others to enjoy.
Artists, in my opinion, build things. Some do it with pens and pastels others with songs and shovels.
The art of art is the elixir of life in my crazy little world.
Art takes away all the sourness and sadness by painting pictures of hope, love and laughter. Not always in that order.
Last week at Waipuna Hospice I witnessed a piece of woven art donated as a gift doing just that - taking away sadness.
The genesis of this gift was a way for someone special in my life to pay tribute to someone special in her's and if you get a chance to be out among the awhi angels at Waipuna Hospice, take time to look and learn from this story told by the artist using weaving, or raranga, as words.
The art of weaving plays a big part in our whanau and the smell of harakeke (flax) being cut, cleaned, boiled and beautified into a piece of art is an aroma that our humble little whare is filled with on most nights, courtesy of my Pirirakau princess.
I have three Pirirakau princesses in my life - two are my daughters and the other is my wife, who, if I mentioned her name, would weave my lips together as would her much-respected mum, who is also a master at weaving and together they hold double degrees in fine arts.
To stare in wonder hour after hour, long into the night, as a piece of flax plucked from the back yard can be transformed into a piece of art that tells a story in its own unique way is a cool experience, especially when you have front-row or front-floor seats.
For weeks I watched this hieke (spiritual cloak) being created, knowing full well who it was for.
Each part of the process has its own sound and smell and perfectly timed for the latest episode of Shortland Street.
Cutting, stripping, rolling, weaving, boiling, dyeing and weaving some more with the constant humming of a long lost waiata lacing it all together.
Some people prefer to do their talking with their hands and their hearts, and for many Maori involved in traditional art forms there is a deeper connection between those being blessed by their creation and those on the other side of the veil from where many believe all creation comes from.
Hence the relevance of the opening quote: "Art is collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better."
Without sounding too sweet in 'my own kumara kind of way', I like to think that taking on the challenge as an artist is a life sentence. It takes a lifetime to perfect, and after clocking up half a million words in this column I am luckier than a Lotto winner to weekly fashion my craft of telling stories through the written word.
More than ever I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living.
Creativity takes courage and is contagious if we pass it along, says Albert Einstein.
Sharing one's gift as an artist is something that a community can only benefit from. Today, and for the next five days you can share the gifts of our local raranga artists and my Pirirakau princess, at their stunning Wananga o Aotearoa exhibition.
Monday, November 9 - Friday, November 14, late night Thursday: 60 Durham St,
Nau mai haere mai.
broblack@xtra.co.nz
