Myopic Vision

"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun, and in the morning We will remember them. Lest we forget." For New Zealanders and Australians around the world, today was a solemn day of remembrance. Anzac day commemorates the first landing of their troops at Anzac cove in Gallipoli on the 25th of April 1915. And ever year on this day, scores of Kiwis come together at war memorials across the country to remember the sacrifices made by previous generations of war veterans and especially those who lost their lives on the battlefields abroad. I attended my local Anzac day parade and it was a very poignant ceremony. Attendances at these services including the dawn services seem to have had record highs. This year, at Gallipoli around 18,000 people are estimated to have attended the dawn service. Anzac day is the one day, that is of perhaps the greatest significance for New Zealanders and 92 years ...

A few weekends ago, somewhere between sheer boredom and a burning desire for some kind of creative expression, I decided that I was going to do a bit of painting. Until quite recently, art has only ever marginally interested me. But my recent trips to Paris and Amsterdam got me really excited about art, particularly, after spending hours examining and appreciating works of artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh, and William Hogart among others. And so, in a blinding flash of inspiration, I decided that I would try my hand at painting. I had an image of what I wanted to do and I was feeling fairly confident that I could transfer this onto canvas. So off I went to get my supplies – paint, easel, canvas etc and I began to paint my “masterpiece”. An hour and a half later, it became abundantly clear to me (and those around me), that I was never going to be the next Picasso. What was meant to be an image of mother and child, turned out looking more like a giant acqua-green kidney bean spread acros...