A new outlook

Artist Nigel Brown at his new Dunedin home. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN

Wrapped up in layers of clothing, Nigel Brown is unperturbed by the lack of heating in his new Dunedin home - a large old villa perched on the hills above the city.

He admits it was not exactly what he and wife Sue were looking for when they made the decision to move to Dunedin but like many house hunters, they fell for the house that they liked the feel of without worrying about the practicalities.

''It could have been a modern house with more sun and things. This had character.''

The large trees surrounding the house and the accompanying birdsong did not hurt, he said.

Even though the couple have not officially moved from Cosy Nook yet, their time ''camping'' in the new house in Dunedin as they worked through issues such as heating, is already influencing Brown's painting.

Described as one of New Zealand's most important narrative artists, some of his most recent works have included kereru, which he sees much more frequently in Dunedin than down south.

One work depicts a ''rough and ready'' man in a black singlet cradling a kereru, symbolising the wildness of bush and native species that are under threat.

''I realise it's a symbolic thing. Most people would never get to nurse a kereru but I did have one incident two years ago with a hawk, lying injured and I picked it up.''

The pair lived in a Art Deco home in Southland, with a modern extension, on 6.4ha of land for the past 14 years after moving south from Auckland.

Just last year he told the Otago Daily Times he enjoyed the space and was not that relaxed in close quarters in cities.

However, he now believes 14 years of ''isolation'' surrounded by farms and farmers, who could not understand what he did, while a good experience, was enough.

''We're looking for a simpler lifestyle, in the sense of wanting less to look after, and wanting more sociability, to be handy to things and enjoy a walk down streets full of people.''

He says they will adapt to living side by side with others after so many years of sharing their space only with Highland cattle.

''People need change in their lives.''

They chose Dunedin, in part, because his relatives came from Naseby and his father from Lowburn.

''Dunedin was like the city the gold miners came to when they got rich and built big houses in the boom times. You can't get further away from one of those sod cottages in Central Otago to one of these big buildings. But they were what they did if they were successful.''

The impact on his painting would take time to ''sort out'' as he absorbed the city's ''incredible old buildings''.

The late Ralph Hotere reacted to his surroundings by creating the opposite, just as the ''Dunedin Sound'' bands did, he said.

''I think it will take me back to my early suburban paintings.''

His latest exhibition ''Belong, Belong'', opening at Milford Galleries, Queenstown, tomorrow, features a selection of his recent works including a few of his ''Captain Cook'' paintings.

He likes to put political comment in his works but is aware their message has to last long-term.

''There is a little nod to the recent, that horrible blogger Cameron Slater and all that thing. But there is another painting called Cut the C**p , obviously the memorable line of Andrew Little's in Parliament.''

Brown is disappointed the vernacular of New Zealand language is being toned down.

''The vernacular as I see it is disappearing as we get away from what we once were.''

By putting a saying such as ''It is bloody good to be alive'' on a painting, he believed people could be drawn in to it or relate to it as their parents or grandparents said such things.

''I use quite a lot of words to draw people in. You either like words or you don't.''

He acknowledges the image of a black singlet-clad man was probably now in the past as men were more likely to be wearing a ''fluorescent jacket''.

''I'm quite aware of that. But it's using old language to show up the present. A lot of that language from the past was quite harsh. You see it a bit in Parliament, when they lose it. You have to use that language quite carefully in painting.''

Using words in his paintings was also confronting for some who believed they should not feature on artwork, he said.

In more recent times he had become ''preoccupied'' with using dots of paint, picking up influences from Aboriginal art.

''I've been impressed by the intensity of some of this dot painting.''

He uses the technique in a less regimented way than Aboriginal art or that of Seurat and pointillism, although he acknowledges in some ways society is moving to that more precise way of doing things, as people seek to control their environment.

''I'm also using nature quite a bit.''

He had used the technique to paint nature, including kiwi and kereru.

''I've partly been stimulated by coming here, and seeing them [kereru] around the green belt in Dunedin.''

The influence of technology meant people looked now for their paintings to be smooth, like their cars or phones.

''Painting is still a stick with hair on the end. A painting can take months to do, with all these different layers. You stop and do a different layer and you decide when it's finished. You leave traces of evidence, a brush stroke, which I do quite a lot, but a lot of painters want to smooth it out.

''I still look at it as making a hand-made object which is quite at odds with today and looking at your computer.''

As an older artist he felt he had to get beyond ''basic expectations'' and change in subtle ways.

''It's a mix of using this old stuff and changing it. I've been looking at identity, getting on for 45 years or so.

''As I get older, people expect certain things all the time, it's hard to avoid. I like to keep the game a bit tricky and unpredictable.''

A part of that is looking at New Zealand's removal of its links with England, although he does not feel that so much in Dunedin, he says.

''It's bubbling away as an issue. Then there is the flag and Anzac.

''I fiercely believe we are now here but there are still people who believe in the old country.''

Designing a flag was beyond his limitations, his work on other public works such as working on an Auckland cathedral's windows had shown, he said.

''I see myself as an artist and you work out your own symbolism.''