Aloha From New Zealand and Kauai

I want to start by saying thank you to all of you who have supported my work over the years and have stopped by my gallery to talk and shared your kind thoughts. This always inspires and helps me to create more art. For the past year, I slowed down a bit on producing originals due to the passing of my father in March of 2024. I never knew my father that well, and only met him twice in my adult life. Since his passing, I've returned to New Zealand three times, dealing with the legal issues and restoring a house that my father left to me. This, along with running the gallery back home on Kauai, has been a busy and emotionally challenging experience. But in a good way too, as the restoration of the old house has been a lesson about renewal and learning who my father was. He loved art and had books and books with artistic subjects, including an antique art book from 1850. He had a lot of sketches and paintings stored in various parts of the old house. The house held a lot of sadness because my father was confined to a wheelchair from a broken back that happened when he was a younger man. The medication and confinement had taken a toll on his body and mind, and this reflected in the house.

The property is located on a quiet street in Brookfield, Tauranga, and for the past year, I have been focusing on a comprehensive restoration of the house. The house was built in 1950 and has been in my family since then. The rooms all face north, with large windows that always catch the sun's rays, overlooking a spacious backyard filled with numerous fruit trees and birds. A large Royal Date Palm also in the backyard is home to about 20 pigeons. At the back of the property is a giant avocado tree that fruits all year round. The house and grounds are now finished after a lot of hard work and late nights. I plan to rent it out as an Airbnb by the end of this month, so that people can bring some light and happiness back into the old house. Now that this is all done, I feel it's time to start painting again soon. Hopefully, this experience and journey will inspire me and pave the way for a new chapter in my life and creativity.

Mahalo,

Troy Carney

Before

and

After

Back Yard

Front

Guest Room

My Art Room

Living Room