for his ability to draw so much as for his unusual and highly original technique.’ Muru bases his philosophy of painting on that of Pablo Picasso—‘I do not seek but I find’. At times, he says, some images seem to appear of their own accord on the canvas. ‘Then, you have a feeling of surprise at what you've done. But in fact, all these images spring from your own personal experience, things you have seen and done in your life. I remember, for instance, the dead fish and seaweed washed up on beaches around Parengarenga Harbour, and have used these in recent paintings.’ Art, he says, must develop naturally. The important things is to be honest—if an artist is sincere about what he is doing, without being influenced too much by contemporary fashions, then he has nothing to worry about. Speaking of traditional Maori art, he says, ‘I feel the old masters have done an excellent job; therefore there's no point in trying to better what they did. But the creative avenues leading from traditional Maori art are still open for the artist to explore.’

Hopes of Overseas Study Soon Recently Muru held a second one-man exhibition of 50 works, and received favourable reviews. In the near future he hopes to go overseas, preferably to Spain, to further his studies. After a television appearance in Auckland recently, he received the following review in a weekly periodical: ‘Black and white photography cannot do justice to any paintings, but this programme did make me want to see Mr Muru's work in realty, for even in flat shades of black and grey tonings, virility and depth were more than hinted at. The artist himself came across as a quiet yet forthright young man with all the innate dignity of his race.’ This lively crowd scene has the energy and vitality apparent in all his work. We wish that we could show it to you in colour though, for it depends so much on this for its full effect.