January 2017
As we turn the page on what was a sad year for losses, both for me personally and those in the public domain, one good friend’s death the especially moved many people locally, made me reflect on the power of legacies.
Many of the famous bequest bodies of work that will resonate for generations: from David Bowie to Alan Rickman and Fidel Castro to Mohamed Ali, regardless of our feelings towards them, they will undoubtedly leave powerful legacies.
What I find most interesting, though, is those who we have known for one body of work but who, after their death, a whole new philanthropic side we never knew about comes to light. The musician Prince was just such a person who had been (as his wife Manuela Testolini described it) a fierce 
philanthropist and seems to have left a massive wake of humanitarian support behind him.
And more recently, George Michael’s generosity throughout his life is only now coming to light… not to mention the tragically uncelebrated Abdul Sattar Edhi whose entire life was a gift to millions. It is these touching foundations that inspire me to reflect on what my own legacy might be.
Legacies, like marathons, aren’t built on last minute training and sprints to the finish line. They’re built on daily routine, something that becomes ingrained in our psyche and are created through passion and dedication over decades of giving. The way we are, how we think, and the trail of good will we leave behind may be as simple as kindness, but it has the power to change communities and even entire nations in its wake.
Not everyone can be a Buddha or Mother Theresa, but working with the tools we do have, we can all be philanthropic. We may choose to shout it from the rooftops, or hold it to ourselves as a silent gift, but if we can all leave this world a better place than the one we were born into, I feel these are the foundations of the one thing we all truly desire… world peace.
The birth of a new year is a great time to reflect on our legacies and I for one will be considering my own in the coming months. So here’s to a wonderful year ahead for us all and may your legacy resound for generations.
The gallery was buzzing last week with the launch of our Christmas exhibition. Thanks to Claire Henley, Jenny Aitken, Ben Taffinder and Ilric Shetland for coming to support the wonderful street party. It was so much fun! Oh and thanks too to Robin Mason for bringing some of the works down when he came to deliver his superb new collection.
The exhibition page is still live with all the works, so if you’d like to check our 16 awesome still lives, do drop in before tomorrow evening when the exhibition officially closes. You’ll find everything here to view: www.theharbourgallery.co.uk/4-from-4
We’ve had some superb new pieces in from many of our artists this month including a few new corkers from Neil Bolton. Mary Allen, too, bought in 6 newbies, one of which shot straight out the door and those beautiful Angel Angelov paintings are sellin’ like hotcakes!
Jill hudson came in and refreshed her work, too, amounting in two sales right off the back… hardly surprising really, and as well as the his exhibition still lives, Ben Taffinder has been keeping his page topped up with some incredible new pieces.
I’ll be chatting with the lovely Kerr Ashmore in the next day or two to discuss some newbies to replace her sales this 
month and I hope to bring you news of two new artists joining us at the beginning of 2017, so keep yer eyes on the website and our social media feeds for any changes.
In the mean time, again I want to thank you for all your support and custom in 2016. Once again it’s been an incredible year of further growth and I’m losing places in which to pinch myself. You are all soooo awesome!
Anyway, until we see or speak to each other, have a great year full of success however you perceive it.
Many blessings!
Mark
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December 2016
Whilst reading Eckhart Tolle’s wonderful ‘The Power of Now’ on holiday, one sentence in particular jumped out at me: “Your task is not to search for love but to find a portal through which love can enter.”
It was particularly relevant to me at that time because I’d been recently talking to a woman who was somewhat disillusioned with love and had lost the faith that that man would appear in her life anymore… read more.