June 2012

12th: Things are really starting to get busy and I am wondering where I am going to find the time. Been asked to be in a group show at Fried Contemporary this September. Then there is another group show at Cameo Framers. There is also the PPC Sculpture awards that I want to enter as well a Sasol New Signatures - oh wow just checked the entry date - only got three weeks to sort my entry out! Deadline is the 3rd/4th July. Mmmm - yes I thought that I had a bit longer than that. Trying not to panic trying not to panic trying not to panic trying not to panic trying not to panic.....

In the mean time here is a snap shot of my photos (the less blury ones) that were part of the Minatures exhibition at Art Lovers 1932. They sold which was nice.

May 2012

9th May: Sometimes you get involved in something and find yourself what am I doing here? Well in my case it was why have you submitted this? This is not the right place. This was the case for me yesterday. I had been asked by 'Art with a Heart' to donate some work for a charity event. I was happy to do so and without thinking about who the potential audience may be I dropped some prints off. It was only when I went to help out did I find out that what I had submitted might not have been appropriate for the event (later proved by the fact none of the images had sold). Yes yes I hear you saying but how is that possible? At R500 a pop they would have been a steal but but but.... I guess next time I will find out what works for them and see if I can dig out somethig that may sell. But then sometimes you really don't know.

April 2012

23rd: This is a pic I took of the Voortrekker Monument last year, I was going to say November but it turns out it was April last year. Wow. Anyway Adele an Interior designer has bought it from me. Which was nice. It got me thinking though. You make something that is viewed as magical. You then sell it which is a real bonus and in it's own way is just as magical, and then you end up using the money for something completely mundane such as paying the lights and water bill or the rent. Gordon Froud though has a great way of ensuring the magic continues. With the sales he makes he tries to buy another piece of work. How fantastic is that.

12th: These are the results of a process that only be described as genius. How did I achieve this: First I dropped all my test strips on the floor. I made sure that they fell into a liquid that I wasn't too certain about. I picked them up, shrugged my shoulders and thens stuffed them up my jumper and walked outside. I stood in the sun for a couple of minutes and then processed them. Developed, washed them, felt pleased with the results, put the strips back into the developer, switched on the light before walking out the door before returning after 20 minutes..........Amazing the resuls that can be achieved.

I am glad though I didn't make the same processing mistake with the pic that I took with Chantall. Have posted a pick of Chantall in front of her muse for the day, Cheugnette, a steam train which is run and looked after by FOTR (Friends of the Rail).

March 2012

23rd: Well I have been plodding along with the Ou Bass series of mine. I have reached half the number of lucky victims that I need. Only another sixteen to go and then I can lay it all out and get it printed. Should be ready in time for Sasol New Signatures.

Other news, Brendan Copestake from Artright has invited to show some of my work in his new space at AOM. This will happening towards the ned of the year. And then there is the Miniatures Group Show at Art Lovers, 1932 Long Street Pretoria. Opening is the end of May. Exaxt date to be confirmed.

How's this for a bit of irony. One of my photographs has been used in an article on people not paying their suppliers. I only found out about this when my client (who was the focus of the article) phoned me to ask me if I was aware that one of my images had been used in a newspaper. I had had no idea. The editor of the newspaper in question only phoned me a month or so after the article had been published and started waffling some excuse of deadlines and whadah whadah whadah more work blah blah blah. The fact is mate you threw mud at a client of mine for not paying their suppliers and had no intention of paying me for my work. Hypocrite.

So whats new? Still plodding on with my Ou bass series, and then I am also making another plan chest. This one is for Rene Gosselin

February 2012

20th: Well I am progressing steadily with my 'Die Ou Baas' series. I have changed some of the design elements; the flag at the top and the little logo which will be used on the back of the cards and which is on the title card. I am collecting volunteers slowly but surely. Unfortunately the little camera that I was using got stolen last week so I have lost some of my people. This new year has been a bit of a disaster in terms of equipment. Monitor gave up, parts for sander taking ages to arrive, mitre saw stopped working (hopefully its just the switch), both drills stopped working - (thankfully both still under warranty), camera stolen ( thankfully only little pocket digital). It's making me wonder if I should just try and flog off everything else I own before those things pack up to.

At least there has been some good news. Elfriede from Fried Contemporary has invited me to take part in an exhibition later this year, which is cool and something to work towards.

6th: Here is the first peek at work on my follow up to my Swart Gevaar piece. I am calling it Die Ou Baas. The thoughts that I am having so far are that I may change the chequered flag at the top to the old (apartheid era) South African flag. This will mean that I will have to change the little circle logo; perhaps use an image of an ox wagon; the voortrekker monument; or a pic of a white bloke dressed in kaki's, sitting in their bakkie, reading their paper, checking his watch to see how long it has been since he last shouted out to his workers 'Oi k......' before getting up to show them how a white man can work before he suddenly realises that it actually is blarry hot in the sun, and he had better get back into his bakkie and turn the aircon on. A little difficult to synthesise into one little image but that should go down a treat.

5th: You Joking Me....And so the new year continues to thunder along. Right now my beloved monitor is giving up the ghost, oh joy. And no, (although the picture below suggests otherwise), it is not because I have a dead frog sitting on top of it. I have had him electromagnetically tested and I can assure you that he has not affect upon it at all.  Its not the cables. I tested those too. It is not the graphics card as I tested the monitor on a different PC. Mind you the problem did only start once I placed Geoff on top of the monitor.

So during the moments of the monitor being ok I am trying soldier on. I have finally started with my follow up to my Swart Gevaar piece. Will post pics of that as soon as I have something to show.

January 2012

16th: Here is a little something that I did on the weekend. It involved laying underneath Chantal while I roasted in the sun. It is titled 'If Pigs Could....' Nope, for all my efforts you cannot see me but check out the pigs.

12th: Phew - Is it hot again? Yes - if temperatures stay this hot I reckon that I am going to reverse millions of years of evolution and as I slowly turn in to primordial soup. Yip I know I should just stop the whining.

So what am I doing for this years Artists Associations annual members show? Well I have taken some of the duds from my shots from Chantal and hung them from a mini black board which has some musings of a mythical beasty.

4th: Well I have taken a few shots with......yes I have to give her a name...hmmmmm think I will name her Chantal. No reason other than it was the first name that popped into my head. So anyway took my first shot with Chantal and I have to admit that it didn't go well. I was able to use her slideable shutter to stagger the exposure. Half way through the sequence though it started to bucket it down. So I had to move her into the garage to continue. The first image suggested that the exposures were going to have to be in the region of 20 or so minutes. The results from the next few shots revealed that I would have to take out all the lenses and resanding them to make them that much bigger. So anyway here is the first test shot.

December 2011

24th: Wouldn't you just believe it. Yes after much research, many phone calls, loads of driving about I finally decided to be done with it and buy a safe light globe (light bulb). Yes, it was blooming expensive. Yes, I did nearly faint as the kind lady with the sweet smile banged the precious little box on the counter with enough force so that you could hear the glass of the globe clinking against the thin membrane of the cardboard box. Yes, I managed to keep the smile on my face whilst forcing back the urge to say 'What the !#*%?, are you bloody stupid, you could have broken the filament banging the globe down like that'. I kept smiling as I handed over the cash whilst all the while thinking to myself, 'please don't be broken, please don't be broken, please don't be broken'. Thankfully it is not but......two days later, rummaging around a hospice shop, what do I find?

Yes!!!!! It is cracked near the top. For some reason the power lead is less than a foot long but it works. Finally I am back in business. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ..........

Christmas Tree Update: A couple of years ago I made a tree put of offcuts from another project, the geosic dome camera obscura.....well he tree received a facelift this year and is looking funkier than ever.

13th: Drum Roll please.....Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you my very own safe light. As you can see I have used a fetching piece of yellow plastic which gives a woderful urea glow to everything that it illuminates. The question I am sure that you are all dying to ask is does it work well.....

....the light looks nice, in a rough made for a job and not to make anything look nice kind if a way. The reality is that as a safe light go it is pretty useless (see below). Piece of paper on he left was the control and was thrown straight into the developer after been taken from the packet. Piece of paper on the right was left in the dark room with the safe light for ten minutes before being thrown into the developer. It just didn't work.