New Dimensions

 An idea is just an idea if that is all we do when thinking about things. Once upon a time man looked at birds and the idea came up that it would be great to fly like a bird. Then, we could rise above the ground and move through the air to cover great distances and be able to see more and further, almost like being on a high mountain. At various stages in history “inventors” puzzled over the complexity of flight with no success at all. Some even died trying out their ideas. This went on for some time until someone cleverer came along. He applied more imagination and testing to the idea of flight and decided to be more practical and change the shape of the wing to a curved surface. More testing took place, and some laws of aerodynamics were formulated and tested or put into practice. The results were better. The idea was developed further with more testing (action). Success didn’t come overnight. No, the “inventors” bravely and patiently continued with their efforts. Now, man can fly wi

  The picture above is from a video where one dog struggled to carry the branch and came to a fallen tree in the path where it couldn't continue. The second dog came to the rescue and helped to get the branch past the log and together they ran along with both of them carrying the branch. Someone shared the video on LinkedIn which I enjoyed and also added my own story as well. Small actions often lead to huge results. Let's apply this to 2024. For instance, add a little kindness to relationships and how we treat people. The results can be astounding. Add a little more value to others and see big results. Isn't that what this is all about? Most people will try and pull you down to their level. Just respond with a kind word, then be quiet. That will hit home. I think people will respect you more and you will stand out from the crowd. Maybe we should apply that in how we think about our country and load shedding. Get ourselves into a positive frame of mind instead of complainin

The autobot above was my next project because I wanted to see what I could achieve with my new alcohol markers. As you can see it isn't finished yet - it is still a work in progress. I have made a few digital enhancements so that I could put it up on my blog. He is called AI Autobot and will be undergoing some changes to fit the description. Recently, everybody has been raving about AI Artificial Intelligence. I am steering clear of AI at the moment because my intelligence is okay for me. I don't want to lose my edge by relying on some computer program for now. After all, I got this far in life without it. After starting with watercolour painting and succeeding with that I have ventured into multi media to get some exposure to a new dimension in my art. Working with different mediums comes with its challenges because the ideal paper for markers is the opposite of what you need for watercolour painting. To successfully blend these two together on smooth paper is not the easiest

Now I am making my dream come true because I have enough content for my book. Yesterday I decided to compile my book in a better, more logical order. I was getting new information for my book and just created the pages haphazardly. So, I stopped for a moment and then looked at how I could improve things so that readers can understand what I am writing about better. All I am doing now is recreating the book page by page, then it will be complete, then I can make it available online. My book will be filled with useful information about the company I worked for up until 1991. Then, it will also have information about the products that were sold and how it started. There will be lots of photographs that will foster nostalgia and comments from other people that also worked at that company. There will be at least 25 different sections or topics that I have covered and at the end a few miracles that happened. I decided this morning to add one thing at the end that has the potential to change

  There comes a time in one’s life that you reach a milestone. When that happens you can stop and look back at what you have managed to do. Exactly fifty years ago I made a promise in the form of a wedding vow that I would love my bride until death do us part. We have both been through troubled waters that have tried to shipwreck our boat many times and have managed to weather all sorts of adversities. People wish us well with kind words and say, “Well done, congratulations.” It’s nice to hear those words because it makes one feel good. If they only knew of all the times, we had to bite the bullet, knuckle down and keep going. I remember the very first time I had to resign from work in Cape Town and move back to Johannesburg without having a new job and a wife and two kids to support because my salary couldn’t go far enough every month. Then, I got a fantastic job and managed to buy a car because I got a salary raise and back pay plus a Christmas bonus for excellent work. Imagine h

When motor vehicles end up in an accident and get written off because of extensive damage, there are parts that can still be salvaged. That is where a company that specializes in these smashed cars buys the wrecks and makes them available to mechanics that buy certain parts they need to repair cars. The parts are usually in a good condition and are sold at a fair price saving everybody money all round.  The company I am referring to in this instance is called Smashed Used Auto Parts who keep damaged cars in stock on their premises in Fairleads, Benoni, South Africa so that customers can access a very large variety of used vehicle spares from them at unbeatable prices.  Smashed Used Auto Parts was started in 2016 with one car. Since then the company has grown to include more than 2000 smashed vehicles of many brands. The company has a huge following that access their massive parts stock and therefore benefit by saving on new replacements.  To keep up with the great demand they buy more

Today I practised some more in another way. I drew another picture and coloured it in with watercolour pencils and then used some water on a brush to add water to the flower. It didn't work like I expected it to so I used coloured markers to deepen the colours some more. The idea was to see if I could eliminate the watercolour paint. That somehow improved things but the original looks better than the photographed version. So I have now added it above. Here you can read about how I started watercolour painting . Sometimes it's nice to also practise something different and completely new to you. So, I decided to see what would happen if I painted something on newsprint. I was surprised to see that one could manage to paint on newsprint and that it handles the water from the paint pretty well. The result is above.  Recently, I bought painting journals. One was cheap and the other was more expensive. To test the cheaper one first I sketched a picture and proceeded to paint with wat