Richard Scott Blog - 20th October 2024

 

Monday I started planning the UK/EUROPE 2025 trip. I have decided to go to England and rent a big van and do an England and Europe Exhibition trip in April / May next year.

The idea is to have an exhibition in England and then Rotterdam and then Butzbach, Frankfurt and then Brussels, Belgium.

Other than that, I had a really long list of trivial things to do which I managed to do. 

Sharing the love. I cut up the bread we made last Sunday and shared it with Frans, Hendrik, Angelique, and Chad. It was a small amount, but it was all we had. Apparently were officially good at baking bread. Now just to do it alone at home without John, the Greyton Village Baker.

Monday afternoon I decided to figure out how to add in a “SUBSCRIBE” to my blog form on top of each blog. I had a quick look and 46 people read the blog from Shopify and 50% of 345 from Mailchimp. Thanks for reading and supporting guys.

Signing a Candy Mandy print for a collector. I launched this print in 2011 and have sold over 100 of the 147 Edition.

Candy Mandy.

Late Monday afternoon I prepped for a braai for supper as we were celebrating Angelina's birthday on Tuesday. It did not help much as she was not home and had a long day at Dance and University. Nonetheless, the steaks were cooked to perfection and sliced up David Higgs style. We did some nice vegetable kebabs for Angelina which she scoffed when she got home at around 8pm. Joanne and I watched Someone Feed Phil.

 

The beautiful 22. Carat gold Cape Town Hand embellished print.

The photo does the Gold no justice.

Hand coloured city scape in POSCA pen.

Tuesday was Angelina’s 19th Birthday. We wished her Happy Birthday around the breakfast table before she headed off to university for the day. It was nice to wish her and see her off. Living her own life and driving her own car.

I did that early morning admin thing where you get 8 hours of work done in 2 hours. 

The guys came over at 8am and we all focused on the next Shombie auction Wednesday night. 

I had a catch up on WhatsApp with John, The Village Baker in Greyton. He was telling me a few more things about bread and natural starters vs. instant yeast.

 

In the afternoon I did some prints for Henry in the Sea Point Gallery. He got his December order in early.

Good job I got an education and did well at Geometry.

Back to school. Red means CUT, green means SCORE.

I wanted to put last week's blog through CHAT GPT to see what the difference would be. I will put this week's blog through and post it at the bottom for a bit of fun. See if you can see the difference.

 

I did a bit of gardening with Hendrik, and we are trying to grow various plants from taking clippings and dipping them in growth powder. We tried Bougainvillea, Rosemary and about six other plants in the garden that I cannot identify. They are all Fynbos, so that is at least a good thing. Most of them are taking root, which is great. We also started our second compost pile this week in the front garden. I think Joanne and I must go to a small village and become farmers and bakers. 

Wednesday started with a nice Mielie Pap breakfast. John the Village Baker grinds his own Mielie and sells it. Milie pap, for those of you outside of South Africa, it is maize meal cooked in water and milk, served with cold milk, butter and sugar.

NOM NOM

To be honest, I did not join the dots with the white maize meal I buy from the shops was actually mielie (corn on the cob). Anyway, that is my weekly fact for you. LOL

 

Wednesday was Boss’s Day, so Angelique and Chad decided to take me to lunch for being such a good boss. They booked Melkbos Kitchen and it was nice to be treated as a boss. I must have done something good this last year as it is the first time I was treated to lunch.

 

One of the best restaurants in South Africa.

Happy Boss.

Then home again and back in the studio to finish off the Gold I LOVE YOU Girl spray works. 

 

Screen shot of the new I LOVE YOU works.

Having fun with Checkers sixty 60 bags.

Joanne worked late and only got home at around 4pm. She got onto cooking, and I finished off in the studio.

Thursday I took time out for myself. I got stuck into writing my first book and then googled “Best Art Documentaries.” For some weird reason I started watching the Rob Ross documentary on Netflix. I only heard of the name a year or so ago when Richie, my son, mentioned it to me about it being a Meem. The documentary itself is a little slow but I stuck through it and learnt a lot from the experiences Rob and his brother had. Make sure your Intellectual Property is in the right place. And even so, it can still go pear shaped. Watch it, it even gives you an idea about who, what, where, why and how to leave your assets when you are standing at God's Gates. It made me think of a saying my old neighbour, Jurie Matthee, always says “Spend every single cent before you go.”

 

Nonetheless I did do some work on Thursday afternoon. You know me, I cannot sit still and treat myself all day long. As much as my therapist said I must.

I decided to cut up two reject road signs, from my Roadwork’s Series, to create the second in the series of a combination of the My Camera Man Series from 2008 and the reject Roadworks signs.

You might notice a few bullet holes in the signs. I had this crazy idea to put some bullet holes into one or two signs. It came from all those bullet holes you see in the road signs in those laying farmlands.

Also, there is an artist at Hout Bay Galley, Tim Dempers, that has perfected the art of “Art and Bullet Holes.”

So, after spending some time at the shooting range with Brett, I ended up with 5 or six road signs but I did not release them as it could have been a minefield.

Recycling old and new and rejected.

Camera Me, Camera You.

Thursday night spilled over onto Friday morning in a blink of an eye.

Friday, Joanne worked from home and I got stuck into a bit of admin on the Shombie Wednesday night Auction. We helped raise R60 000 for The Community Kids Pot.

I helped Hendrik cut up a wine barrel into small slats to put down as a walkway for the vegetable garden as we were walking all over the new seedlings.

Giving things life and purpose again. An old spent wine barrel will now become a vegetable garden pathway.

I got a random surprise visit from a couple called David and Diane and their friend Craig. They took a chance and popped in for a studio tour. So, I gave them a full-blown studio tour which they absolutely loved.

Meet David, Diana, and Craig.

Then a photo session of the new Cameraman work and then I was off to the dentist. I had a chipped tooth. Well, the dentist decided to remove a filling I got when I was 8 years old. Was not expecting that. But it has been done. Blah. I am sitting here typing this with a numb mouth. I am grateful as I would rather have a numb mouth than a sore mouth. 

We popped into Checkers on the way home and topped up for the week. Joanne is sitting doing dictation and I am about to write a few more pages in my book.

We settled in for the night watching a movie on the telly 🙂

Saturday, we both woke up super early and started to plan a trip to either Mauritius or The Seychells. We both decide we need a pleasant beach, no Wi-Fi holiday. We got up and I went to the studio to do some new Rorschach pieces for the charity auction coming up. Joanne made some samp and beans and then some scones. 

Joanne making scones.

Delicious. Just like Moms.

Goodbye wooden spoon, you have served us well.

We took a walk to the water shop to get some filtered water to make the bread starter John taught us last week. I used half Rye and half Wheat flour. Holding thumbs that in 5 days’ time, after discarding half each day, that it ferments.

Making the starter.

Saturday afternoon was chill and take out time with each other.

Some new Rorschach test pieces.

 

Durban lamb curry with samp and beans. NOM NOM.

 

Backgammon on the deck with homemade Margaritas on Saturday afternoon.

Sunday we went to Kirstenbosch Gardens to celebrate Angelina's 19th Birthday with a garden picnic. I will post those pics in next week's blog.

Until next week. Thanks for reading.

r  i  c  h  a  r  d.

As promised here is the blog put through Chat GPT.

Monday, I started planning my UK/Europe 2025 exhibition trip.
The idea is to rent a van in England and travel across Europe in April/May, visiting England, Rotterdam, Butzbach Frankfurt, and Brussels for exhibitions. I'm excited about the journey and the opportunity to showcase my work in these beautiful cities.
Besides planning, I also managed to tackle a long list of trivial tasks.

In the afternoon, I focused on adding a “Subscribe” form to the top of each blog. I checked the stats and saw that 46 people read the blog via Shopify and 50% of 345 through Mailchimp. Thank you all for the support!

Later, I prepped for a braai to celebrate Angelina’s birthday on Tuesday. She was out for a long day at dance and university, so Joanne and I enjoyed perfectly cooked steaks in David Higgs’ style. We also made vegetable kebabs for Angelina, which she devoured when she got home around 8 p.m. We ended the evening watching the new season of Someone Feed Phil.

Tuesday was Angelina's 19th birthday.
We wished her a happy birthday over breakfast before she headed off to university. It’s amazing to watch her drive off in her own car, living her life independently.

The rest of the morning, I got into my usual admin groove, knocking out 8 hours of work in just 2. The team and I prepped for the Shombie auction happening on Wednesday night. I also caught up with John, the Village Baker, who shared some more wisdom about bread making, particularly the differences between natural starters and instant yeast.

In the afternoon, I worked on prints for Henry from Sea Point Gallery, who placed his December order early. I also decided to pass last week's blog through ChatGPT for comparison. I’ll do the same with this one—let's see if you can spot the difference.

Later, Hendrik and I spent some time gardening. We tried growing new plants from clippings, using growth powder. We experimented with Bougainvillea, Rosemary, and several Fynbos varieties. The exciting part is most of them are taking root! We also started a second compost pile in the front garden. Joanne and I often talk about moving to a small village and becoming full-time farmers and bakers—it’s a tempting dream!

Wednesday started with a hearty mielie pap breakfast, thanks to John, the Village Baker, who grinds his own maize. For my international readers, mielie pap is a South African staple—cooked maize meal served with milk, butter, and sugar.

It was also Boss’s Day! Angelique and Chad treated me to lunch at Melkbos Kitchen for being such a good boss. It was a rare moment to be recognized, and I felt appreciated.

Thursday was all about writing—I finally took time out to dive into my first book. I also started watching the Bob Ross documentary on Netflix. While slow, it provided great insight into intellectual property and how to protect your legacy. It made me reflect on a favorite saying from my old neighbor Jurie: “Spend every cent before you go.”

In the afternoon, I got creative with some reject road signs from my Roadworks series. I was inspired by an artist who incorporates bullet holes into his work, and after a trip to the shooting range with Brett, I have a few road signs with some “character” of their own. I’m working on blending these pieces with my My Camera Man series from 2008.

Friday flew by. Joanne worked from home, and I got stuck into the admin for the Shombie auction, which raised R60,000 for The Community KidsPot. Hendrik and I worked on a walkway for the vegetable garden, cutting up slats from a wine barrel.

We also had some surprise visitors—David, Diane, and Craig—who popped in for an impromptu studio tour. They loved it, and I enjoyed showing them around. Afterward, I had a dentist appointment, where a filling from my childhood was replaced. Not fun, but necessary!

Saturday was spent planning our next trip, either to Mauritius or Seychelles—Joanne and I are craving a beach holiday with no Wi-Fi. In the studio, I worked on some Rorschach pieces for an upcoming charity auction. Joanne whipped up some delicious samp and beans, and we baked scones.

In the afternoon, we took a walk to the water shop to get filtered water for the bread starter John taught me last week. It’s a mix of rye and wheat flour, and I’m excited to see if it ferments in the next five days.

The evening was relaxed—backgammon on the deck with homemade margaritas.

Sunday, we headed to Kirstenbosch Gardens for a picnic to celebrate Angelina’s birthday. I’ll share the photos in next week’s post.

Until next week, thanks for reading and supporting!

r   i   c   h   a   r   d