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Ek is reeds vir ongeveer twintig jaar ‘n professionele kunstenaar nadat ek ‘n suksesvolle loopbaan as Algemene Bestuurder in die motorbedryf vaarwel toegeroep het. Die malle gejaag het soveel van my energie en tyd opgeëis en my meer van huis en gesin weggeneem as wat ek wou dat dit geleidelik vir my duidelik geword het dat daar beslis ‘n lewe daarbuite moes wees. Uiteindelik het omstandighede buite my beheer my gedwing om terug te val op wat toe slegs ‘n stokperdjie was, al was dit toe reeds ‘n lonende aktiwiteit.
Ek het nog nooit terugverlang na die lewe wat ek agtergelaat het nie.
Dit is met trots dat ek kan verklaar dat ek myself gevestig het as een van die beste en veelsydigste potloodkunstenaars in die wêreld, ‘n erkenning waarvoor ek uiters dankbaar is. Dit is ongelukkig betreurenswaardig dat ‘n profeet nie in sy eie land geëer word nie en ek het nog nie daarin kon slaag om dieselfde erkenning by my eie mense in Suid-Afrika te kry nie. ‘n Kaptein verlaat egter nie sy skip nie en ek beoog nie om roem en rykdom elders te soek nie.
My forte in die uiters mededingende kunswêreld is natuurlewe en ek is trots daarop dat baie van my uitstekende natuurlewekunswerke die wonings van talle vriende en kliënte in die V.S.A., Brittanje, Duitsland, Oostenryk, Nieu Seeland, Austalië en baie ander lande versier. ‘n Betroubare bron binne die V.S.A. se ambassade in Pretoria het aan my genoem dat een van my werke, ‘n portret van Martin Luther King Jr., in die Withuis in Washington hang. Dit is nie ‘n geringe prestasie vir ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse kunstenaar nie.
Dit het egter vinnig vir my duidelik geword dat natuurlewe slegs ‘n klein mark onder kunsversamelaar geniet en ek het besef dat ek my “horisonne sou moes verbreed”. Ek het gevolglik begin om kunswerke vir elke moontlike toepassing te skep en produseer nou kuns oor ‘n baie wye spektrum:
Deur die jare het ek nou reeds talle suksesvolle alleenuitstallings van my kunswerke in verskeie dele van Suid-Afrika sowel as twee uitstallings in die V.S.A. en een in Dubai gehou.
In Oktober 2002 het ek ‘n baie ernstige enkelbreuk opgedoen wat my beweeglikheid beduidend ingekort het. Vir die daaropvolgende 18 maande was ek gedwing om af te wyk van my gewone vorm van kuns en het ‘n opdrag ontvang om ‘n reeks sketse wat die mieliebedryf uitbeeld, te skep. Die sketse was vir die kantore en raadsaal van die mieliehandelaars in Suid-Afrika:
Die Dimitri groep van maatskappye: 15 sketse
Free State Milling (Edms) Bpk: 9 sketse
The Birusa Corporation (Edms) Bpk: 4 sketse
I have been a professional artists for some twenty years after having relinquished a very lucrative career as General Manager in the motor industry. Over a period of some years it became progressively clear to me that there simply had to be a “life after” the rat race that demanded so much of my time and energy, and caused me to be away from home and family on business far more than I cared for. Eventually circumstances beyond my control forced me to fall back on which was, then, only a hobby, albeit a very rewarding one.
I have never looked back on the rat race that I left behind.
I am proud to announce that I have established myself as one of the finest and most versatile pencil artists in the world, an accolade for which I am extremely grateful. It is however regrettable that a prophet is never cherished amongst his own kinsmen, as the proverb goes, and I have never quite been able to get the same acknowledgment amongst my own people in South Africa. However, again as the proverb goes, the captain of the ship never abandons his ship or his crew and so it is not my intention to go and seek fame and fortune elsewhere.
My forte in the very competitive world of artists, is wildlife art and I am extremely proud of the fact that many of my superb wildlife artworks enhance the homes of countless friends and clients in the U.S.A., Britain, Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Australia, and many more countries around the globe. I have been told , by reliable sources at the US Embassy in Pretoria, that one of my artworks, a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr., hangs in the White House of America. That is no mean achievement for a South African artist.
However, it soon became clear to me that wildlife art enjoys a rather small target range in the world of art collectors, and I realised that I would have to ‘broaden my horizons’, as it were. Consequently I started producing artworks of every possible application, and I now produce art over a very broad spectrum:
I have, over a period of many years, conducted many successful solo exhibitions of my artworks in various parts of South Africa as well as two exhibitions in the U.S.A. and one in Dubai.
In October 2002 I sustained a very nasty ankle fracture which, sad to say, handicapped my mobility to a great extent. For the ensuing eighteen months I was forced to deviate from my normal line of artwork and I was commissioned to produce a whole series of sketches depicting the maize industry for the offices and boardroom of the maize traders in South Africa:
The Dimitra Group of Companies - 15 sketches
Free State Milling (Pty) Ltd - 9 sketches
The Birusa Corporation (Pty) Ltd - 4 sketches
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