Blowing off the Dust....

Hi There!

I thought it was well past time to blow the dust off the old blog and post some new content. I've had several attempts to add posts as this year has progressed but circumstances have left them unfinished and in various states of 'draft-ness'. Writing in a blog like this can be a somewhat daunting task - what should one write about? How much information should one include (or leave out)? How can one make it as interesting as possible and (the big question) is it worth the effort to write it if nobody is actually going to read it?

One of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People according to author Stephen Covey is to "Begin with the end in mind". Which begs the question - what is my intention here? What purpose does this blog fulfil and who is it actually for?

My intention is to share both my thoughts and my artistic output where anyone can see it. As a unique centre of awareness, a 'Thinker' and a Wizard I have my own suitably unique view on the world. Over the course of my life I have found many principles, affirmations, realisations and aphorisms which have been incredibly helpful and effective in allowing me to move through the course of life feeling pleased with who I am. I want to share some of these thoughts in the hope that they may be of use to others.

I have long held the desire to have a single place on the internet that could act as a repository for a sort of snapshot view into the world of one unknown Wizard. That is the purpose of this blog and as to the question of who it is for... I find myself wondering, does that really matter? I am a seven billionth of the total of humanity on this world yet I like to think the universe would be somehow incomplete were I not here. By putting my artwork, my visions and thoughts and conclusions out there into the World Wide Web it is perhaps merely my attempt to make a meaningful contribution to the world that has contributed so much to me. I am as insignificant as a grain of sand on a vast windswept beach. Perhaps by reflecting what colours and light I can, some passing awareness will perceive my sand grain as one of those brief sparkling motes that twinkle amidst the endless granules and contribute just a tiny touch of magic back to the world. If I must be a tiny speck at least let me strive to be a shiny one.

Will anyone read this? Is it worth the effort to write? Yes I will read it and it's worth the effort because someone else may read it and maybe the magic will spread. If I don't post it then most certainly nothing will happen. If I do, it might and that is ample reason enough for me

~W~

Someone else took this.

Someone else took this photo - I just played around with it in a little image editor I downloaded to my phone. I'm really just checking out how things like this work on my phone.

The original photo is a scene somewhere down south at one of the big lakes. Sorry I don't know who took it or even where I found it.

Storm Chasing

Hello, greetings and welcome.

We have just been treated to a few days of superb Autumnal weather here in Wai-iti.  We've been treated to sunny skies, warm, mild breezes and gorgeous evenings as the Moon grows steadily towards being full.

This evening we had a simply beautiful sunset, red clouds reflecting an amazing light across the landscape which is all burnt and dry at the moment. The grass in the paddocks is pale brown and looks dead and many of the deciduous trees have started changing colour. With very little rain recently  we are having something of a drought. The combination of the dry foliage and the reflected red sunset light created a beautiful and otherworldly effect.

This too shall pass as the saying goes. Tropical Cyclone Lusi is wending its way down the North West coast of the North Island bringing heavy rains and high winds. The rain   will pour down on the parched earth and miraculously the grass will green up and spring back to life. Perfect conditions for staying home in the dry.

So of course we'll be driving 400 Kms to Christchurch! Dear friends there are about to get their earthquake damage finally repaired and they have generously donated their old carpets to us for use in our no-budget renovation project.

Furthermore, my dear Dad has lent us his car (which, unlike ours, has a tow ball) and my always generous and helpful Brother-in-law has lent us his big tandem axle trailer. We are aiming to leave early on Saturday morning and driving down to Chch and collecting the carpet before turning around and heading the 400 Kms back home again, hopefully before the cyclone arrives!

Whew! Should be an exciting and excellent adventure! If the weather forecast is accurate (they have a 63% accuracy rate here) we should be able to just sneak back home before the serious weather gets here. All going well (which of course it will) we'll be back safe and sound and hopefully we'll get some good photos too.

Till the next time....

Afternoon In the City of Domes

The lowering afternoon sun shines on the Domes and towers of Inthandonia's famous City of Domes.


3d Models built using truespace rendered in trueSpace using LightWorks renderer. Extensive post work using the GIMP.
This is a picture I first created several years ago. I've recently revisited it and made a few changes and alterations. I hope you enjoy it.

Dragons and Wizards

Dragons and Wizards go together like shoes and socks or fish and chips or (insert complimentary couple of choice here). So here is a picture I made from an original image I found on the New Zealand Metserve website and some photos and images from my hard drive.

The suspicious looking character on the left is a picture of me taken ... oh 4 or 5 years back when I had long hair. The figure on the right is another photo of me taken a couple of years ago when I had short hair! The dragon is a 3d model I created using trueSpace as are the ship and castle in the distance, the flock of birds were added using a custom paintbrush as was the flash of lightning. It was all colour matched and composed in the GIMP as an exercise in combining 2d images. Hope you like it!

It's been a long time...

...since I wrote anything interesting here! Seems a shame to spoil such a good run...... ;-)

I've been partaking in a protracted and fascinating spiritual conversation with a friend of mine in the States. My friend is a Christian and I am most definitely not!


This makes our ongoing discussion a bit difficult as we are both approaching the topic from very different world views. My friend (who I will refer to as MM) is a good natured and caring person who is (I suspect) somewhat concerned about the long-term future of my soul given that I am not about to accept his world view over my own personal views.

 MM's perspectives are (I believe) based on interpretations of whatever Bible his preferred denomination uses. Thus, when confronted with a spiritual question he is able to consult his preferred version of the Bible as well as seek backup from his fellow followers.

This approach tends to generate a set of fairly specific and superficial answers that are shaped by dogma and the shared interpretation of the flock. The result is a single formulaic answer which will suit many specific situations but not all.

 On the other hand, I seek the answers to my spiritual questions anywhere I can find them. The result here is a selection of possible answers which I can pick and choose from depending on the needs of the moment.

 This means that I do not have a single central source for spiritual guidance. I  can't go to a shared common source of information and say "check out chapter so and so, verse such and such" and derive an answer from that singular source.  So I am contemplating using this blog space as a repository for my own personal thoughts and concepts that I can refer others to.

With a central location for my spiritual thoughts and understandings I will be better equipped to respond to the written dogmas of other belief systems by having a written source of my own.

How exciting...

OK Which idiot invited the Doctor to the Daleks Office party?

... it's been watching the Olympics! Not only because watching fine young athletes compete is pleasant on the eye, or because most of the medals New Zealand has won so far has been won while sitting down (equestrian, cycling, rowing...), or because we are currently scoring higher on the medals table than our arch sporting rivals the Australians but mostly because every time the Olympic TV coverage breaks for some advertising they tell us that the latest series of Doctor Who is going to be showing soon! The Wizitch personnel are all confirmed Whovians and I personally have loved Dr. Who ever since I read the first book (Doctor Who and the Daleks) when I was a kid. I can still remember how cool it was that, in the first chapter, the Doctor had matches that never went out. Now that's what I call style!
It was that simple idea - everlasting matches - that triggered my life long love for everything and anything Science Fiction (with the possible exception of that irritating kid with the equally irritating fluffy robot dog in the original series of Battlestar Galactica and of course Jar Jar Binks).


Speaking of style and excitement an unusual thing occurred the other day when Witchy and I were picking up some groceries from New Brighton village. As we crossed the car-parking lot we stopped to chat briefly with an attractive young lady who was just getting out of her 4x4. This in itself is not unusual in New Brighton which, for me anyway, rates as perhaps the chattiest and friendliest place I've ever been to. What was odd though is this young lady asked me if she could photograph me! In the 55 years I've spent so far in this incarnation this has never happened to me before.
Of course (in the interests of art) I agreed and she proceeded to take a nice picture of me with her iPhone. It was only after we had said goodbye that I began to wonder why she wanted my photograph? I suspect it was something to do with my style - I was wearing black and white basket canvas ball boots, faded black denim jeans supported by navy blue braces with white stars on them, a black roll-neck skivvy, my round Harry Potter/Gandhi glasses and my black Bowler hat - oh and I had my black walking stick with me too.
Witchy says the look I had was 'dapper' - which according to the Urban Dictionary means "A compliment made to someone who looks incredibly smart, sexy and stylish". Yeah Baby! I can live with that!

Perhaps the young lady wanted my photo to illustrate to her husband how one can be 'dapper' - after all New Zealand men are generally renowned for not dressing all that well on average. My chief fear however is that she wanted the photo in order to show her husband how NOT to dress! I guess I'll never know!

Southern Sunset

This 'oil painting' image started it's life as a photograph I took from our back yard several years ago. I've run it through a series of filters and effects firstly in The GIMP - one of my most favourite pieces of software - and secondly in Picasa. I only wish I could paint with real oils this well!!

Once among the trees

This image, also from several years ago, was made entirely with software - in this case with 3d landscaping software Vue Studio. Anyone following my art will soon discover that Vue is one of the software packages I use most often in my art. I'm particularly fond of this picture as it reminds me of a very special Easter I once spent in the fabulous New Forest near Southampton in southern England.
This was in the late '70's when I was on the first of my trips back to Britain and I was taking the holiday weekend to drive about and see some of the south coastal areas. We spent the Saturday night sleeping in the car and were awoken very early by the scuffling of many squirrels in the undergrowth. It was a postcard perfect spring morning and we seemed to have the entire forest pretty much to ourselves for about four hours as the morning mists cleared. Driving slowly around the area we were lucky enough to see not only some herds of wild deer and groups of New Forest ponies but also a fox and a very brief glimpse of a badger. And lots of squirrels.
This was a truly magical moment and even now 34 years later I can still recall the sense of timelessness and serenity and solitude of that sunlit and golden misty morning. For me it was a 'one in a lifetime' event that touched me deeply and holds a special fond spot in my memories.