Category: Stories From Life

Walking Isn’t ‘Just Walking’…

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

During Summer in Sydney, Australia, it is always best to walk early. We are expecting another day of 38C/100F temperatures.

Today, I set off a bit later than usual, at 7.00am. It was 17C/63F when I commenced.

As mentioned in previous blogs, I really enjoy walking, not only from the fitness perspective, but also because I get a lot of ideas whilst walking e.g. today, in a 42 minute walk, I came up 8 ideas for articles for this blog, all jotted down via the Google Keep app. Sometimes I get business ideas, or ideas for images, poems and paintings. If they are not recorded by some means, they will be lost…

Sometimes on a walk, I will listen to the sounds of nature, other times a playlist or a podcast, depending on how I feel.

Today, I chose to listen to a podcast by Charlie O’Shields called ’Sketching Stuff.’ I have been following Charlie’s site, ‘Doodlewash’ for some time but only recently started listening to his podcast.

I would encourage you to listen to the podcast if you are in any way interested in getting into Art or indeed, have already started.

Today, I listened to episode #10 and it was informative, inspirational and entertaining. I will be listening to it again over the weekend. (See link below.)

To finish off the walk, I chose a Classical music playlist as it suited my mood.

Sometimes, I will snap some images with my iPhone on my rounds. I took some today but they will come to light in a different article as I seemed to be shooting a theme today. I also have a DSLR, however, if I took that with me, the walk would double or triple in time!

So you see, walking for me isn’t ‘just walking’… it’s also a way of feeding my creativity!

Written by David Johnson
12 January 2019

Creating New Habits, Not Resolutions…

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

I stopped making ‘New Years Resolutions’ many years ago.

Instead, I set goals and they cover all different areas of my life. The challenge though (as I have found before) is that in the Christmas/New Year period, when life is good, breezy and we are relaxed, we tend to create these awesome theoretical goals for the New Year.

They sound great, however, when life ‘starts happening and reality moves in’ those goals (and good intentions) tend to get consigned to history and a couple of weeks, months and beyond, we look back thinking, ‘what happened?’

So, what can we do about it?

This year, I’ve decided to do something different.

Firstly, I’ve worked out ‘why these goals/habits are important to me?’

Secondly, I’ve set up a spreadsheet with various headings for the goals/new habits that I would to introduce/reintroduce into my life.

Some examples are ‘reading from a professional development book, walking and meditation.’ Each have a heading and I’ve put in (in the case of walking) how far I’ve walked and in the case of reading & meditation, I put in the amount of time.

You might be thinking that’ it’s easy to find the time to read or meditate…’but when you are running a business, am involved in BNI (breakfast business group) and have a heavy involvement in Toastmasters as member with additional roles, family commitments and all the hobbies/interests I have, then it’s easy for it to get forgotten or become erratic.

I’m not trying to start 10 new habits at once though, I’m bringing them in gradually.

I’m 9 days in and the spreadsheet system is working well. I can access it via Google Sheets on my phone as well so I can check up at any time to see how I am progressing.

The thought is, that once I’ve created the new habits and they become part of my life, I won’t need the spreadsheet.

In a couple of months time I’ll report on how this going. Till then, have an awesome New Year!

Written by David Johnson
9 January 2019

Canowindra & The Arts!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

One of the Towns that we visited whilst we were away recently was Canowindra, which is pronounced ‘ka-NOWN-dra’ and is a Wiradjuri Aboriginal word for ‘Home or Camping Place.’ It is located 307km West of Sydney, Australia.*

It is often referred to as the ‘Balloon Capital of Australia’ due to a Hot Air Balloon Festival that is in held in April every year.*
 
We stopped in there on the way home from Wyangala Waters and found it to be a delightful town with a small but enchanting main street dotted with many historic buildings and friendly town-folk.
 
When we are away touring it is a delight to come across the local Art and Craft Gallery or indeed a second-hand bookshop. It’s also good to have a friendly chat with the locals.
 
We were indeed delighted to come across a display of the Canowindra Arts Society who are currently displaying their creativity in a B & B (Bed & Breakfast) which happens to be in an old two-story Bank building.
 
They have a wide range of creative ventures on display such as: Oil, Watercolour, Acrylic paintings, Drawing/Sketching, Pottery, Sculpture, Textile and Wood-related Art/Craft.

The Canowindra Arts Society are currently looking for a permanent home (a challenge that a few Art Societies have) to display their Art and Craft and they hope to grow their Society along the way.

If you are visiting Canowindra, make sure you drop in and experience their creativity and have a chat with some friendly locals.

Click on the link below to find out about more of the things that you can see and do in this lovely little Town.

 
 
 
Written by David Johnson
24 November 2018
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En Plein Air – A First For Me!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting, Stories From Life

My learning to paint journey has been somewhat intermittent. It started shortly after I did a basic drawing course in 2010. Given that my pursuit of Art is not a full-time career, I have been attempting over time to ‘fit-it-in’ amongst everything else I do.

Having had a dabble initially in Watercolour, I then moved to Acrylic at the encouragement of a well-meaning relative (my Mother-In-Law, who has been painting in Oils for 40 years, and coincidentally, we share the same sense of humour)!  From there, I moved onto Oil on a whim one day and found that I loved it! Earlier this year (after playing around with Aquawash Pens and Watercolour Pencils), I found myself being drawn back to Watercolour, in the form of sketches. Along the way, I started a Mixed-Media Art/Poetry Journal as well.

On average, I get to paint for 2-3 hours a week, usually on the weekend, though I do sometimes find some more time to do it. That time includes both Oils and Watercolour.

My Mother-In-Law, Judy, has been endeavouring to encourage me for some time to ‘get out of the house’ and do en Plein Air painting. I have been hesitant to do this over time as still class myself as a beginner and had been painting off reference photos or from my imagination.

As mentioned in other articles, recently, we went away and spent a few days at Wyangala Waters State Recreation Area. Wyangala Waters (when full) holds 2 & 1/2 times the volume of Sydney Harbour. It is a magnificent place to stay.

Whilst there, I ventured out with my Sennelier Watercolour 1/2 Pans and (finally) did some en Plein Air painting.

It was a magical experience. I was in spot where there was no human activity and apart from the sound of birds, there was no sound at all on a beautiful Blue sky day. I found it to be a spiritual experience and enjoyed being out there for some 2 1/2 hours.

I managed to experience en Plein Air painting on two other occasions during the trip. The sketches/paintings are not finished yet. When they are, I will put them on this blog.

I can see myself do a lot more en Plein Air painting. Why did I wait so long!?

If you haven’t tried it yet, I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so.

Written by David Johnson
4 November 2018

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Ingleburn Photography Club

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Photography, Stories From Life

Last month, I had the pleasure of judging the images at Ingleburn Photography Club.

Ingleburn Photography Club is located SW of Sydney, nestled between Liverpool and Campbelltown and was formed on March 12, 2015.

Meetings are held at:

Ingleburn R.S.L. Club, 70 Chester Road, Ingleburn
3rd Thursday of each month (excepting December) at 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start.

They have approx. 30 members and unlike some photographic clubs/societies, they have opted for digital images only.

I had been to the club once before to judge and upon being invited again, I eagerly awaited receiving the images from the President, John Alessi. I was pleased to receive the 61 entries for an Open Competition.

The first two images below are two of the images that received Merits on the night. The third image was judged by me as the Image of the Night. Congratulations to all those who received an award.

As with my last visit, I was impressed by the members’ professional approach to their images; the varied subject matter and the skill with which they communicate with their Art. They are also eager to share their skills with newer members and go on some very interesting field trips as well.

A great club doesn’t only exist because of the images they produce. Having been a member of two clubs/photo societies for a total of 30 years, it is the camaraderie of the members of the organisation that can make or break a club.

If you are looking for a club that is prepared to help those who are new to photography; whose members are willing to push their own creative boundaries and who are a great bunch of people to be around, pop in for a visit.

Visitors are always welcome! Contact the Club via the Facebook link below.

Written by David Johnson
3 November 2018

https://www.facebook.com/groups/256950174960524/

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A Little Town Called Boorowa

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

Last month, my wife, Susan and I decided to take a short, 5-day break from our small business and head up to Millthorpe and Wyangala Waters State Park in country NSW, Australia.

They are both inside 4 1/2 hours drive from where we live. On the way, we stopped for a picnic lunch in a little town called Boorowa.

‘Boorowa’ (originally called ‘Burrowa) is an Aboriginal word meaning ’Turkey’ and it purportedly comes from the Wiradjuri tribe. It has a population of 1,694 (@ Census 2016) is a tidy, friendly little town with a lovely picnic spot beside a small river.

As I like to do, I had a chat with a couple of the locals and took a wander around the streets. One store we went into was a second-hand bookstore that was connected to an Op-Shop (charity store). The lady there told me that in the space of 12 months that (from sales), they were able to donate $26,000.00 to 10 charities in the area. Pretty impressive from such a small town.

It was a very hot day so in terms of ‘optimum photographic light’ the light was quite harsh so I took a few images on my phone and only a couple on my DSLR. There were a couple of buildings that I wanted to sketch/paint later so I took a few reference photos of them.

We enjoyed our brief stay in Boorowa. A picnic by the river and some time spent in a small country town is the perfect way to recharge when on a driving holiday.

For further information on Boorowa, visit the link below.

Written by David Johnson

Photo Inspiration – Southern Highlands Photographic Society!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Photography, Stories From Life

Back in 2004, I was one of 9 founding members for what became known as the Southern Highlands Photographic Society Inc. SHPS (as it has become affectionately known as) continues to be a thriving Photographic Society at East Bowral in the Southern Highlands region in NSW, Australia. Currently, they have approx. 50 members.

I moved further away in 2013 and in 2016 sadly relinquished my membership due to an inability to get to any meetings due to business and other reasons.

Last weekend, we ventured down to Bowral to see (not only the Tulip Time Festival) but SHPS’ Annual Tulip Time Photographic Exhibition which is held in the Old Bowral Town Hall, Bowral. It was finishing that day.

Put simply, the Exhibition, in terms of quality gets better and better each year. There was a stunning array of subject-matter and treatments in the 3 sections, Monochrome, Colour Print and Projected Digital. There were 120 images on display.

One of the great things about the Exhibition was that 83 of the images were mounted prints in frames. In these days of imagery, where most of what we see is on the Internet, it was so refreshing to see images hanging on a wall.

I can see SHPS being around for many, many years to come. There is such a wealth of photographic and artistic experience there and it is certainly a place where one can be inspired and educated to improve their Art and Craft.

If you are looking for a progressive Photographic Society to visit and/or join, may I wholeheartedly recommend visiting SHPS.

Please visit the website below for more information on SHPS, including their newsletter, ‘On Photography’, Galleries and Programme details.

Southern Highlands Photographic Society – Dedicated To The Art Of Photography

Venue: East Bowral Community Centre, East Bowral
Days: 3rd & 5th Tuesday each month
Time: 7.30pm
Website: www.shps.org.au

Written by David Johnson
6 October 2018

Tiptoeing Through The Tulips!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

Yesterday, my wife Susan and I ventured down to the Annual Bowral Tulip Time Festival which has been running since 1960.

The centrepiece of the Festival is Corbett Gardens, where they plant up to 100,000 Tulips and 15,000 Annuals each year. Across the Shire, they plant another 40,000 Tulips.

Apart from the Floral attractions, there are Brass Bands, Choirs and an array of garden-related sculptures and other forms of Art as well as market/food stalls.

If there is one sticking point, judging by the reviews on various sites, it is the $12.00 entry fee as it is a relatively small area.

When compared to the Floriade Festival in the Nation’s Capital, Canberra which is many, many times larger in area, the $12.00 fee becomes questionable as entry into the Floriade Festival is free. Some activities inside Floriade do cost, but that is up to the individual.

The Bowral Tulip Time Festival has more of a ‘village-feel’ to it. I think $5.00 would be plenty if they had to charge at all. It seems to have become a real money-making exercise.

I have been to the Festival many times before and thinking back, I remember a time back in the 1980s when there was no entry fee and I arrived there just after Sunrise. The gardeners allowed me in (prior to the opening) so I could take some photographs and I spent 1 1/2 hours doing just that. Bliss! It wouldn’t happen these days, though.

Still, it was great to go and visit after several years absence. I made the choice to leave my DSLR at home and just shoot with a camera phone. I was glad I did this as there were just so many people there. The colours (as always) were so vibrant and the background sound of the Brass Band and then the Choir created such a wonderful atmosphere on a  glistening Spring day!

Written by David Johnson
1 October 2018

Cacti and Succulents – A Love That Blossomed!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

It suddenly occurred to me this weekend whilst visiting the Succulent Garden at the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens again, that I had never written any articles on this Blog in relation to my interests in Succulents.

My interest in Succulents blossomed out of a gift from my Aunt Beryl when I was 14, back in 1977. It was a Euphorbia, which sadly passed on some time ago, not being as hardy as Aunt Beryl who is still going at 92 years of age.

From then on, Succulents were around in one form or another at home. I started to group them together in large, flat pots when I was in my late teens and imagined one day of having a sprawling Cacti and Succulent Garden.

It would be a good time to point out that Cacti are Succulents, but not all Succulents are Cacti – but that is another article for another time. I particular favour Cacti but love all Succulents.

When I married in 1997, we bought a property that was 5,609 square metres (1 1/4 acres) about 100km (62 miles)  South West of Sydney, Australia.

I ended up with a 35 square metre (42 square yard) Cacti & Succulent Garden with up to 120 plants in it. It was a labour of love to construct and I tinkered with it over the 16 years we lived there.

Currently, I have approx. 80-100 plants which are currently in pots, where we currently reside. When we buy our next place, I feel sure that David’s Cacti and Succulent Garden 2.0 will become a reality and I am surely looking forward to that!

Written by David Johnson
16 September 2018

En Plein Air Attraction

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting, Stories From Life

Earlier in the year I purchased my first set of Watercolour Half-Pans and have been enjoying them immensely.

The Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour set has 40 different colours with 5 spares and whilst there is a tremendous range of colours I have been reading where, as a beginner, working with a limited palette can teach me more about the mixing of colours.

At the recent Sydney Pen Show, I came across Sennelier Aquarelle la petite Watercolours, pictured below.

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Unfortunately, they had run out of them at the Show so a set had to be posted to me. They just turned up today, very nicely packaged with a bonus Honey-based Soap for cleaning brushes and a Thank You note. The Supplier was Calligraphy Supplies Australia.

All my Watercolour paintings have been thus far, indoors and lately, I am really looking forward to giving En Plein Air a try and having a smaller pallet would be beneficial I think.

The Journey of Discovery continues!
Written by
David Johnson
10 September 2018