Red Point Art Association Inc

Yesterday, I joined Red Point Artists Association Inc at Port Kembla, which is situated 93 kilometres (57 miles), 1 1/2 hours drive from Sydney, near Wollongong and about 45 minutes SE of where I live.

I had visited some years ago at the invitation of a friend, Dulcie Dal Molin who is a former President of the Association and an Honorary Life Member. I have known Dulcie for may years through our involvement in Photographic Societies.

IMG_9487

I had been wanting to become a member of RPAA for quite a few years but had too many commitments on my plate. Those commitments have now ended and my love for Sketching and Painting has increased remarkably over the last few years. The time was indeed right!

You might ask, ‘aren’t there Art Societies closer to where you live?’ ‘Why travel that distance to join this Art Community?’

Valid questions. I have always found my visits to ‘Art On The Grass’ which are held every second Saturday of the month, for 11 months of the year, special. There is something that keeps drawing me back to this Art Community that I cannot quite put into words. Perhaps the French phrase, ‘Je ne sais quoi’ would sum it up.

The RPAA are to be congratulated as not only have they found a ’space’ in the Main Street of Port Kembla, they have found a truly inspiring space. A grassy rectangle surrounded by a ‘horseshoe’ of studios, a gallery where the members can hold exhibitions and a cafe with outside seating that all contribute to the ‘Artsy Vibe!’

IMG_9496

On the grass and via the studios, members can also sell their Arts and Crafts and the general public can come in and seek out that special gift for themselves or others whilst beautiful music plays in the background.

Workshops and Art classes are also held regularly.

It really presents well as a delightful Community Art Space in a relaxed environment where a variety of Arts and Crafts are practiced.<

For more information please visit the following links:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/RedPointArtistsAssociationInc

Written by David Johnson
12 July 2020

IMG_9495IMG_9490IMG_9491IMG_9492IMG_9493IMG_9494IMG_9488

When Creativity Comes…

When creativity comes

Looking Into My Soul…

Looking Into My Soul

My ‘Daily Art Practice’

My ‘Daily Art Practice'

An Artists Interpretation

An Artists interpretation

Creative Noon

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of experiencing my first ‘Creative Noon’ event.

Creative Noon is a gathering of ‘creatives’ at a Cafe/Restaurant in Campbelltown, which is situated approx. 60km South West of Sydney, Australia and is approx. 10 minutes drive from where I live.

It was started by two ladies, Sandie O’Neill (Licence to Create) & Janeen Harris in conjunction with Sonya Moluang who owns and operates ‘Bar Centrale’, the cafe/restaurant.

The idea was simple. They wanted to create a non-competitive environment in which creatives of all types could gather for 2 1/2 hours on a Saturday afternoon to create, chat and enjoy a refreshment or two.

We each did a quick introduction, saying our name and what types of creativity we are involved in. There were about 10 people there this time and it seems multiple people are into multiple types of Artistic endeavours including: Photography; Writing Poetry; Oil Painting; Watercolour Painting, Sculpting; Soft Pastel, YarnBombing (never heard of that one before), Crocheting, Drawing, Sketching, Mixed Media, Stained Glass, Mosaics to name but a few.

I had a wonderful time meeting and chatting. Yesterday, I took my Watercolours and the resulting creation can be viewed at the base of this article. Other art forms represented yesterday were Soft Pastel, Drawing, YarnBombing, Crocheting.

Insights and inspiration can come from anywhere. Mixing with other creatives can open the door to other views, other opinions of your artistic creations. It can help you see things different ways and can help you grow in your artistic journey.

Am very much looking forward to the next ‘Creative Noon!’

Written by David Johnson
4 August 2019
IMG_1085IMG_1086IMG_108794CE31FD-7045-4330-B447-5177D06C289A

Take Up That Sword!

Take Up That Sword! (1)

Sketchbook Revival 2019

A couple of months ago, when visiting doodlewash.com (one of the blogs I follow on WordPress), I came upon an event called, “Sketchbook Revival 2019.” Sketchbook Revival (as I found out) was in its second year and was started by Karen Abend and her team.

SR

It began in late April and the organisers invited 25 Artists to give an instruction via a 25 – 50 minute video which was recorded live then emailed (or accessed via the schedule page) to eager participants like myself.

A wide range of mediums were covered including pencil, pen, Watercolour, Acrylic, Mixed-Media, Charcoal, Digital and a host of others.

Each participant received 2 videos daily over 13 days and then we all had another 14 days to access the videos for free. Some of the topics included: “Portrait Party”, “Sidewalk Cracks”, “Whimsical Buildings”, “Sketching Like A Kid Again”, Sketching Our Intuition”, “Object Observation” and much, much more.

As the video played, you could ‘tag along’ and paint, sketch, draw etc with the Artist. It was a great chance, not only to use mediums that you are used to using but also try out some other mediums whilst being guided.

After each video we were invited to share our creations in the closed Facebook Group so that everyone could see and comment on them if they wished. The Artists gave feedback as well.

I’ve included some of my creations below.

Each Artist also gave participants a free gift to encourage them on their creative journey and there were also links to the Artists’ websites where there more free resources plus paid courses to investigate.

Overall, I found it to be a most rewarding experience. It has certainly changed the way I think about producing creative works, particularly in my sketchbook.

I am so looking forward to Sketchbook Revival 2020!

Written by David Johnson

3 June 2019

Here is the link to the Facebook Group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SketchbookRevival/

 

Watercolour Sketch A Day Continues…

Back on Australia Day, 26 January 2019, I decided to do a Watercolour Sketch a Day, mainly because I was inconsistent in getting to actually paint. I wanted to learn Watercolour and would do a small one, then life would intervene and before I knew it, another couple of weeks had passed and so on…

As of today (Day 127) I have done 127 Watercolour Sketches in a row. It continues to be fun and has become a kind of therapy and it helps me escape into my own little world and away from digital technology, as digital seems to have pervaded into most areas of our lives. I find it quite meditative and am thoroughly enjoying this journey of fun and learning!

Currently, I have about 3 sketchbooks going. One is a Paper Mill A4 heavier Ivory paper (that sadly the manufacturer has advised is now unavailable), a Moleskine Watercolour A5 Journal (200gsm) and an A4 (120gsm) hardcover Journal.

With the Paper Mill Journal being unavailable, I think that I will have a go at building my own. More on that in another post.

I use Cotman Watercolour Half-Pans, Aqua Wash (mainly) and some conventional brushes and Staedtler Pigment Liners and Derwent pencils.

For now, here is a selection of my Watercolour Sketches since Day 67.

Written by David Johnson
1 June 2019

202EBE70-3149-44A0-A4EC-83CB590CCF4F
Day 67 – Peppers Manor House Woodshed
9F687A60-9155-45EB-A9AA-D7D8E4427360
Day 72 – Bark
83FC4ED8-8442-400C-82EB-5D8A5378A7A9
Day 84 – Contemplation
E28A7649-3B29-4948-BE7D-C14226D58649
Day 86 – Paperbark & Grass
9EE3EBD5-7D45-444C-A935-DA0F4B853E3E
Day 91 – Park Stairway
2C4E3ECF-6ABA-4976-8E39-194BB293E03B
Day 92 – Afternoon Church
848C3619-EA77-4047-B4B0-8395D54BB002
Day 100 – Gouldian Finch
58153B85-A1A7-4E1D-BA05-98E58CA2C025
Day 110 – Wyangala Waters
A7D027C6-F3EE-4B16-93F9-5891363137ED
Day 114 – Erosion
DA08358B-CC96-40D7-9AFD-1DFEAA0BFDBE
Day 119 – Point Pigeon Lighthouse
79E15418-46A4-4087-9A28-4F057ECAA26C
Day 124 – Lighthouse
6EA8ED26-7583-41BB-9310-57CFFE2B1EBD
Day 127 – River Reflections

Watercolour Dreams

Watercolour dreams2