creativity – Page 8 – Communicating Creatively

Watercolor 365 – Daily Tips, Tricks & Techniques

24/01/202104/07/2021 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Books, Painting

Today, I visited my local Art and Craft shop, Eckersleys Art & Craft to spend a gift voucher I received for Christmas.

When I receive a gift voucher I always like to buy something memorable. It would be easy to spend it on more paints etc but those paints get used up and there’s nothing really left to show for spending the voucher.

Whilst surveying the shelves in the Art shop, I came across a book called, “Watercolor 365 – Daily Tips, Tricks & Techniques” by Leslie Redhead.

Buying any sort of ‘How To’ book can sometimes see us buying things we’ve already bought. They are so many books out there about Watercolour, when one buys a book, often the same material is conveyed, albeit sometimes in a different way.

Upon closer inspection I found that the ‘Tips, Tricks & Techniques’ contain:

52 Mini step-by-step instructions
52 Q & A’s
52 Troubleshooting tips
52 Bits of creative advice
52 General tips
52 Definitions
52 Exercises

I was impressed enough to buy the book. It looks very interesting and in viewing the book there are a quite a lot of things that I didn’t know (I’m not a full-time Artist). I believe I am going to enjoy using this book to help me in my Watercolour journey. Thank you, Leslie for producing this book. 🙂

Written by David Johnson

24 January 2021

Book Treasure Abounds!

25/11/202004/07/2021 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Books, Stories From Life

Last weekend on our mini-trip to Berrima for our ‘Other Anniversary’, one of the places we went to was one of our favourite bookshops, Berkelouw’s Book Barn. Berkelouw’s is a long-standing business which used to be a second-hand bookshop with approx. 250,000 books.

A few years back the business was converted to become a bookshop/restaurant/wedding reception venue. It now has only approx. 100,000 – 150,000 books.

Every year when we visit we set ourselves a budget and this year came away with more ‘book treasure.’

I was particularly delighted to pick up the following:

‘Artist’s On Art’ From the 14th to the 20th Century

It is an absolutely fascinating book which I am thoroughly enjoying ‘dipping into.’ To read what the Artists thought about Art in general and their own is indeed a delight!

‘Country Verse’ Edited by Samuel Carr

English Country Verse is set against English Country Landscape Paintings and it simply is wonderful to dive into and be whisked away to the English Countryside.

The other four books are novels and I am continuing to build up the library with classic authors of yesteryear:

‘The Black Arrow’ by Robert Louis Stevenson ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald ‘Sweet Thursday’ by Johns Steinbeck ‘The Short Novels by John Steinbeck’ – ‘Tortilla Flat; ‘The Red Pony’; ‘Of Mice and Men’; ‘The Moon Is Down’; ‘Cannery Row’ and ‘The Pearl.’

Our trips to Berkelouw’s Book Barn never disappoint and we are looking forward to our next visit!

Written by David Johnson

25 November 2020

Red Point Art Association Inc

12/07/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting, Stories From Life

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.

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!’

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:

Web: https://redpointart.org.au/

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

Written by David Johnson

12 July 2020

When Creativity Comes…

04/04/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

When creativity comes

Looking Into My Soul…

29/02/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Looking Into My Soul

My ‘Daily Art Practice’

18/01/2020 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

My ‘Daily Art Practice'

An Artists Interpretation

20/12/2019 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

An Artists interpretation

Creative Noon

04/08/2019 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting

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

Take Up That Sword!

13/07/2019 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Take Up That Sword! (1)

Sketchbook Revival 2019

08/06/201902/06/2019 by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting

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.

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/