Each Book A Symbol
Tag: ideas
Decision
Into Yourself, You’ve Poured
Listen, Learn and Be Inspired!
As I set off on my walk this morning, I cued up one of my favourite podcasts, ‘Sketching Stuff’ by Charlie O’Shields, activated RunKeeper and off I went.
I currently live in the suburbs, approx. 60 kilometres (37 miles) South-West of Sydney, Australia and about 20 mins walk away there is a river with natural bush alongside of it.
If I walk early enough, ie before the traffic starts, I can listen to Nature. If I walk later in the day, it’s a podcast followed by music (if the podcast finishes and I haven’t finished my walk).
Upon my return today, I started thinking about my podcast library and looking at the number of podcasts that I had subscribed to over time…(a lot), it seemed to me that I needed to do some culling.
In no particular order, these are the ones that are left:
Sketching Stuff
Steal The Show
Clear & Vivid with Alan Alda
The Thriving Christian Artist
Plein Air Podcast
The Art Show
Business Coaching Secrets – Karl Bryan
Liron Yanconsky – Art & Creativity
The Mentor – Mark Bouris
Bradbury 100 (Ray Bradbury – Author)
Talking With Painters
Kerwin Radio
Conversations
Poem Of The Day
Daily Breath With Deepak Chopra
Some of these go from as little as 2 minutes to just over an hour. Some I listen to on a regular basis, others, now and then.
There is such a wealth of inspiration and knowledge at our fingertips. I am so grateful that they exist.
What podcasts do you listen to?
Written by David Johnson
18 July 2020
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.
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:
Begin and Embrace
The Strokes Of A Brush
Signs Of Light
Stepping-Stones… A Journey to DTM and Beyond!
Last week it was exciting to have achieved the highest Education and Leadership level in Toastmasters International, that of DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster).
There is no set time to achieve DTM, You do it at your own pace and whilst some Toastmasters are members of multiple clubs, in my 12 1/4 years in Toastmasters, I’ve been in one club (at a time), mainly.
So, what does that mean to a non-Toastmaster, i.e. what do you need to do to achieve it?
I have listed the requirements below that were needed to complete DTM (in the Traditional program):
Competent Communicator
10 speeches (mainly 5-7 minutes in length).
Competent Leader
10 Projects (containing multiple roles ranging from meeting roles to serving on a club executive committee).
Advanced Communicator Bronze
10 Advanced module speeches (mainly 5-7 mins but up to 40 mins). There were 15 Advanced manuals to choose from; plus 2 x 15 minute Educational presentations.
Advanced Leadership Bronze
Served at least 6 months as a Club Officer; participate in preparation of a Club Success Plan; attend Officer training; conduct 2 x15 minute Educational presentations.
Advanced Communicator Silver
10 Advanced module speeches & 2 x15 minute Educational presentations.
Advanced Communicator Gold
10 Advanced module speeches & 1 x 15 minute Educational presentation or lead a Youth Leadership (6 weeks long) Program & mentored a member for their first 3 speech projects.
Advanced Leadership Silver
Serve a 12 month term as a District Leader, Serve successfully as a Club Coach, Club Sponsor or Club Mentor & complete a High Performance Leadership program.
Along the way you finish up doing more as its fun and you want to learn more and obtain more experience etc:
- I led 3 Youth Leadership courses and participated in several more.
- Participated (as a leader) in Speechcraft courses (for adults)
- Have served as a club officer 6 times including being President of two different clubs.
- Together with Rhys Tague (co-Club Coach) we have successfully built a new Toastmasters Club in the Macarthur Region and the club has achieved 10/10 in the Distinguished Club Program (achieving all Administration, Education and Membership goals) in it’s first year.
Toastmasters has been in ’transition-mode’ for the past few years and the Traditional Program stops at Midnight on 30 June 2020. The new Pathways Education Program has been in for a few years now and offers even more opportunities for learning and development in terms of communication and leadership.
I’m currently about to start Level 3 (out of 5) of the one of the 11 Paths called ‘Presentation Mastery.’
Being a committed member of Toastmasters has helped me have greater confidence (inward & outward) and I have learnt so much. There is still much more to learn though.
Why do I stay in Toastmasters?
- Continuing professional development
- A chance to pay it forward/give back to other members
- I’ve made many friends
I’ve included a link to the Pathways Education program should you wish to investigate it more. https://www.toastmasters.org/pathways-overview
If you would like to find a club near you that you can visit, there is a ‘Find A Club’ link on the same page.
Where to from here? I see the achievement of DTM as another stepping-stone to further professional development.
The journey is far from over!
Written by David Johnson
27 June 2020
Art, Politics and Self-Expression
The inspiration for this article came from a Facebook group I am in where a participant yesterday posted two images, a line drawing before and after Watercolours were applied.
The subject matter was met with angst from some of the group as it was about ‘Black Lives Matter.’ There was a torrent of negative commentary from some in the group eg; ‘Political posts are not welcome in this group, “I come to the group to get away from the world and Politics’, ‘Art has nothing to do with Politics…’ and ‘We see enough of this stuff on the news…’
*Thankfully, the Admins have stepped in and advised that Political Art (and comments about the Art) are acceptable, just not Political commentary.
I would like to thank Krishna Patel for allowing me to use the image in this article. It is very much appreciated.
I would like to address a couple of points in relation to this:
Art:
Each of us must (either intentionally or unintentionally) process these feelings every day and how we communicate this in our daily lives varies. Those of us who are creatively inclined express ourselves in some artistic or literary form.
It is called self-expression.
Krishna obviously felt drawn to this subject and had some feelings that she wanted to express and we should be grateful (whether we agree or not) that a person has taken the time to express an opinion.
Art, Politics and News:
I was quite intrigued by the comment, ‘Art has nothing to do with Politics’, in fact I laughed when I read this. Art and Politics have been intertwined for Centuries.
I do understand how we can be overloaded with (bad) news, though. Out here in Australia, after the horrific bushfires then Covid-19 and all the negative that surrounded those two events, I think we all felt like we were drowning in bad news so I can understand (to a certain extent) those who ’seek shelter’ in a group, hopeful that the world’s issues will not be raised.
A few days ago, I decided to ‘not look at the News’ for a period of 7 days. It was a refreshing experience that I encourage everyone to do from time-to-time.
Art is a way of expressing how we feel about things whether that is the painting of pretty pictures of flowers, an architectural delight or something that is happening in the news… Art has many different meanings and interpretations but I think we can all probably agree that whatever terminology we apply to the word it is about the self-expression of an individual or group and then the reaction of the audience.
The way we all see, feel and interpret the world is very different. There exists darkness, light, fun, sadness, joy, anger, peace, war and beauty but to name a few.
The subject of the Art-work is in the news because obviously there are issues that still need to be resolved.
We observe behaviour and then we internalise it and subsequently have to deal with our emotions and how it makes us feel.
In Closing:
Art (in whatever form it takes) can be a powerful tool in instigating change. We should be thankful that people care enough about the world and what is happening in it, to stand up and express their thoughts and feelings.
‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ – Margaret Mead
Written by David Johnson
14 June 2020
Communicating Creatively 