Tag: inspiration

Watercolour Sketch A Day Continues…

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting

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

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Day 67 – Peppers Manor House Woodshed
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Day 72 – Bark
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Day 84 – Contemplation
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Day 86 – Paperbark & Grass
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Day 91 – Park Stairway
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Day 92 – Afternoon Church
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Day 100 – Gouldian Finch
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Day 110 – Wyangala Waters
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Day 114 – Erosion
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Day 119 – Point Pigeon Lighthouse
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Day 124 – Lighthouse
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Day 127 – River Reflections

Books On The Shelf

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Books, Poetry

Books on the shelf

Watercolour Dreams

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Watercolour dreams2

Opportunity Knocks!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Public Speaking

Last month I had the opportunity to speak at my very First conference. It was held at the Pepper Manor House in the Southern Highlands of NSW. A beautiful, grand old house in quite a picturesque location.

I was invited to speak at ICCare (formerly known as Wollondilly Support and Community Care Inc) which is based in Picton, NSW but its coverage also extends to the Camden, NSW region.ICCARE LOGO

ICCare provide quality, professional service/support to people who are frail, aged, people with a disability and their carers.

My topic for the presentation was, “Public Speaking” and I was advised that I would be speaking for an hour and then there would be time for questions.

As with many of the general population, some of the staff have had challenges with public speaking and this is how the presentation came about.

Although my presentation was by PowerPoint, I was careful not to present too many slides with bullet points only, as this can be quiet boring for an audience.

Instead, (on some slides) I used images to represent ideas that I was talking about.

During the presentation, I gave tips on overcoming nerves, preparation, speech structure, public speaking techniques and also gave a demonstration of ‘Impromptu Speaking’ or “Thinking On Your Feet’ as it is sometimes known.

I then invited a member of the audience up and another member of the audience gave them a topic to speak on for one minute.

After that, I invited 4 members of the audience up to participate in a ‘Round Robin’ which is another Impromptu Speaking exercise but much more fun.

After a 20 minute question period we adjourned to lunch and shared a few stories.

Thank you to Lisa Smith, CEO of ICCare for this opportunity.

I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience and can’t wait for the next public speaking opportunity!

Written by David Johnson
16 May 2019

For more information on the services provided by ICCare, please click on the following link: http://wsacci.org.au/

Stepping Into The Light

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Stepping into the light 1

Fun & Exploration!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Fun & Exploration!

Journals, Journals, Journals

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Books, Stories From Life

The thought for this article came from a Creative Workshop that I missed attending yesterday, which was being held by the Wollondilly Arts Group Inc, of which I am a member. I was unable to attend due to a family commitment.

The Creative Workshops always have a theme and apart from the main theme, this time members were asked to bring in the various types of Journals that they had used.

I am at a kind of a crossroads in Journal-use. I started off with a sketchbook for drawing, then I started to write poetry, then became interested in painting so I had different books for different mediums. A couple of years back, I decided to have it all contained in one, purchased, Ivory coloured-page A4 Journal.

I must say that I have been very happy using the ‘one-journal-contains-all’ for quite a while now.

With my increased interested in Watercolour/Pen & Wash, on 26 January this year, I decided to embark on a Watercolour Sketch a Day project and have been using an A5 Watercolour sketchbook and thus have partially moved away from the A4 Journal as far as Watercolour goes. I still do the odd, small Watercolour sketch in it and have been mulling over what to do?

It would have been very interesting yesterday to see what other people were doing with regards to Journal usage.

Something else I have been thinking about over time is to create my own Journal with various types of pages for various mediums.

I would be interested in anyone’s thoughts on types of Journals and how they use them, please?

Written by David Johnson
10 February 2019
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Chronicling Our Journey

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

chronicling our journey walking this earth stories from life have been unearthed experiences give rise to lessons learnt nothing is for free all lessons are earned with each new year pro