A Trip To The City

In the last days before New Year, my Wife and I went into the City as we had booked a Show at the Sydney Opera House that night. We thought we would make a day of it, and so booked the 6 Head waterfront restaurant at The Rocks.

We drove in and parked at The Sydney Opera House ($40.00 all-day parking), which is a pretty good rate and then set off to The Rocks to have breakfast and then wander around the shops and galleries before arriving at the restaurant.

After the restaurant, and after stopping for a quick photo opportunity outside, when caught the train and headed South, back down the City to spend some gift vouchers we received as Christmas presents.

I went to Eckersleys Art & Craft store and Susan went across the rock to the Yarn shop.

At Eckersley’s I purchased an Arches Travel Sketchbook & a set of Kuretake Gansai Tambi Art Nouveau Watercolours.

From there it was off to Dymocks bookstore where I purchased a book, and it’s companion volume. These days, when looking for Art-related books, I really want something different. I don’t want to buy books that replicate in some way, information that I already have. So far, I am very impressed with my purchase.

From there, we went over to The Sydney Opera House to view the Show, ‘Now You See Me’ – The Four Horseman which have been inspired by the movies about four Illusionists/Magicians.

The Show was very entertaining and under the direction of the performers the ausdience en masse got perform their own magic trick.

It was a wonderful day out and as you can see from the photos, we were well blessed with the weather.

Till next time!

Written & Photographed by David Johnson

3 January 2026

A Delightful Christmas Present!

As always, I am very grateful to receive gifts at any time, including Christmas, as we all should be.

This Christmas, I received a 36-set of Gansai Tambi Japanese Watercolours. I saw a fellow Macarthur Art Group member with these some months ago. Then, I did a bit of research on them.

I was asked a month before Christmas for some Christmas present hints. This set was one of four suggestions I gave out so the element of surprise was still there.

Here is my first attempt using them.

I love the colours’ richness. The paint’s texture is also impressive. According to the instructions, it can be used as a Gouache or as Watercolour.

I am looking forward to experimenting with these paints and getting to know them. Lots of fun on the horizon to be sure.

Till next time!

Written & sketched/painted by David Johnson

29 December 2024

Story To Be Told