Story To Be Written
Tag: reading
An Addition To My Art Library!
It certainly has been a busy last 6 months!
Last month for my Birthday, I received some gift vouchers and one of those has been spent on the book below, which I have had in my Wish List on Amazon for some time.
I haven’t had much time to look at it since it arrived earlier in the week so I am looking forward to finding some time this weekend. 🙂
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
4 April 2025
Silent Talk
Urban Sketching Inspiration
Earlier in the year I turned 60 and received two copies of the ‘Atomic Habits’ book. This past week I finally decided which book I was going to replace one copy with.
I have been doing research on and off for a fair while reviewing books on the subject of Urban Sketching and finally decided to purchase the book below, ‘Urban Sketching: the complete guide to techniques’ by Thomas Thorspecken.
The book only arrived yesterday morning and I have already been inspired by it to start sketching people. I haven’t really done a lot in terms of sketching people, and always seemed to ‘shy away’ from doing it as I had this belief that it was either too hard, or some had some other limiting belief around it.
Apart from that, I have only had a chance to have a quick flip through (as it has been quite a busy Long Weekend). Looking forward to sitting down with a cuppa tonight to explore the book more.
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
12 June 2023
Berkeleouw’s Book Barn Treasure
As part of celebrating the anniversary of the very first time we went out to dinner (19 November 1994), we always pay a visit for a couple of hours to Berkeleouw’s Book Barn at Berrima.
Susan and I are bookworms and there is nothing better for bookworms than visiting a bookshop. Although the Book Barn has some new books, it predominantly has used books, which is part of what keeps us coming back.
This visit saw me purchase the following books:
I always seem to come away with at least one Poetry book, and in the last few years the Poetry books have outnumbered the Art-related books, but not this year.
The two Chinese Art-related books jumped out at me as next weekend, I am attending a workshop that is being run by Jo Wong Artist, who is also the new President of the Macarthur Art Group that will be joining shortly.
‘Poetry Now’ is actually a book of Poems where the authors were born within the first 30-40 years of the 20th Century and /Great Artists Explained’ was simply too good a book to leave on the shelf!
I look forward in the coming weeks to grab a cuppa and sit down and investigate all these books more.
Written by David Johnson
27 November 2022
A Day To Relax…
Today, Susan and I went down to Berrima, which is about 1 hour’s drive South of where we live, to celebrate 28 years since we went out to dinner for the first time way back on 19 November 1994. We were a week late in celebrating as we were moving house last week.
After all that has been happening in the last 4-5 months, it was delightful to get away for the day and relax.
As is normal, the first stop is Berkeleouw’s Book Barn which houses approximately 100,000 books. It used to be, however, the help the business survive, they kept a reduced amount of books and added Wedding Receptions, a cafe/restaurant, accommodation, and wine tasting to the business.
We spent just under two hours there and (in a separate post) I’ll talk about the books I purchased.
After Berkeleouws, we had a delicious lunch at Josh’s Cafe and Restaurant which is located in the actual town of Berrima. We have been eating there for many years and are always delighted with the food, service, and atmosphere.
From there, we ventured into a few shops (as we normally do), including ‘Mrs. OldBucks’ (jams, sauces, honey, teas, etc), ‘Six Impossible Things’ (various boutique items including writing materials, dip pens, ink, journals, books, and other tourist-inspired goodies). Our last stop was ‘Sticky Beaks Vintage Emporium which consists of a number of smaller antique sellers within a larger shop.
All-in-all a very relaxing day that helped us celebrate one of the most special days in our lives!
Looking forward to next year’s celebration!
Written by David Johnson
26 November 2022
Books, Books, Books – Argyle Emporium
Last Sunday-week, Susan and I made a planned stop on the way to visiting her parents, who live 25 kilometres/15.5 miles outside of Goulburn. Goulburn is about one and three-quarter hours drive from our home.
The planned stop was at the Argyle Emporium, which is located opposite the railway line in Goulburn in an old Police Station. The Argyle Emporium has been a second-hand bookshop for 21 years and houses approximately 500,000 books. ‘Book Heaven’ for book-lovers!
This time we only spent just over an hour there and the good news for other book-lovers is that upon leaving there, I left 499, 496 books at the bookshop…. 🙂
The following ones I the books I purchased:
I love books on the Visual Arts that delve into how Artist expresses what they are feeling by using tools and techniques. This one features the thoughts of 20 famous artists. I love this book!
The second book I purchased is a collection that I have been wanting in my Poetry collection for some time but just hadn’t found the right one. Over 1,000 pages of Wordsworth delight!
The third book purchased that day was also Poetry. I enjoy buying collections of poetry. It is true that sometimes the collections overlap with other collections of poetry however, this hasn’t happened too much so far… This collection breaks up the poetry into subjects and includes over 90 Poets. The book was printed in 1957.
The last book purchased that day is from another ‘like’ of mine, and that is ‘tools and techniques that inspire creative writing’. I find them a fascinating read and, by the looks of this book, I won’t be disappointed.
4 more books from from the treasure-trove second-hand bookshop known as the Argyle Emporium, Goulburn, NSW. Australia. Some of the rooms are pictured below.
I can hardly wait until our next visit! 🙂
Written by David Johnson
17 August 2022
“A New Heaven – The Norfolk Poems” – Mark Tarren
Regular readers of my blog will be aware of my love of writing Poetry and collecting books on Poetry that inspire and delight me.
On our recent trip to Norfolk Island, I was pleased to not only pick up a copy of Mark Tarren’s latest book but also actually get to meet the Author himself.
I first heard about the book from Mary Beth Tarren (Mark’s Wife) in a chance meeting outside Mary’s “Aunt Mary’s Kitchen” cafe/restaurant. Everyone is so friendly on Norfolk Island so it is easy for conversations to get started.
During the conversation, Mary mentioned that her husband had written a Poetry book relating to Norfolk Island. It wasn’t long before I came across the book as it is in several outlets on the Island.
I was quite impressed with the writing. One can sense the deep emotional impact that living on Norfolk Island has had on Mark and I am very pleased to add it to my collection.
For me (as a 3rd time visitor to Norfolk) it was also another way of ‘taking a bit more of Norfolk Island back home with me…’. Over the three trips we have brought back all sorts of souvenirs from this piece of Paradise, including “Morla el Do” a collection of Poems by another Norfolk Island resident, Archie Biggs.
There are all sorts of souvenirs one can bring home from a holiday to remind us of the wonderful times we have had however, to bring home words written in such fine style by a Poet with images that complement those words, is to bring home something special from the Heart of a resident.
To find out more about the book and Mark Tarren, please click on the following link:
https://www.marktarren.com/a-new-heaven
Happy Reading!
Written by David Johnson
3 April 2022
See a previous article on my blog for the list of Poetry books I have: https://communicatingcreatively.com/2021/11/29/a-growing-collection/
A Favourite Spot!
A favourite spot I (we) like to go to relax is only about 8 minutes drive from where we live. The Nepean River wanders through the Camden District (N.S.W. Australia) and it is at its widest going through Camden.
There exists a lot there to please people and caters for a diverse amount of interests. You can:
- Have a leisurely walk on man-made paths or go off-track
- Kayak/Canoe up and down the river
- Go for a quick dip (no sand on the bank, though)
- Ride your bike along a designated Bike track
- Sit by the river with a book
- Sketch, Paint, Photograph
- Play ball games with your friends and family
- Exercise in a number of ways
- Take your children to the permanent Play equipment or kick a ball
- Just relax
We use it to go and relax, go for a walk and other things. I’ve been down there to sit and read, walk, sketch, paint or just sit and relax. When Susan comes with me she will either take a book or Crotchet.
Our most recent visit was just to sit and relax on one of the benches by the river. We were joined by i/2 dozen Lizards, a few Ducks and cooling breeze on a hot day for an hour or so. We are certainly blessed to have such a place so near to us.
Till next time!
Written by David johnson
16 February 2022
Time Alone With Books
Communicating Creatively 