I Climbed Upon A Mountaintop
Tag: relaxation
Music To My Ears!
The idea for this post came from a post I did on my Facebook Newsfeed some time ago…. I cannot play a note of music but I so love listening to it.
I thought I would expand on my choices on this blog. The following are in no particular order.
THE BEATLES: I was born in 1963 so I was only 7 years old when The Beatles broke up. I have a Sister, Cheryl who is 10 years older than I and Cheryl was 11 years of age when they toured Australia. As you can imagine, Beatles records were played all the time and my young ears heard them ‘all the time’ and I loved their sound and still do to today. The melodies, the voices, the Chuck Berry inspired music still strikes a chord with me.
LEE KERNAGHAN: Lee is one of Australia’s best known Country Music artists and I first started to listen in 1992 when he released “The Outback Club.” Some 17 albums later Im still enjoying his music immensely. I’ve seen him in concert once. I love putting his music when out driving, particularly as we are ‘heading on down the road…
LAMBCHOP: This is a band that I stumbled upon by accident. I was attending a ‘Photo Discussion Group’ session at a friend’s house and there was this music that I had never heard before playing in the background. My friend described them to me as, ‘Lounge Jazz.’ The next day (in the early 2,000’s) I went out and bought the album. I now have 6 albums and they are are favourite that I play when sketching and painting.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & (THE E-STREET BAND): My Brother, Larry was an early fan back in the early to mid 1970’s, having purchased his first three albums. At the age of 12 I heard the Born To Run album and I was hooked. We were thrilled to see him in concert in 1985 (4 1/4 hour concert including 6 encores). I saw him again in 2013 and 2014. I have 20 of his albums and never tire of listening to his music.
AMY GRANT: Back in the early 1980’s I started working in the Sydney CBD and it was a fascinating place to explore and discover things. One lunchtime I remember coming across a Christian bookshop which sold music. LP’s and Cassette Tapes still ruled back then and as I flipped through the Tapes I came across, ‘Amy Grant.’ I hadn’t heard of her before and a discussion ensued with the salesperson who very kindly played part of the Tape for me on a Cassette Deck (boy, am I showing my age)! Out of the Deck came one of the sweetest voices I had heard in a long time. The album was, ‘Amy Grant – The Collection.’ Years later I purchased it on CD. I have purchased more of Amy Grant’s albums since and still find her voice quiet calming.
ELVIS PRESLEY: My Brother, Larry was a big influence here. Four years older than me, he was ‘right into Elvis’ and so (similar to The Beatles), in my younger years, Elvis records were played a lot. I particularly love the period between 1954 and 1961, and 1968 to 1977. The ‘Sun Sessions’ are Golden , as is the period up until 1960. Another artist I never tire of hearing.
BONNIE RAITT: I came across Bonnie Raitt in the late 1980’s and was introduced via the ‘Nick Of Time’ album. I read later that Bruce Springsteen had ‘opened’ for her back in 1971. Her style of R & B really appeals to me and if you get a chance, check out her duet with John Lee Hooker on ‘I’m In The Mood’ on YouTube. Brilliant!
TOMMY EMMANUEL: The Australian Guitar maestro! I first heard his music in 1990 via his debut album, ‘Dare To Be Different.’ Tommy Emmanuel does not sing and doesn’t really need to as the magic he does on his guitar stands on its own. A favourite of mine when I sketch or paint, or am writing Poetry, his music can be calming and also inspirational.
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN: Introduced to his music in the mid 1980’s I have been a fan ever since. His music captures me and his energy and fluent guitar playing, especially in the instrumentals are Gold. Sadly, gone from this Earth too early.
STATUS QUO: Again, my Brother had a bit of influence here as he was already a fan with one of their albums, ‘Piledriver.’ I purchased ‘On The Level’ and I was sold. Their heads-up-all-in-boogie sound has always made me feel great and if I’m feeling a bit down, it raises my mood.
What Bands/Singers can you not do without in your life, and why?
Written by David Johnson
2 December 2021
Journey To 1000!
Last Wednesday, I completed my 1,000th Watercolour Sketch a Day in a row. All of them are posted on one of my Instagram Pages – Communicating Creatively.
When I first started this Watercolour Sketch a Day journey way back in January 2019, it was for the following reasons:
- I wanted to foster a daily Art practice
- I wanted to improve my sketching, drawing and painting
It has been a journey of fun, challenges, (lots of mistakes), experimentation, learning and practice, practice, practice!
I remember completing 7 days straight and I was really pleased…could I make it to two weeks? Throughout the journey, I have just kept my eyes on the current day and aimed to do a sketch a day. Many people have asked me what is the end goal? Is it 1,000, 5,000, 10,000? The answer remains the same, ‘I’m just trying to do ‘a sketch a day and improve my skills’.
About 8 months of the 1,000 days we were in lockdown so I couldn’t get out to sketch en Plein Air so I completed tutorials, mainly by Peter Sheeler and Nil Rocha Art, and used reference photos (some of which were my own) and sketched from my imagination. On business days it normally has to be from the imagination or a reference photo.
It would be great to say that I improved with each sketch but that did not always happen as I felt, at times, that I plateaued for longer periods than I imagined would happen. Somedays it would seem that I was going backwards, too…
It was also a challenge doing the sketches some days due to tiredness from the business of the working day (I co-run a Finance Broking business and have a part-time role as an Entrepreneurship Facilitator, am involved with Toastmasters International and Red Point Art Association) plus more. There have also been health challenges in our family, and extended family to deal with, including losing three of them.
The practice of doing one a day was also quite meditative. More often than not, I would be playing music softly in the background. With all that has been going on in the world at large and our own world it has been quite a calming experience. I highly recommend it!
Mostly, I did the sketches in the morning as I was fresher. To get this done before the working day started, I rose earlier. Sometimes, I would get the line sketch done and do the painting after the working day was done. During the week, the sketches are A5 size and on the weekends sometimes larger.
One of the challenges I have in front of me is to be able apply the techniques that I have learnt during the tutorials to my own original works so the journey continues.
Today is Day 1,004 so I will leave it there as I hear my Watercolour Sketchbook calling me!
Written by David Johnson
31 October 2021
renewed focus
Peace and Tranquility
Emotions Harnessed
Taking Flight
Food For Thought!
Today marks ‘Day 928 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day’ and I am happy to report that I haven’t missed a day of my ‘Daily Art Practice’ since I started this journey.
I’ve learnt a lot (with much still to learn) and feel that overall I have progressed, though I have had many ‘plateaus’ on the way.
On occasions, people ask me, ‘so, what’s the goal?’ ‘Are you trying to reach 1,000, 2,000 or more?’ My answer remains the same… ‘my goal is to do a sketch a day and to endeavour to improve my skills.’
This weekend, after posting a sketch, one of my photographer friends commented that he felt I had improved a lot with my A5 daily sketches and suggested that it might be time to cut back on the daily sketches and concentrate over doing one A4 painting a week.
This thought has some merit to it, I must admit. I’m still mulling over that one and feel that I have three options:
- Keep going as I am
- Do one A4 per week as suggested and drop the daily sketches
- Do one A4 on the weekend and do daily sketches during the week
Am feeling that I would like to continue my daily art practice and I suppose that it doesn’t have to take the form of a Watercolour sketch every day (and posted to Instagram). I can see the merits also of pulling back and concentrating on larger paintings though, too.
Till I decide I will keep doing the sketch a day…
Plenty of food for thought, though!
Written by David Johnson
15 August 2021
Are You Aware?
I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog my love for walking and the reasons I enjoy it, namely:
- Exercise leading to increased health
- Idea generation
- Relaxation
- Listen to music, podcasts of Nature
- Time out to think
- Photographic opportunities
I’m located approximately 60km South West of Sydney, Australia and as I sit here today, we are entering week four of the latest lockdown, this time for the Delta strain of Covid-19.
Walking is a fairly regular activity for me and I generally see a few people out walking in normal times, however, as a friend posted recently on Facebook, ‘nothing spurs people more than a lockdown to take up exercise…’. As a result of the lockdown, there are many more people out exercising.
Whilst it is great to see more people out and about exercising, it’s a shame that it takes a lockdown to ‘spur them on’.
It probably goes without saying, but I carry my phone with me with to:
- Measure the distance walked
- Listening activities
- Photography
Today, I will focus on the photographic opportunities.
As we all know the ubiquitous mobile phone has become an indispensable tool in modern life, sometimes too much so. People seem to be slaves to them. One of its most usable features for me is its camera.
I have an iPhone 8 Plus which is probably getting ‘long in the tooth’ now, technology-wise and we will probably update them in the coming twelve months. There are better camera phones out there for sure but this one is doing ok at present.
The camera I would really like to be taking on my walks is one I haven’t bought yet as I have had other priorities. More on that in a later blog.
For the time being I will make do with the phone camera.
Taking up photography in the early 1980’s increased my awareness of what is around me in terms of beauty and design. Taking up sketching, drawing and painting I believe has increased my awareness even more.
Below are a few examples of the things that attract my eye as I go walking. When I go walking, I seldom see other people taking photos on their walks. I wonder if they are aware of the the beauty and design that surrounds them?
Are you?
Till next time…
Written by David Johnson
19 July 2021
Watercolour Sketch A Day – The Journey Continues…
I’ve realised that its been a fair while since I did a post relating to my, ‘Daily Art Practice’ aka, ‘A Watercolour Sketch a Day.’
Today is Day 872 and I chose to revisit one of my favourite subjects, a Lighthouse, though in this case the Lighthouse isn’t the main subject, it merely makes up a small part of the scene.
Recently, I purchased a book from the Book Depository, ‘Rendering In Pen and Ink’ by Arthur L. Guptill, edited by Susan E. Meyer. The book was written some time ago and the techniques were written for Dip Pens and Quills, though they can be applied to modern drawing tools. The book is an inspiration and I’m so glad to have it as I use it on a daily basis, practicing different techniques it discusses.
I have grown to love using Dip Pens and Ink from sketching and prefer to use this combination rather than use Pigment Liners when at home. When I’m out and about, Pigment Liners are far more manageable, though in the future I would like to develop/find a way to use the Dip Pens/Ink combination when I’m away from home.
I cannot really explain why I like using Dip Pens over Pigment Liners except to say that, ‘it just feels good and right for me.’
Here is another selection of recent, ‘Watercolour Sketch a Day’ efforts.
Till next time!
Written by David Johnson
20 June 2021
Day 871 
Day 839 
Day 835 
Day 829 
Day 828 
Day 817 
Day 816 
Day 814 
Day 783 
Day 776 
Day 730 
Day 720
Communicating Creatively 