Tag: Writing

Music To My Ears!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

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

a growing collection…

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Books

I’ve been thinking about doing this type of post for awhile now and I have been trying to keep busy in light of the recent sadness that has befallen our Family this week.

My love for Poetry dates back to my school years and I always enjoyed borrowing Poetry books from the Library but often thought it would be great if I had some on my own bookshelf. I know I can look up the Internet at any time and view some but I’m also a ‘real book’ lover and love to curl up with one. I love the feel, the smell and conciseness of a single book in the hands.

That being said, I also have a couple of Poetry apps on my phone, ‘Poem Hunter’, which provides a daily Poem; ‘Famous Poetry’, which offers the Poetry of 36 different Poets. The apps are for those times when I cannot or do not have a book with me.

I also have a few books on the mechanics of Poetry and how to write them and I thought I would share a list of my Poetry books with you.

  • The Australian and Other Verses by W.H.Ogilvie
  • Poetical Works of Henry Lawson
  • Selected Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon
  • The Collins Book of Australian Poetry
  • Collected Verse – John Manifold
  • The Poet’s Word – An Anthology of English Poetry
  • Chaucer to Gray – The Harvard Classics
  • The Golden Treasury of English Verse
  • Morla el Do (Tomorrow Will Do) – A Collection of Norfolk Island Poems
  • William Blake – Selected Poems
  • Quatrains of Omar Khayyam
  • The Poetical Works of John Keats
  • Poetical Works of Mrs Browning Volume 1
  • A Book of Poetry – Anthology of English Poetry (Textbook 1961)
  • Collected Shorter Poems 1930 -1944 of W.H.Auden
  • A.D.Hope – Selected Poems
  • Selected Poems & Letters of Emily Dickinson
  • Leaves From Australian Forests – Poetical Works of Henry Kendall
  • Yet More Comic & Curious Verse – The Penguin Poets
  • Enjoying Poetry 1 – Silver and Gold
  • Matthew Arnold – A Selection Of His Finest Poems
  • The English and Scottish Popular Ballads Volume 1
  • Seven Centuries of Poetry in English
  • The Great Modern Poets – An Anthology of the Best Poets & Poetry since 1900
  • Collected Poems of Henry Thoreau
  • James McCauley – Collected Poems 1936 – 1970
  • The Golden Book of Modern English Poetry – Everyman’s Library – 921
  • The Poet’s Pen – A Historical and Chronological Anthology – 13th to 20th Century
  • Walt Whitman – Leaves of Grass
  • Judith Wright – Collected Poems
  • Poems and Poets – David Aloian – Headmaster, Concord Academy (Textbook 1965)
  • Country Verse – 16th to 19th Century
  • Introduction to Poetry: British, American, Canadian
  • Writing and Enjoying Haiku – A Hands-on Guide
  • The Making of a Poem – A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms
  • How To Read A Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry
  • Poetry: Tools & Techniques – A Practical Guide to Writing Engaging Poetry
  • Mary Oliver – A Poetry Handbook – A Prose Guide to Understanding & Writing Poetry

It would be very hard for me to pick out a favourite Poet or Poem so I’m not going to try. There are some of my favourite Poets missing from the list, though. Some are contained within the anthologies and it would be nice to have them in their own separate books. I know I can go out and purchase brand new books but I prefer to hunt out second-hand books as they have more character than a brand new book and there is something about ‘the hunt’ in a second-hand bookstore that makes it all the more exciting when you ‘uncover some book treasure…’.

Till next time!

Written by David Johnson

28 November 2021

Berkelouw’s book treasure

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Books, Stories From Life

As mentioned in the previous post, last Sunday, my Wife and I were down at Berrima to celebrate the 27th anniversary of us going out to dinner for the first time.

One of the places we always go to is Berkelouw’s Book Barn which is located just outside Berrima on the Old Hume Highway. It holds a special place in our Hearts as we went there for the first time back on the 19 November 1994 and whilst browsing, Susan found a book called ‘The Drover’ which was outside the budget. She loved it but put it back on the shelf. I took a mental note of the book (no Smart phones back then to take a picture of it) and the next day, I rang Berkelouw’s and had them put the book aside. I picked it up the next weekend and gave it to Susan as a present. She was delighted and surprised! 🙂

Berkelouw’s used to have about 250,000 books but after diversification, they now have about 100,000 books. Still plenty to tantalise the avid bookworm.

Normally, we would be there for at least two hours, searching, uncovering and discovering book treasure but we both exceeded expectations and walked away with 11 books between us.

Here are my six below:

In all the years we have been going down there I have kept an eye out for writings of Henry David Thoreau and in consecutive years have picked up a book of his. Last year it was a book of his Poetry. It delights me to have picked up the book on some of his ‘meditations’.

I started reading the ‘Discworld’ series some time ago and have been keeping watch in second-hand bookstores so it was great to pick up another couple. 🙂

Am always on the lookout for Poetry books, especially anthologies and specific subject matter. I didn’t have any ‘humour-orientated’ Poetry so I was very pleased to add this to my collection. Anthologies are great, especially if like this one, there are a lot of Poets in it that I haven’t heard of. There a few Poems for each author so the book is a bit of a ‘taster’.

The final book to discuss is ‘New Worlds From Old’ which accompanied an exhibition of paintings some twenty years ago in Australia and the U.S.A. It has some wonderful plates of paintings from both American and Australian Landscape Artists from the 19th Century plus detailed information on the Artworks and the Artists themselves.

I’m looking forward this weekend and/or whenever I get the chance before to grab a cuppa and sit down to enjoy, particularly the Poetry, Painting and meditations books.

Till next time, booklovers!

Written by David Johnson

23 November 2021

27 Years since…

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

Yesterday, we embarked on our annual pilgrimage to Berrima which is a small village in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Australia. It is approx. 1 hour South of where we live. We drive down there on this weekend every year, sometimes for the weekend, sometimes to spend the day there like we did this year.

Why Berrima? It is the place that my (now) Wife, Susan finally said ‘Yes’ to me asking her out to dinner, after declining me 5 times back in 1994. We were down there as friends collecting some items for a Christmas party that a Dog Club (that Susan was the Social Secretary of) was holding.

We had lunch at The White Horse Inn and it had such a romantic feel that I felt compelled to ask her out ‘just one more time…’. I did and she said yes! 🙂 After that we visited some of the shops (which are tourist orientated) and then went off to Berkelouw’s Book Barn at Berrima, which, back then held about 250,000 books. Unfortunately, the White Horse Inn has not been open for a number of years now.

Berkelouw’s Book Barn

Fast forward to this weekend, we have to do it in reverse these days as Berkelouw’s had to change to economically survive by reducing the amount of books (to about 100,000) and diversifying into a Wedding Reception venue, a restaurant/cafe and a wine-tasting venue. They close at 3.00pm each day for functions, hence the earlier visiting time. This was a shorter visit for us this time as we both found 6 books each within 1 1/4 hours. Normally it takes us longer.

After that, we took off to one of our favourite ‘Vintage-ware’ shops called “Sticky Beaks.’ We love visiting shops like these as they bring back a multitude of memories of things that were used in the past and one can pick up interesting curios, as we did again today.

Sticky Beaks

Susan managed to pick up a tray that converts into a Grazing platter. Functional and artistic, I’m sure we will pit it to good use.

From there we set off to our lunch booking at Josh’s Cafe & Restaurant for a sumptious meal of Grilled Barramundi (a highly recommended fish in Australia), salad and then we shared a couple of desserts, ‘Pear and Rhubarb Crumble’ and Hot Chocolate Fondant, mainly because I couldn’t make up my mind on which one to have. 🙂 Deliciously decadent!

Josh’s Cafe & Restaurant

From there we visited Mrs Oldbucks Jam & Food shop and several other shops including a relatively new Berrima shop called, ‘Six Impossible Things’, the name coming from a Lewis Carroll story. It is set in an old Colonial cottage down a short pathway.

Sticky Beaks, Baytree Gallery, The Brown Shutter, Mrs Oldbucks

It was there that I purchased a glass Inkwell and some Calligraphy Ink. I had been looking for one of these for about 18 months. 🙂

It was a tremendous way to celebrate 27 years since we went out to dinner and for us there is no better place to celebrate it than where Susan said ‘Yes’ all those years ago.

Written by David Johnson

21 November 2021

Six Impossible Things & Berrima Surrounds
Treasure Acquired 🙂

My Writing Time

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

A Poem Forms…

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Poetry

Journey To 1000!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting

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!

Day 1 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day – 26 January 2019

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!

Day 1,000 of a Watercolour Sketch a Day – 27 October 2021 (Peter Sheeler Tutorial)

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

actors on the sky stage

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

One of the things that I must admit that I haven’t done for a long time is lay on the ground at gaze at the clouds as they drift on by…

It is something that I remember to be quite a meditative experience. One such time was during a bushwalk (hike) in the Blue Mountains, West of Sydney Australia. We were on our way out to a place called ‘Ruined Castle’ which was a rocky outcrop that looked, from a distance, a little like a ruined castle.

On the way out we came across a large expanse of flattish rock so we stopped for a rest and I remember laying back and gazing at the sky. So relaxing. Only the sounds of Mother Nature apparent with a gorgeous blue sky as a backdrop to the clouds, changing shape as they did, moving about like actors in a Play.

Sitting here typing this, my mind is cast back even further to my school days back in the 1970’s when, at lunchtime, I used to lay on the grass sometimes and gaze at the clouds. Again, so relaxing. My mind would drift off and be thinking of great memories but also thinking about the future as I lay there in the present.

Of course, clouds have entranced me in other ways as well. My Photography interest dates back to my childhood but in particularly from the early 1980’s when I became serious about it as a key interest.

The images included with this article are all taken on a phone and have been captured mainly on my walks over the past few years. Clouds have fascinated me for as long as I can remember and will continue to do so. Light, and its effects on objects fascinates me too, but more on that another time.

Below, I have included some cloud images that I found particularly interesting. Sit back and enjoy these actors as they dance across the stage of the sky!

Written by David Johnson

October 2021

For The Love of Cacti & Succulents!

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Stories From Life

I’ve commented a couple of times on this Blog about my love for Cacti and Succulents. It was an interest that started when I was 14 years of age when my Aunt Beryl gave me a Succulent on one of the family visits to our place. It was (as I later found out) from the Euphorbia family.

My original pot.

Over the years my liking for Cacti and Succulents increased to the point where I had a small, shallow pot with about 5-6 small Cacti plants in it. I used to dream of the day when I would have a big garden. That came when I got married and moved onto an acre and a quarter of land. I built a 35square metre garden. All up, I had 120 plants in it and in pots around the yard.

Part of my original 35square metre garden.

Sadly, we don’t live there any more, we moved after 16 years there and are currently on a residential block. What happened to the plants? I brought them all with me didn’t I! They are currently all in pots of various sizes which is not quite the same but it will have to do until we make our next move.

This week, I was accepted as a member into the Cactus and Succulent Society of Australia which is the oldest Cacti Society in Australia. My first meeting (this week) was on Zoom. They usually meet face-to-face in another State (Victoria) but even then have a ‘Zoom-room’ for people that are too far away. There are lots of benefits for being a member of the Society, including a 32 page quarterly magazine which I’m quite looking forward to receiving. They have a Facebook group, library etc so I am looking forward to increasing my knowledge of this wondrous species of flora that captured my imagination at the age of 14, some 44 years ago.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Society, I’ve included some links below to their website and Facebook page and also some other links if you feel you are in any way curious about this species of plant.

Written by David Johnson

30 September 2021

Cactus and Succulent Society of Australia:

Other useful links:

The Savvy Painter

by communicatingcreatively, posted in Painting

Since starting my latest walking programme (I’ve tried a number of times over the years to just have one and keep it going…), I’ve been enjoying discovering different podcasts so that, out on my walks in suburbia (due to a lockdown radius of 5km, currently) I receive some education and inspiration.

The latest one I have come across is ‘ The Savvy Painter’ which is compered by Antrese Wood. It’s in a similar vein to the podcast, ‘Talking With Painters’ that I wrote about recently. ‘The Savvy Painter’ podcast has quickly become a favourite and over the past couple of weeks I have listened to approx. 10 of the shows.

As I’m not a full-time Artist, my day is not surrounded by Art so I appreciate the chance to ‘tap into’ this kind of resource on my walks.

If you would like to check out ‘The Savvy Painter’ podcast here are some links:

There are 252 episodes so I think I have some catching up to do!

Written by David Johnson

26 September 2021