Photography

Finding my creative voice through blogging

/ Robert / 9 Comments

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For as long as I can remember I have felt a yearning to create. Conforming to the expectations of society led me to follow predictable jobs and safe paths. I directed my creative talents to cooking and cake decorating. As my confidence grew I branched out into painting and photography. More recently I have begun to write poetry. When it comes to my creations I am my harshest critic so I need objective feedback from others. I am going to share with you the steps I followed to engage critics of my work.

Creative path
I began my writing journey by creating an annual newsletter to let friends and family in the UK know what life was like in Australia. As my circle of friends in Australia grew I tried to keep in touch everyone using Facebook. I quickly realised that this was great for keeping track of photos but not much use for written work.

Next I tried Twitter, this has a much wider target group, but the 140 characters length of tweets proved even more limiting. I found salvation in the form of blogging – I signed up for an account with WordPress in September 2012. I belong to a virtual family in the blogosphere. Over 350 people around the world follow my blog. As my posts feed into Facebook and Twitter the exposure of the blog has grown to 1,925 directly linked people plus anyone else who stumbles across it while surfing the web.

No looking back
I have stopped reading the daily news, preferring instead to spend time catching up with the 500+ blogs I follow. I ‘like’, ‘comment’, ‘reblog’ and ‘ping back’ to posts that inspire me. So far I have found blogging to be the best platform for me to share my creative thoughts. Reaching an unbiased audience who is willing to provide constructive criticism helps me to grow, to improve and provides an opportunity to connect with others around the world.

Thank you for reading my blog,

Robert

Links:
WordPress
Facebook
Twitter

What a Difference a Day Makes

/ Robert / 4 Comments

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One of my favourite performances of this song is by Dinah Washington recorded in 1959. “Cuando vuelva a tu lado”, the Spanish original was written in 1934 by María Grever. English lyrics “What a Diff’rence a Day Made” were written by Stanley Adams later that year.

What a difference a day made, twenty four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers where there used to be rain
My yesterday was blue dear
Today I’m a part of you dear
My lonely nights are through dear
Since you said you were mine
Oh, what a difference a day made
There’s a rainbow before me
Skies above can’t be stormy since that moment of bliss
That thrilling kiss
It’s heaven when you find romance on your menu
What a difference a day made
And the difference is you, is you

My yesterday was blue dear
Still I’m a part of you dear
My lonely nights are through dear
Since you said you were mine
Oh, what a difference a day made
There’s a rainbow before me
Skies above can’t be stormy since that moment of bliss
That thrilling kiss
It’s heaven when you find romance on your menu
What a difference a day made
And the difference is you, is you, is you

References:
Performance history, Second hand songs
Lyrics, Jamie Cullum Lyrics
The flowers are from a cabbage shaped succulent in the garden

Treading water

/ Robert / 4 Comments

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You would think that with all this time on my hands that I would be focussed, disciplined and totally capable of completing my lesson and meditating. Where has the time gone? It is not like I have been watching the television every night. Okay I have posted a few things on this blog, been diligent with attending workshops, key note speeches, an extended special interest group on psychological well being and resilience, and surprisingly for me talked to people I don’t know.

I have had difficulty sleeping the whole time I have been in Wellington, last night was no exception. Today I’m looking forward to heading home to Sydney. My bags are packed and I’m ready to go; checkout time isn’t for another hour and I know that I will have to wander around aimlessly once I have given up the temporary sanctuary of my room.

Luckily I have time to go back to Te Papa Museum to visit the Andy Warhol exhibition and do some shopping before heading off to the airport. I managed to secure an aisle seat on the flight so I won’t have to sit squashed against the wall of the plane. I wonder if I will need to contend with a fellow passenger who is as free with their elbows as the woman next to me on the flight to New Zealand. I don’t understand why the seats are not designed wide enough to accommodate me. The prospect of being bashed by passages walking backwards and forwards and the trolley doesn’t fill me with glee.

Full stop

/ Robert / 3 Comments

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Walking away
Running towards
Moving aside
Gliding aloft
Circling downwards
Rolling around
Cruising beyond
Flying above
Jumping beneath
Skipping along
Crawling inside
Swimming below
Sitting alone

(c) Robert Jones 2013, All Rights Reserved

Picture taken by HG, Melbourne

Enough?

/ Robert / 6 Comments

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Alone, I seek out company,
When in a crowd I welcome space.
In heat of the day I long for cool,
When the night chills I look for warmth.
Tired, I gratefully go to bed,
When I’m away I yearn for home.

(c) Robert Jones 2013, All Rights Reserved

Sydney Flying Boats

/ Robert / 8 Comments

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Catalina Restaurant, Rose Bay, Australia provides exceptional food, wine and service, a fantastic backdrop from which to view modern day seaplanes coming in and out of the harbour. It is the perfect spot to imagine the splendour of first class travel by flying boat from Sydney to Singapore in the late 1930’s. The Catalina was an American and Canadian flying boat built in the 1930’s and 40’s.

Further information can be found at:
Sydney Seaplanes
Catalina Flying Boats
Catalina Restaurant