Happy Spring!

 

Hello out there! Spring has sprung in Virginia and I am pretty happy about that.  I love the return of the green and flowers and the sound of birds everywhere. Spring is also a busy time for music. I am now playing percussion in 4 bands!  I play traditional percussion (snare drum, auxiliary percussion) in Second Wind band at The Center at Belvedere. Then I play conga and Latin percussion in The Flashbacks band, also at The Center. I recently joined a Steel Drum band and that is a lot of fun and I play weekly at Unity of Charlottesville church. 

Spring means spring concerts ! Our concert at The Center for Second Wind band and The Flashbacks happens on Saturday, May 18th at 3:00. We have a lot of great music planned for you! Our former band director was a percussionist, which means all of the songs feature just about every single percussion instrument from the gong, siren, wood block, bongos, congas, timpani, mallets and yes, you guessed it cowbell! :) 

In addition, I am loving my work playing guitar for hospital and hospice patients. It is quite an honor to have the job I have. 

My photo today is of my newest collage which is my first attempt at a mountain scene. I made it with new beautiful paper I got recently. I am pretty excited with new colors and textures to work with. 

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you a very Happy Spring! 

Combating gloom with color and light

 

Hello everyone! I don’t know about you but this winter gloom and days of constant drizzle and clouds can really get me down.   That’s where music and art can come in and uplift us.   I spent all day reworking and old collage I made from a recycled painting. The result is above.   How is that for a change in mood?!  That is where making art can be so therapeutic. We can use our imagination to create change for ourselves. 

This piece I did very intuitively. I just started putting down random colored tissue paper and not icing the lines and rhythms they made.  One of my mantras while working on a piece is, “stop trying to make sense!” I get stuck sometimes when I think a mountain has to be blue or the grass can’t be purple, etc. Instead I think of lines and shapes and colors and how they intertwine. 

Maybe that is a good way to view a problem we have. We often overthink things as to why they happened and it is all a mental exercise to attempt to solve the problem. Instead, why not embrace the mystery a bit more? Does it really help to know the whys of things? Instead of whys, how about being wise? Following our inner voice and letting the colors of our moods and actions take shape. 

I find that combining a sense of the abstract with realism brings me a satisfying feeling. Nothing is perfectly symmetrical or logical in life. Art helps me to see that. 

I hope seeing this piece of art today brings you some cheer. I have not named it yet - any ideas for the name of this?  Send me your ideas! Thank you and keep on plugging away. The gloom will give way to spring soon enough.  

Pondering Music

 Hello everyone! I hope your 2024 is going well so far!  This year has started off with a lot of art and music! The attached collage is my newest creation made from a salvaged discarded painting. As you can see by the title and musical notes, I have been pondering music a lot lately. Which brings me to my next update… 

My bands started up again this year and I am learning to play the drum set again! It has been over 40 years since I last played drum set for a band. We worked on a Buddy Rich tune called “ Groovin’ Hard”    A really cool song from a favorite jazz era. Our next concert is in May, so that gives me time to get my chops back. 

In addition, I have joined a steel drum band. They are big metal melodic pan drums and it’s a lot of fun. So far we have mastered an arrangement of the gospel song, “Amen.” 

I continue to love playing for my hospital and hospice patients and composing music in Dorian mode for them. I am loving Dorian mode because it is the perfect tonality for those in distress or transition. It gives a twinge of mystery and uncertainty which matches how one would feel in the midst of a healing journey. 

That about updates me and I thank you for stopping by today. Hope you are staying warm in your corner of the world this winter.