I've always had an appreciation for art. Doesn't matter if it's a well-written book or poem, a delicate sculpture, simple folk art, or a beautiful painting that captures the imagination. I especially love MUSIC! A thoughtfully crafted song can fill me with so much energy and emotion, it's hard to describe. I started playing guitar when I was 16 and have been writing songs since I was in my early twenties...some keepers, some cringe worthy, and a few just for fun (such as a song co-written with my old college roommate about a soggy head of lettuce rotting in our dorm fridge). Last year my son Skyler was visiting around Christmas time. I was surprised and genuinely touched when he said to me, "Mom...I'd really like to have a copy of your music." I hadn't been in a recording studio in almost ten years. Sure, I had dabbled a little with recording myself at home, but it was a dismal failure. My home recordings were almost as bad as my attempts to paint his picture when he was around 7 years old. My brief journey as an "artist" (yeah, like the kind of artist who paints stuff) began when I tried my hand at water color painting. I was into rustic home decor at the time, and hadn't yet embraced my artistic identity as "someone who makes music" so I decided to paint a grizzly bear using a book that walked you through each step. My water color painting of a close up grizzly bear face turned out surprisingly well (even though the bear was slightly cross-eyed). I thought, "Wow...I had no idea I have been gifted with all this natural talent....I can paint anything!!" I decided to paint Skyler's picture, using a photograph of him and our dog as inspiration. Things got a little wonky when I was trying to get the shadows of my son's jawline to look more natural. The subject of my painting looked like a Cro-Magnon man who was the unfortunate result of years of inbreeding. When Skyler came home from school that day he saw me working away on my masterpiece and asked, "who is THAT?!!" I motioned to the sweet inspirational pic of my handsome little boy and his dog. Right away Skyler started to cry and asked me with a sense of shocked horror in his trembling voice, "Why did you make me so UGLY?!!"
I would like to dedicate this digital venture back into making music to my son. Without his encouragement I might still be sitting on the sidelines, guitar in hand and songs in my head, longing to be an artist. The world surely can live without another bad painter.