A blessed life

I feel blessed to create music. I feel it the most, of course, when I actually am creating music, and when I’m playing my music for others. Very very close to that peak, though, is when someone else is inspired by my art to create other art.

Dianne Doan, “A Warm Autumn Sun, It Was,” me

Here is my friend Dianne Doan, a wonderful artist, standing with me in front of her painting, “A Warm Autumn Sun, It Was.” That title may sound familiar, as it’s the title of one of my pieces on Passages. Dianne was inspired by that music (which she can play on the piano, by the way) to create this beautiful oil painting.

How cool is that?! Before taking her then-new work to La Galería at the Shaffer here in Mountainair, Dianne allowed the painting to visit our home for a few weeks. How cool was that?!!! Were we a bit sad when it was time for Dianne to take her gorgeous art to place it in the gallery? Yes. We did understand, though, that her art deserves to move out in the world, just as my music does.

Dianne is about to leave our community to move to Georgia, and the above picture was taken at her gallery going-away party last month. We’ll miss her so much! And her beautiful landscapes, too!

You can view the painting more closely on Dianne’s website here. You can hear my piano solo, A Warm Autumn Sun, It Was, here.

(This is actually the second time a piece of mine has inspired an artwork; I’ll blog the other soon.)