On the cover of the Met’s Winter 2009-2010 Newsletter: Head of a Smiling Woman, Agnolo Bronzino, ca. 1542.
Recent Posts
A Portrait by Mitsuno Reedy
As I’m trying to teach myself to draw, I’m becoming more and more appreciative of the skill involved, especially in portrait drawing. This portrait is of yours truly when I was about 3 years old. Now that I’m a mother, I can identify with my own mother’s desire to capture the sweetness of a childhood […]
A Dress for Little Miss Fairfax, Part 2
Last week I told you about a birthday surprise I am planning for my daughter. Guess what? The dress is already finished! Here are the photos that the seamstress sent for my approval: All I can say is, “wow”. The color and styling are exactly what I’d hoped for! I don’t think I could’ve imagined […]
A Dress for Little Miss Fairfax
I have to tell you about a birthday surprise I’m planning for my daughter! First, a little background: My younger daughter loves Jane Austen movies. She never tires of watching them with me and is always swooning over the gowns. This is unusual because she does not like to wear dresses […]
How I Learned to Play the Bagpipes–Part 3 of 3
In my last post, I finally had my very own set of bagpipes! I continued with my private lessons, working harder than ever to learn how to achieve steady blowing pressure, consistent arm pressure on the bag, and correct fingering as I played the melody on the chanter. Whew! Can you chew gum, […]
“How I Learned to Play the Bagpipes”-Part 2 of 3
When I ended my last post, I was finally ready to start making some phone calls. I had done some initial internet research in Step One and learned a lot, but I kept reading the same admonition over and over again from different experts: To learn to play the bagpipes correctly, you need a good instructor… Step […]
“How I Learned to Play the Bagpipes”-A Mixed-Media Book, Part 1 of 3
Yep. I play the bagpipes. The story of how it all came about is recorded in a small, green book I made… With St. Patrick’s day right around the corner, I thought I’d snap a few pictures and share this story with you… One day, in early summer of 2003, I was driving […]
Learning to Draw Faces (that look human)
When I first started this blog almost a year ago, one of my main purposes was to keep track of my ongoing efforts to learn how to draw. If you’ve kept up with my posting much, you know there hasn’t been much drawing practice. Drawing takes so much effort! Taking pictures […]