Artist BK Dennis

When you choose to live this creative life (or rather – when it chooses you) inspiration can come in many forms. Sometimes inspiration is something that starts as a little spark inside of you.

But sometimes, someone else’s creativity is a tremendous inspiration.

Our longtime family friend BK Dennis is a painter, and her work inspires me. That word doesn’t even encompass enough. Awes. Floors. Whammos! Some people are so very talented in their fields. When a person like that is kind enough to share his or her work and stories and inspirations, then that has the effect of elevating us all.

BK has a new webpage.

Sometimes as she paints, she shares a snapshot with me of her current project. Below is a snapshot (not a full professional photo as would be on her webpage) of a scene from the cattle drive movie that we recently produced.

For the last twenty years, I have been the proud owner of one of BK’s paintings. It hangs on my wall in the dining room, where I can see it every day.

In addition to being a talented painter, BK (and her husband and family) are longtime family friends of ours. We met when we lived in West Texas. BK and her husband have been as good of friends throughout my entire creative journey as one could ever hope to find. They celebrate my highs (and listen to me complain about the lows). Their support has been consistent and strong. It really makes a difference when you think “Why did I ever think it was a good idea to do this?”  — no matter what the “this” might be.

Creativity begets creativity.

Thank you, BK, for sharing your work with the rest of us.

 

Texas Skies

I took this photo on a setting on the point and shoot that I’ve never used before: Night landscape. And you had to  hold still during the exposure time. (That’s almost impossible, and I didn’t have a tripod with me.) But, I loved the way this came out, with the sky, and the lights. It was actually much darker than this, for the blue portion of the sky, but the storm clouds were to the north, so I couldn’t resist trying to capture the photo. It’s great to push your boundaries and learn more about photography. It’s hard. Photography is hard! Whew!

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In other news…my attempted guitar work went splat! SPLAT! I had worked to try to build the tracks to the guitar driven song, code name BT, LM. Well, it wasn’t there. I’d listen to the work one time, and thought it’d be good enough. Then listen another day, and it wasn’t. Too much imprecision of timing, hesitation. Buzzed notes or dead notes. I need to attack that guitar with confidence, but it sure didn’t happen, after weeks of building up to it. So…what’s the next step? Either hire a guitarist for this song, or put the project on hold till I get better at the guitar.

In the meantime, I’ve been playing the piano (I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to play the piano for fun–to create a piece of music on the piano. So much of this lately has been about recording and work and segments, etc.) I wrote a song yesterday. Gave me chills, so that’s how I know I’m on the right track.

Have a great weekend!

Route 66

Some photos from my recent trip to Amarillo.

I love nostalgia. I love classic cars and the open road (and photography).

Thought you might enjoy a few snapshots of the trip. Someday I want to drive all of Route 66, but…even driving just a small segment is fun.

Make you want to sing the song, doesn’t it?

So, for my little portion of the trip, we start at Clinton, OK at the Route 66 Museum.

Then you proceed west to the Texas state line: (where you should Boogie Back to Texas!)

For years, I’ve heard about the art deco gas station at Shamrock, TX. I made up my mind not to miss it this time. I exited the interstate at Shamrock, intent on finding it. Turns out, it’s right off the interstate. What architecture!

The U-Drop Inn.

Nostalgia….ah do you remember these? (wavery lines appear as we go into the dream sequence and a song starts playing…)

Our destination on this trip: The Big Texan!

In Amarillo…by Morning’…or maybe 3:00 which is when I got there.

Now one more thing, before we head back home to:

…and it’s very important:

Being a pi-an-ee player my-own-self…this kinda needs to be my mantra in life, doncha think?

Toodles!