Tag Archives: piano

New Year’s Resolutions

Watch this oil painting “Serenity Piano” come to life in just over 1 minute (time lapse)

Do you have any New Year’s resolutions? I thought I didn’t have any, except for my ongoing lifetime goal of 1k finished oil paintings, but today I came up with something I’d like to do. I want to do more of my own music for my oil painting videos. This one (above) was an experiment where I composed something for this piano video. The song has lyrics too, but I even though I’m the one who wrote them, I don’t remember what they were. I’d have to look those up. Anyway, the song is a bit rough and I’d planned to try this again with a more serious effort. I never did get back to it though.

I will commit myself to creating original music for… let’s say, at least three of my new paintings videos in 2022. I’ll let you know when the music is my own. I don’t mind if it’s not very good. The goal is to simply do it. I will improve over time (or will stop doing it, feeling as if composing/playing my own music for a short while was enough, we shall see!). Either way, I will have done it.

So much to do in 2022! Dream big, play hard! Remember, it’s a TIGER year!

Playing a Tune

Watch oil painting “Serenity Piano” come to life in under 2 minutes (time lapse)

I composed and played the music for that video. I wrote lyrics for it, but I’d have to dig those up because I don’t remember them. It’s something like “Life is so beautiful”, but it’s fuzzy to me now. Yesterday I had to re-arrange my space to make room for a stash of Christmas presents I need to hide until December 25th. In doing so, I cleared out the corner where my keyboard was inaccessible and collecting dust.

Before I even had everything put away, I couldn’t resist stopping what I was doing to play a little tune. I played a few Christmas carols and realized how long it’s been since I’ve last played. I’ve never learned how to properly play the piano and I’d been working on the chord method when I abandoned the project because I became busy with other things and then let my music become out of my reach for over a year.

It’s a bit of a shock to realize how quickly this sort of thing happens. I pledge now to make regular time for learning how to play the piano and enjoying making music. Is there anything that you had good intentions to learn or do, and you’ve let life clutter it up until you’ve forgotten all about it? How much time has slipped past? It’s not too late!

“Serenity Piano”

Watch Natalie paint this art, and all 50 oil paintings in this collection (menu below)

“Savannah loves music. Live music is a vibrant part of the city’s lifestyle, from the famous to the new, Savannah offers concerts, festivals and even small gatherings in homes. Churches also offer a variety of music, from traditional organ and piano hymn arrangements, to contemporary songs featuring electric instruments from drums to guitars. Celtic, African and Indian instruments make appearances as well.

My son saw a flyer on his college campus for a local in-home gathering. He brought his guitar. My husband and I attended with him and were among the youngest people there. The musicians were incredible! Their life and musical experiences were rich indeed. We sang together and felt as if we participated in an intimate concert with professional artists- a priceless experience!

My son has also had the opportunity to play at church. I was especially happy when he played “How Great Thou Art” on harmonica while my daughters and I sang. I’ve played my mountain dulcimer and keyboard, but I don’t play either particularly well. I mostly sing with the choir. Our playing ability isn’t what’s important though- it’s about enjoying live music in the company of people we share our home city with.”

List of Oil Paintings in this Collection, linking to their pages here on the site, and also citing physical pages in the hardcover book:

  1. City of Savannah
    1.1 “City of Savannah” page 6-7
    1.2 “Natalie at the Fountain” page 8-11
    1.3 “House in Savannah” page 12-13
    1.4 “Guardian Lion” page 14-15
    1.5 “Autumn Angel” page 16-17
    1.6 “Steamship Savannah” page 18-19
    1.7 “Boiled Peanuts for Sale” page 20-21
    1.8 “Bulldog” page 22-23
    1.9 “Serenity Piano” page 24-25
    1.10 “Painting Colors” page 26-27
  2. Tybee Island
    2.1 “I Love Life” page 30-31
    2.2 “Living Sand Dollar” page 32-33
    2.3 “Matthew the Sea Turtle” page 34-35
    2.4 “Fungie the Dolphin” page36-37
    2.5 “Angel Releasing Dove” page 38-39
    2.6 “Flag on Tybee Island” page 40-41
    2.7 “My Kids at the Beach” page 42-43
    2.8 “Lighthouse near Tybee Island” page 44-45
  3. Birds, Reptiles and Amphibians
    3.1 “Gator and Snake” page 48-49
    3.2 “Tree Frog” page 50-51
    3.3 “Lizard” page 52-53
    3.4 “Blue Heron” page 54-55
    3.5 “Hummingbird” page 56-57
    3.6 “Painted Bunting” page 58-59
  4. Flowers and Trees
    4.1 “Pink Flower” page 62-63
    4.2 “Porch Flowers” page 64-65
    4.3 “Clover” page 66-67
    4.4 “Butterfly Tree Flowers” page 68-69
    4.5 “Savannah Tree” page 70-71
    4.6 “Dancer in a Floral Forest” page 72-73
    4.7 “Come to the Garden” page 74-77
    4.8 “Cherokee Rose” page 78-79
  5. Faith and Food
    5.1 “Floral Cross” page 82-83
    5.2 “Lenten Flower” page 84-85
    5.3 “Celtic Cross” page 86-87
    5.4 “Mary of God’s Favor” page 88-89
    5.5 “Lion and the Lamb” page 90-91
    5.6 “Breakfast with Friends” page 92-93
    5.7 “Peaches in a Bowl” page 94-95
    5.8 “Peach Cookies” page 96-97
    5.9 “Peach Pie” page 98-99
  6. Seasons and Weather
    6.1 “Pumpkins and Mums” page 102-103
    6.2 “Autumn Cottage” page 104-105
    6.3 “Spring Lambs” page 106-107
    6.4 “Peach Tree Hurricane” page 108-109
    6.5 “Eye of the Storm” page 110-111
    6.6 “God’s Promise” page 112-113
    6.7 “We Gather Together” page 114-115
    6.8 “Savannah Snow” page 116-117
    6.9 “I Believe in Santa” page 118-119