For today's studio closeup piece, I envisioned I was in front of a large body of water; a place that makes me truly feel like a whole person again. You'd think that would have changed ever since there was a large body of water that suddenly surrounded my house in 2018, but all those summers on Washington Island WI, and growing up near Lake Michigan where my parents, sister and I spent many summers on the lakefront swimming, sailing and playing - well, I more than miss it. Creating this piece really took me to a better time and place.

Museum Series: Herring Seagull - 6"x 6" - Acrylic, Wood Panel and Paper Diorama

First photo is of piece as a whole. The second photo is of the diorama that will live inside.

Every Monday I will be posting a "new" song that will be a tune I've always wanted to sing and record. New is in quotes because these will be covers that I am singing for solely therapeutic reasons and have nothing but the utmost respect for the artists who created the original music and lyrics.

Why bother? That's a great question I ask myself every day. About everything. Why bother with anything especially in this highly dysfunctional timeline we all seem to be finding ourselves in. I've missed singing and performing for some time now, but today's events have put that part on hold indefinitely but really I’m too old, jaded and tired to start a new band with new personalities, skill-sets, egos and opinions, so I'm going this route instead: Karaoke backing tracks which I purchased and my vocals recorded on top as a sort of tribute to my musical heroes. Life is what you make of it.

Think of these recordings as slightly polished scratch tracks. Quincy Jones I am not nor ever will be, so I did my best with the tools I have and what little knowledge I have of recording.

A little information on today's offering - I was a kid growing up in the 1970s. My parents like to have fun, which also included lots of parties and music. Linda Rondstadt's album (or vinyl, as the hipsters say now) was in heavy rotation at those things. I remember hearing this angry song being sung in the most beautiful way - angelic yet strong, powerful & triumphant and that always stuck with me. Along with the photo of her in roller skates.

Here's my version of Linda Rondstadt's, "You're No Good."

Enjoy.

To keep me working and focused and not procrastinating, festering about the world or spiraling into a deep dark depression, I'm going to attempt to give myself deadlines here to keep making art and music. Those things have been the only thing holding me together for quite a while now.

Wednesday's will become "Studio Closeup" days featuring art that I am working on or past art pieces that survived the 2018 flood (by remaining upstairs) that collapsed our entire basement. All the artwork I've ever done in my life was stored down there, including all the animation "cels" and films I had made since I was 11. Stories for other times.

In addition, I will also be starting "Music Monday's" of material I have been recording. These will be known as the "Carolaoke Files" so please stay tuned for that as well.

Today's studio closeup is part of the "museum series" I have been working on for 4 years now. These paintings will house paper dioramas and vintage slides inside the pieces.

Museum Series: Rock Wren - 4"x 4" - Acrylic, Paper and Wood Panel

First photo is of piece as a whole. The second photo is of the diorama that will live inside.

It’s been a while. Lots of things have happened and are currently happening in the world today. Art has been the main thing keeping this gal afloat. Posting new work online keeps me motivated whether it be visual art or music and I’ve been back tinkering with both. Thank you for checking in and checking everything out. Keep well out there.