"Tiny Desk Concert" strikes a chord

Sometimes I'll hear a word or phrase and think, "That would make a good title for a painting" -- and then I might envision a painting to go with it. A few months back, I kept seeing the phrase tiny desk concert, and this made me think of a small brass ornament I'd once bought (dare I again say "thrift store find"?). It's a flat brass ring about 4" in diameter, with three upright seraphim playing musical instruments.

YES! Its time had come. But after opening virtually every box and drawer in my studio, I couldn't find it. Still: The show must go on so I finally assembled a lovely old pitcher of my mother's, a recorder, two of my odd-ball clay figures, and a cacophony of singing cats.

I played with this idea while I chose the next of my old paintings to be sacrificed on the altar of Economy and Recycling -- "Shards," from 2003.

Then I decided my set-up needed something more. I know:-- One of my little vases with a tall bamboo shoot. After a quick trip to the store, I had just what I needed -- a bamboo swirl that just says, "Doodly-doodly-do."

In its early stages, as I began to paint over the old shards, my picture had a fascinating abstract quality:

After several sessions, I'd reached this point:

Still, it seemed that something more was needed. Ah-ha! I'll put a pattern on the drapery -- and what would be better than some musical notes? How about some recorder music, such as a multi-barred section from the score of "Simple Gifts"?

Getting this more or less right was slow going and sometimes confusing.  The coloured pencil lines show the "slice"of the score that appears in the painting.  After two weeks, I'd finished laying it all in.

-- and then it was just a matter of bringing the whole thing to a great crescendo (you can sing along with its progress here.)

Usually by the time I'm ready to sign my name, I'm incubating the plan for my next painting. Knowing that I wouldn't be setting up a still life again soon, I dismantled the little "stage" that had held the objects and drapery. And there it was in a small overlooked box -- the Lost Chord, the original tiny desk concert that I'd been unable to find:--