SONGWRITING: Awakened by the Muse

I was awakened by the Muse at 5:00 this morning (after getting to sleep past midnight last night.)

Grabbed bedside pencil and paper, diligently wrote down the stanzas in my head. But the Muse insisted I get up and go to the piano.

Now I'm online researching Greek mythology for lyric content at her request.

Ignore her and she goes away to pout. Don't want that.

UPDATE: 20090615

This was one of those rare songs that essentially wrote itself. Two double verses plus a chorus (AAB AAB form), multiple layers of meaning, literary references, chords and melody, all came together within a very short time.

As soon as I'm able to play this song fluently enough, I'll post a rough recording and put up the lyrics.

I want to shorten the distance between song creation and proliferation, not worrying so much about having "radio ready" recordings before letting songs leave the nest for the first time. Trying to short circuit perfectionism and keep it real. I want to open a window into the process as it happens.

Heed the the Muse!

PREPARATION: Clearing Clutter

Clearing away clutter provides the physical and mental space to spark the next creative explosion.

New Rule: The Ordinary Rules

Haven't posted here for a very long time.

Most of my useful computer time for the past month or so has been focused on getting my recording studio rearranged, up and functional again, then getting work done for a very patient client.

Or I've been distracting myself from the frustration of the studio rearrange by endlessly checking email or Facebook, or reading news online, or reading other peoples blogs, or indulging in random websurfing.

For some reason I'd gotten all self-conscious about always needing to say something here that would be super meaningful, which sort of misses the point of living the Quiet Little Life--that meaning is found in the ordinary.

So I'm back, to resume writing about the ordinary stuff of daily life.

And I resolve to post here even if it feels vacuous to do so.

I hereby give myself permission to be banal, insipid, stilted, awkward, or . . . whatever else it is I'm afraid of being.

I absolve myself of guilt if I write but don't include illustrating photographs. Similarly, I intend to remain guilt free when photos appear without annotation.

Whose blog is this anyway?

Who made up all these rules about how it's supposed to be done?

Oops. I did. Or at least I bought into them.

I'm an artist, darn it! I live the creative life, right? Why can't I uncreate rules--especially the ones saying that things always have to be fancy-pants, intensely interesting or . . . (gasp) creative?

Today, I rip away the ratty old cardboard rule-box, step beyond its stale confines, and begin again.

New Rule: The Ordinary Rules.

Sharpie Luggage

2 hours to wait in an airport + 1 silver sharpie marker + 1 cheap carry on bag = TADA! Art on Wheels

Would have done more but the sharpie was already mostly used up and ran out of ink. Will pack a fresh one for next time.

As it was, I so focused on what I was doing that I nearly missed the boarding call for my plane.

While I worked (played), the public address system intoned repeatedly:

"Attention airline passengers. Increased security measures require that all passengers maintain close personal contact with their items at all times. Unattended items will be promptly removed by law enforcement personnel. Additionally, report all suspicious items or activities immediately to airport personnel. Your safety is our priority."

Close personal contact with my items? Hmmm.

Though I certainly was attentive to my carry-on bag, did this qualify as a suspicious activity?

Got some funny looks as I sat on the floor scribbling on my bag, but no one reported me.

(c)2009 Kay Pere ~ Effusive Muse Publishing

Turntable Turns the Tables on Time

I've just returned from a trip to California for a family visit and work on a special project.

I dug into the stacks of old 45s, 78s and LPs we listened to as kids.

Took my ION portable USB turntable and converted childhood memories into digital audio files (wav and m4a), complete with all the nostalgic crackle, pop and hiss. We played those records by the hour, way back when.

The turntable is durable and lightweight, fit easily into my carry-on bag, raised no eyebrows passing through airport security, and was easy to set-up when I arrived.

When I got back, I found an amazing website that has dozens of Kiddie Records and their associated artwork (jackets, books, etc.) from the mid 1940's through early 1950's available for free download.

[I should make it clear that I wasn't around to hear these records when they were new. They belonged first to my older brothers, my parents and grandparents--already scratched and well loved by the time I came along.]

What does all this have to do with the creative process or living a more contented life?

It's all about reclaiming the vividness of happy childhood memories.

Creative art making is dependent upon the ability to tap into childlike playfulness and curiosity at will. What better way to access this mindset than to revisit joyful times from ones distant personal past?

For me, the pull of these old recordings was irresistible. As I played them I found myself wearing an unsuppressible smile. I finally had to get up and gave in to the urge to dance around.

For me, living a contented life is all about enjoying what is. Happy memories from my childhood are things that will always be mine to enjoy. They cost nothing and offer a guaranteed high.

They also have the added benefit of helping to free my creative work in the present.

When I revisit the things I enjoyed as a 5-year-old it becomes impossible for me to take myself or anything else too seriously. This sort of time travel enables me to approach my art with the spontaneity and fearlessness I felt back then. I can transport those feelings into the here-an-now on the scratchy strains from an old 45.

Now if you'll, please, excuse me. I'm going to go listen again to my favorite well-worn recording of "I'm a Little Teapot," then the "Hukilau" song, followed Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians playing "Stumbling" (link to an original piano roll MIDI file).

(c)2009 Kay Pere ~ Effusive Muse Publishing

2009 Intentions

Things that are calling to me for 2009, in no particular order:

• learn to bake bagels
• record the next CD
• finish the garden fence and arbor
• plant lots of flowers and veggies, and enjoy them
• get a first draft of the writing project done
• be healthy
• bake lots of bread and desserts (not mutually exclusive with the previous item)
• have adventures
• sit and do nothing more
• sing and play
• make stuff
• read
• listen
• digest
• live in gratitude
• love and do good where I can
• love and let go where I can't
• breath

More:

• continue to reduce my ecological footprint through ECO ACTIONS

BOOKS: Slow and Messy

Recent reading has included topics often pointed to as character flaws in our hurry-up and get organized culture--slowness and messiness.

While I'm sometimes criticized for moving too slowly and being habitually untidy, I find these characteristics to be essential for my creativity and enjoyment of life.

I need time to think and an abundance of materials around me in order to do any original work. Without the freedom to savor life at an unhurried pace the joy goes out of it. I'm willing to live frugally with both time and money, foregoing things like TV and many consumer goods, to maintain the balance that suits me.

Apparently there are many others who feel the same way. "In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed" by Carl Honore explores the Slow Movement as expressed through the food we eat, the ways we choose work and live, and the ways we relate to one another.

I highly recommend it.

I've just begun to read "A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder," by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman.

Already I'm feeling better about the messy though functional piles that surround me here in my studio.

This book asserts that the hidden costs of organization can, in many circumstances, out weigh the benefits. It challenges the culturally held assumption that messiness is always detrimental to productivity, offering examples and research in support of the opposite view.

Three chapters into this book, I'm excited to see where it is going. I've begun to breath easier after releasing a huge load of guilt over my perpetually untidy surroundings.

Even my reading habits don't flow in an orderly manner. I'm not a one-book-at-a-time kind of reader. I wouldn't want it any other way

At any given moment I'm in the midst of reading dozens of books, fiction and nonfiction, on a wide range of topics, spanning various historical periods. Ideas bump up against each other in the slow turning of pages. They linger together and form new relationships.

Given the choice, I'll let the value of original thought and enjoyment of simple pleasures trump swift and orderly completion, every time.

BTW - On the frugal front, I unsuccessfully attempted to find these books through the public library before resorting to used copies through Amazon.com. Ownership does allow the luxury of making marks and taking my time.

Cape May Singer Songwriters Conference

We landed in beautiful Cape May NJ this weekend, for the Cape May Singer Songwriter Conference where B and I taught workshops, performed, and met a lot of wonderful people dedicated to writing and performing their songs.

Though this photo looks like a UFO beamed us down on the NJ beach, we actually arrived by car.

The conference was held at Congress Hall, a beautiful old resort right on the shore, built in 1816.

More to come about this wonderful weekend and the people we met there.

SONGWRITING: Binder & Web Work

Today was a day spent working on the administrative side of my creative projects. As a result, I was able to check a couple of longstanding items off my TO-DO list.

I finished printing out lyric/chord sheets for all my songs and put them into a binder organized with tabs by CD project (several underway currently). It felt good to see them all in one place for the first time. I think this will help to focus effort for the next stage--recording.

The tabs are made out of manilla file folders cut along one of the ridges that allows the folder to expand, then three-hole-punched. I do this for flexibility and to save money on office supplies.

The chord sheet shown is for my song "Livin' in the Present", a birthday celebration song for people who've already put more than a few decades worth of birthdays behind them. The chorus starts: "You're livin' in the present and it's a gift, a gift to be opened." Doing my best to practice what I preach. :-)

I also did some editing on my website, finally fixing one tiny little embarassing spelling error that had been there since the site was designed. Much more to do there, but it's not all going to happen in one day.

Our internet connection has gone through a major improvement today with the arrival and installation of a new, more powerful modem. [Thank you, B!] With any luck, web work won't be as much of a hit-or-miss activity as it has been. Nothing like having the wireless internet connection drop right in the middle of a complicated editing or uploading session. I'm hopeful that this is a thing of the past.

Now, I'm off to get my hands dirty working on pottery. Need to shift my focus away from technology for the rest of the evening. And there's nothing more low-tech than a fist full of mud!

GAIA LUNA: Seeds

Been gone from the blog for about 3 month since my last post.

Just living and doing, and living and not doing.

I've rediscovered the joys of just sitting and thinking, or sitting and not thinking about anything in particular, staring at passing clouds and light on tree branches like I did when I was a kid. I highly recommend it. Thoughts wander in wonderful directions when allowed the space to do so.

Last night I ordered FREE 2008 seed catalogs from the following sources.

Johnny's Select Seeds
Seeds of Change
Kitchen Garden Seeds
White Flower Farm
Burpee
Park
Gurneys

I'd fallen off their mailing lists because it has been so long since I ordered anything. Had them sent to my PO box so they wouldn't get mixed in with all the other junk mail and accidentally sent to the recycling bin.

Some companies sell organic seeds, others do not.

In anycase, I'm beginning to feel anticipation, looking forward to March planting of early vegetables this year.

Creative intentions are being readied for planting, too.

As always at this stage, they are numerous and unsprouted, like seeds held in the hand before the soil has begun to warm. Those that eventually reach the stage where they can put on leaves and set fruit will be something I'm willing to write about. For now I keep them cradled within my cupped palm and curled fingers.

non-Competition

~ journal excerpt

I want art and serenity in my life. I'm not interested in competitive jockeying.

If, after I've created what I want to create and taken it out into the world, if then it fits with the parameters of some competition, I will try. I'm not going to mold myself unrecognizably into something to fit an objective.

I think a lot about getting older and trying to find lasting meaning in life. There is a wealth of material for art and song there.

(c)2007 Kay Pere ~ Effusive Muse Publishing

Connect the DOTs

My theme for the next few months is "Connect the Dots". I tend to work on things in isolated islands of intense activity. One day one thing, the next another. I have so many areas of focus that it all becomes rather disjointed. Like dots on a page with only hints of a picture around the edges, and no numbers to tell how to connect them.

I've named the clusters of dots, like constellations, to help me make more sense of them:

• Heart and Spiral - my songwriting, performing and recording activities
• Sacred Shards - pottery work and sales
• Effusive Muse Publishing - my writing project and workshop development
• Sound Krayons Music - the teaching studio, vocal and songwriting workshops
• Keys for a Cause - social activism (related to our non-profit LUNCH, Local United Network to Combat Hunger)
• Gaia Luna - the garden that's more than a garden

Then there are the dots that are just splashes of me, that don't necessarily fit in anywhere.

Constellations, all, clusters of light in the sky over my head, for navigation, telling of meaning and stories, connected through imagination, through action. Right now, though, mostly just dots, disjointed fragments of accomplishment and infrastructure.

How about this? DOTs: Disjointed Organizational Tools

Sounds so corporate.

Sometimes, if I let myself become distracted by a troublesome person, I find I've connected with dots that don't belong to me.

In the past I would let these things hang in isolation in my mind, not allowing myself to see a pattern and it's impact on me. This takes it's toll. I'll never know how many hours, how many days I've lost with thoughtless words and actions reverberating in my head.

I've begun to see the ways I've allowed other people's dots to become part of my design. I've started to recognize where I've drawn lines connecting with their dots instead of my own.

Seeing this, I can choose when to use my eraser and make changes.

I hope I am better equipped to consciously choose to connect, or not, in the future.

My dots. Their dots.

My job in this life is to own my dots, to add some of my own choosing, to draw in the lines that transform dots into meaningful pictures, then use them to navigate toward my destination, whatever that turns out to be.

(c)2007 Kay Pere ~ Effusive Muse Publishing

Rose Rescue

Sometimes a new beginning arrives disguised as a dramatic letdown. I've learned that bouncing back is essential to sustaining a creative life.

I found myself drooping today, like the dozen, wilted, long-stemmed red roses in a tall vase on my kitchen counter, standing with their heads bowed. These roses were a gift, received last Friday as reminder of love, constant through failure and success alike. Sad, beautiful, comforting roses.

Not quite ready to part with them, I trimmed them from their stems, nestled the unfolding flowers in a shallow bowl of water.

Disappointment, too, can be transformed.

By trimming the useful and beautiful bits of an experience from those that are not, I can nestle them safely within, until the time is right to move on.

©2006 Effusive Muse Publishing

Copier Counterpoint

Tonight, I'm engaged the repetitive, administrative side of being a creative person.

Tonight, I'm my own administrative assistant. Nothing glamorous about it. Just plain old mindless work. I'm printing, copying and collating handouts for a workshop I'll be teaching at a conference in a few days.

I staple together sets of worksheets. The printer and copier chug away in the background. I count aloud, lifting sheets from their piles, "one-two-three" K-CHUNK (that's the stapler), "one-two-three" K-CHUNK in counterpoint to the poly-rhythm of the office machines.

One runs out of ink. Another has a paper jam. We are musicians in rehearsal. I am their conductor. I stop to fix a problem, then we pick up where we left off.

This is the work of creating. Though it doesn't feel creative, the machines and I are bringing something new into being -- the means to communicate ideas beyond the confines of this small room.

©2006 Kay Pere - Effusive Muse Publishing

SONGWRITING: Raw Materials

This is where song ideas turn into songs, here at my piano, with a pile of freshly sharpened pencils (Papermate American Naturals unvarnished wood) and lots of notebook paper on pads.

American Naturals are my pencil of choice for all writing. Some are better than others, even though they're labeled as being same the brand. The best ones are very smooth and made of a reddish wood. The others are made of a lighter wood, not sanded as well and have smudgy erasers. When I've gotten those by accident I've gone over them with a fine grained sandpaper before using them. It's just one of those things. They don't feel right.

Last time I found the good ones in a store I bought up all they had. Spent about $20 on pencils. I should be OK for the next couple of years. :-)

I'm very possessive of my song writing pencils. For some unknown reason they seem to grow legs and disappear into an alternate universe along with all the singleton socks, coat hangers, winter gloves and guitar picks.

Here's a link to a blog for Dave in NZ who also has strong feelings about his pencils, in case you're interested.

During a songwriting session, I rip the pages off the pads and spread out them out all at once across the piano, so I can see the ideas as they develop. I'm working on an upright piano where the individual sheets have a tendency to slide off onto the floor if they're not secured in place. I've use a long strip of cardboard sitting on the piano's music rest and 8-10 bankers clips over the top edge of the cardboard to hold the music in place.

I've come to these preferences through experimentation.

The bare wood pencils are part of my desire to feel more connected with the natural world, to simplify my life, and to have my creative work flow from that place. Besides, they feel good in my hand.

The cardboard-and-bankers-clips setup developed as a solution to accompanying singers while playing from multiple sheets of photocopied music. This idea carried over into my songwriting.

By using my creativity to find solutions to problems in the environment where I do my creative work and discovering materials that fit with my values, I've added another dimension of meaning to my artistic work processes.

I encourage you to find creative ways to make your materials, methods and working environment a supportive reflection of your own artistic impulses.

RECORDING: Process & Meaning

I'm in the early stage of writing a book about the creative process. In preparation for organizing my material and bringing the project into better focus I ordered a pile of used books through Amazon.com about creativity. I wanted to see what had already been written and how these other books were organized, so could be sure that my ideas will offer something new and different.

This reading has been good for me, both artistically and personally. After a long time way from the studio, I've started recording again. I don't have much to show for it yet, but I'm on my way.

The process of recording a song is much more than sitting down at the piano with a microphone and pressing the record button. Although I use this simple method, on a minidisc (MD) recorder, to capture ideas and develop songs in progress, much more is needed to produce a radio ready recording. Even more will be required if the finished recording is to reflect my vision of the sound I want for my music.

So first thing in the morning, I've spent 2-3 hours each on Wednesday and Thursday this week moving a few tiny steps closer to a recording I'm ready to release. After 6 hours of work, I've completed STEPS 1-4 below for a new song B and I wrote back in June called "So Little Time (Time at the Table)". I'm hoping I'll get faster at all this with more experience.

I start by working in MIDI using MOTU Performer on a Mac. Here's my process:

STEP 0 - Practice, arrange, and visualize in preparation for performance and recording.
STEP 1 - Make a rhythm track that works with the feel of the song. This is a temporary placeholder used to set tempo and provide a grid.
STEP 2 - (could have been STEP 1) Make a chord sheet for the song so I'm not working from memory, not chancing chord and structure mistakes while the record button in armed. This is also essential for communicating the song to others involved in the process.
STEP 3 - Record a rough piano part.
STEP 4 - Enter markers into the conductor track to show beginnings of intro, verses, chorus, bridge and outro.
STEP 5 - Record and quantize piano. Cut and paste together if necessary.
STEP 6 - Record bass track, pad or organ track, lead instrumental track.
STEP 7 - Hand it off to my recording partner. Record a rough vocal to use as a reference while he's detailing the arrangement. Work collaboratively until the results are on target.
STEP 8 - This depends on the nature of the project. Ultimately, for my next CD, many of the MIDI tracks will be replaced by acoustic instruments. This may involve sessions at various locations with hired musicians, then combining audio tracks back in our studio.
STEP 8 - Record final vocals.
STEP 9 - Mix and master completed song.
(Repeat STEPS 1-9 for each song)
STEP 10 - Master completed CD project.

Beyond this, I design my own artwork and graphics for the packaging, make duplication decisions, arrange for band rehearsals, handle distribution and booking, do publicity. I've put off recording because all of this takes time away from my first love - writing a new song.

The joy, for me, is in the process of writing of a song then bringing it live to an audience. Recording is an artform I am learning to love. I see it as a vehicle that carry songs from the intense, solitary environment where they were written out into the marketplace where they may catch the ear of someone passing by. To go through this, I have to believe there's something of value in what I'm doing, at least on some small scale.

Selling my art and recordings to raise money for hunger relief and social services through LUNCH is a part of creating meaning through my creative work. Just as important, for me, is the ideas of using art and music to create an awareness of our deep connectedness as human being.

Like my Sacred Shards pottery and the Gaia Luna garden, the songs I record are tangible manifestations of my solitary creative experience, things I can share with you.

When I create, I dive deep and bring back meaning from ancient dream places. Beauty in simplicity, values of family and the natural world, stories of ordinary lives lived in extraordinary ways, and mythic tales from the shadow world. I know the value this holds for me. Beyond that, I'm only guess.

So, I record. I make things. And I bring these things to the marketplace, where I'll chat with whoever stops by to look and listen.

©2006 Kay Pere - Effusive Muse Publishing

Herding Turtles

Recently, I was commiserating with an artist friend who also prefers to work on multiple projects at one time.

She said she spends time each day on many different things, but feels like it's taking forever to bring anything to completion.

I said, "Right! It's like herding turtles. The turtles and I are all headed somewhere. We're just not getting there very fast."

The up side is that at this pace the turtles (my projects) don't go astray very quickly either.

NEW SONG: The Moon and Sun

Yesterday, someone asked me what I had done all day and I replied, "not much," until I remember that I had written a song. Hows that for art becoming a routine part of everyday life?!

The words for the first part are a very old traditional rhyme describing where the moon is seen in the sky as it moves through it's phases. I've written the melody and harmonized it so it can be song either as a solo, an echo song, or a round, building as you go with audience participation.

The second part is a contrasting chorus, my own words and music. (I really need to figure out how to create simple rough recordings of new songs to post online) This will be on the Dolphin's Daughters CD.

THE MOON AND SUN
Words traditional, with additional lyrics and music by Kay Pere

The New Moon rises with the Sun.
Her waxing half the midday shows.
The Full Moon climbs at sunset hour.
And waning half the midnight knows.

Moon and Sun, the great romance,
Spinning high then bowing low.
Love's ancient luminescent dance,
Shine upon us here below.

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

PROLIFERATION: A Beneficent Boss

Today I'm engaged in repetitive work, printing out packaging, assembling, and sitting at the computer for hours to work on graphics. I enjoy all this, up to a point. I have to use distraction and bribery to get myself through this last phase of the creative process when it requires assembly line work or being chained to a computer for hours.

This last phase of the creative process* is called PROLIFERATION. It involves reproduction, packaging, and marketing a creative work.

This last phase of the creative process is the most neglected among artist and musicians. We create because we like to make something new out of ideas and raw materials. Many of us also create because we hope the things we make will be meaningful or at least entertaining to others. But no one will encounter our work unless it's given legs of its own to venture beyond the confines of the studio.

As an artist/musician/writer/educator, I work for myself, by myself, most of the day. I'm learning to be sensitive to the needs of my creative process, while running a small business.

I'm the business manager, but I'm also the art department, marketing consultant, accountant, admin support, public relations, product development, travel agent, computer tech, database manager, licensing/legal, print shop, mail room, purchasing agent, inventory control, and cafeteria chef, all rolled into one. As business manager I'm required to be financially responsible, organized, plan ahead and follow through even when it isn't any fun.

Managing my creative side, really allowing time for it to manage me, requires a completely different set of skills.

Creative work in it's earliest stages has to be play or it just doesn't happen. When I sit down at the piano to write or slice off a fresh slab of clay to sculpt, I don't know what I'm going to end up with, if anything. Results are far from guaranteed. It's all about enjoying the process, following it where it leads. I start with raw materials, a stretch of time and an image or a concept or a feeling or nothing at all. Things progress spontaneously rather than sequentially.

Sometimes, after several hours of intense effort, all I have is a better idea of where I might be going and a pile of pages covered with scribbled words, or used up materials that have to be tossed out. Sometimes the results are so unexpected that I feel as if they've arrived by divine providence.

Creative play/work doesn't follow a typical business model.

A good boss for a creative person plans for spontaneity by not packing the schedule too tightly. A good boss for a creative person arranges for abundant materials to be on hand and easy to find. A good boss for a creative person shields the artist from concerns about finances and marketability while the artist is developing something new.

A good boss for a creative person actually realizes that the artist is the employer, not the other way around.

Am I the kind of boss I enjoy working for? A Beneficent Boss?

That depends.

I try to be a good boss. When I'm working intently, I try to remember to give myself breaks to get up and stretch, get some food and take care of other necessities. I try to see that I work in a studio, not an office. I try to stay focused on deeper motivations: to be happy, to make a difference in the world, and hopefully have something for paying the bills.

Unfortunately, there are times when I'm a slave driver. The slave driver insists on doing one more thing, then another and another, before I'm allowed to stop for lunch. The slave driver forgets about the artist's need for unscheduled time and makes too many commitments. The slave driver is all about practical applications and marketability, all the time. The slave driver demands that the work space is perfectly picked up and the To-Do List is completely crossed off before the artist is allowed to play.

The slave driver boss threatens to take possession of the artist's successful creations by setting expectations for the artist to produce the same work over and over.

The artist is not a factory worker.

Today, I'm an artist working the assembly line of proliferation. I'm bridging the gap between creating in seclusion and putting a tiny piece of art into the hands of someone who will enjoy it.

I'm pretending not to be doing something repetitious. I'm distracting myself by writing this little essay while packaging materials come out of the printer by the dozens.

Is this efficient? For me it is.

In a little while, I'll rent a couple of sappy movies and pile a plate with snacks, then sit down to finish the hands-on work. There'll be a break to teach a couple of voice lessons early in the evening. Then it's back to the assembly shop for a couple hours to meet a deadline coming up this weekend.

If I do this, the good boss has promised me some uninterrupted time to write songs, play with clay and dig in the garden. Just as soon as this big push is all over. I'm trusting the good boss to follow through.

:-), Kay
http://www.kaypere.com

* For more on the phases of the creative process [Creation, Realization, and Proliferation] see Bill Pere's articles at:
http://www.billpere.com/Songwriter_Tools.htm

COPYRIGHT 2006 - Effusive Muse Publishing

HEART&SPIRAL: Why Title Everything?

I thought it might be good to provide some explanation about the titles I'm using in this blog.

I'm not a person who's content to do only one thing. So I've come up with names for the different aspects of my creative/artistic/musical life. Makes more sense to me that way. Helps me to keep straight on what I'm doing at any given moment, but might be confusing for others without some sort of Rosetta stone to help decipher.

People ask me what I do. Here's the breakdown.

HEART&SPIRAL: This is name for that swirly logo thing made out of my initials. It's also an over arching concept of creative flow, spiritual journey toward center, etc. And it's the name of my band. Everything else I do, no matter how it's named, falls under HEART&SPIRAL.

SOUND KRAYONS MUSIC: This is my teaching studio. I offer voice instruction and coaching, workshops, song writing and performance coaching, music theory and piano instruction.

SACRED SHARDS: This is my pottery business. Also includes some mixed media work.

KEYS FOR A CAUSE an organization I founded to unite keyboard playing performing songwriters, coast-to-coast (US) and internationally, to present events and recordings benefiting local social services as an outreach of LUNCH (Local United Network to Combat Hunger).

GAIA LUNA: a sacred space garden being created to celebrate the cycles of earth and moon, and the traditions of women. All this is described in more detail on my website: http://www.kaypere.com/visual_artist_garden.htm

:-), Kay