The artist as a young man

Actually, I'm just dreaming. I'm standing with Dale Ulkins who was just gifted by his brother Doug with one of my paintings. Doug asked me to make something with Dale's name and some Gretsch guitars. I felt honored to see Dale's delight in the gift. Dale has recorded some music for kids - "You Gotta Read" was inspired by his daughter Sarah's love of reading. The photo was taken by Dale's son Graham.

Commission - music!

One of my summer school students, Rebecca A, came up with this idea. She is going to gift her high school music teacher, and she asked me to create a music painting. Here is one of my answers to this fun little project.
Below, of course, I had to try sneaking a doily into the composition:

Rebecca made a drawing to be a guideline for what she was hoping I could make:

Below is a literal translation of the drawing. I did add a few letters.Below is the treble clef that I made with thin strips of matboard.