1. I play the flute. My first love was music and I hold a Bachelor's degree in Music Performance. I teach flute students each week in a local public school and at the moment have 17 private students ranging in age from 5th - 10th grades. I love teaching - the kids keep me on my toes and also keep me playing! I am performing in a Christmas concert in a few weeks, which I'm looking forward to. Below is a recording of a recording of a recording (in other words, please forgive the sound quality) from a concert I performed in my town. The piece is called "3 Carols for Christmas".
2. I've been to Paris 6 or 7 times, but have never been to Washington, DC. This is a photo I took from the cafe at the top of Printemps department store in January 2008 when I attended Maison et Objet.
3. I sew. When I was younger, I made many of my own clothes from winter coats to suits to jeans to ballgowns. Now, every time I try to make clothes, I make a mess of it. But I do still sew pillows and sometimes small window treatments. This project below was for a segment on local TV station WHDH called "Room for Improvement" where people wrote in looking for help with a space in their home. I did this master bedroom on a budget for a nice local couple.
4. I suffer from "I-can-do-that-itis", but I do not knit. I pretty much try any kind of craft project, except knitting. This is a detail of a group of decoupage wall tiles that I made last year after seeing some similar on another blog.
4. I prefer photography to other art forms and my favorite local fine art photographer is Anne Henning and I have two of her pieces. The one of the left with the pink fuzzy umbrella was taken in Paris in front of the oldest umbrella shop in the city. The one on the right is a landscape of Tuscany. Of course, this quick snapshot does not do justice to these painterly photographs that are printed on watercolor paper. Just amazing.
5. I cry easily and often. In truth, I tear up at least once per day. Both when I'm happy, frustrated or just moved by something beautiful. Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring" makes me cry. So did Van Gogh's "Starry Night" when I saw it at The Musée D'Orsay - I just stood there and balled like a baby. And I've never been a Van Gogh fan, but something about seeing the iconic piece in person was incredibly powerful and moving. Interestingly, Norman Rockwell makes me tear up as well.
6. I'm a twelfth generation American. My ancestor - Nathaniel Merrill - came over with his brother John from Essex, England in 1633 and settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, which is north of Boston. Of all the places I've lived (and it's been many), Newburyport was the town that has most felt like home to me and one day I know I'll move back there. I lived there from 1995-2000.
7. I know nothing about sports and care less. Except that my maternal Grandmother's uncle, Tim Keefe (1857-1933),was a professional baseball player and is the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a pitcher and played for the Mets, Giants and the Phillies during his career. And, he was nicknamed "Sir Timothy" because of his gentlemanly behavior.
8. I'll never live in a neat and orderly home. I'm just not that person. Wish I were, but I'm not. I'm organized, but still cluttered.
9. My favorite color is green - any kind of green, any shade, ever since I was about 5 years old. I have to stop my self from over-doing the green. Although, interestingly, I haven't used tons of green in my decorating work. My second favorite color is pink - a fact I've only recently accepted about myself.
10. I'm an extrovert, yet shy. I can talk or perform in front of a large crowd without being nervous (well, not too nervous) but walking into a room with a small group of people who I don't know well? Horrors. I still go to business events thinking I might turn around before I get there. Usually, I go inside. And then have a great time.
So, that's a bit about me. Thanks to Greet for asking me to participate. You can read about her 10 Things here.
- Lisa Porter Collection
- Everything L.E.B.
- Boxwood Terrace
- Windlost
- French Garden House
- Holly Mathis Interiors
- Completely Coastal
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