Doing Our Part for the Race Problem
Race Responsibility
My first book, Have Fun with Your Music, is compiled of paintings that I produced about practicing an instrument. My work in the form of note cards was in the local Hallmark very quickly after I learned to paint, and currently in the San Francisco Symphony Gift Shop. The SF Symphony Buyer said the cards sold well and they were poised to stock up again in February (except Covid happened).
There are paintings in the book of my son as a toddler and my daughter at age 7 in a dress I sewed for her recital. There is also a painting of Rachel Barton Pine's extremely talented daughter. The book was intended to be useful for students of all instruments. It just happened that the violinists in the book are white. Last February, after a comment by the amazing Kirbee Nykamp, violin teacher and Mother of 3 young students, that "my daughter identifies with that picture" of Rachel's daughter "and considers it a painting of herself", I was horrified that I didn't have more students of different races.
At the time of this writing, June 2020 I have a virtual art show. The link is only available for the month of June. Please enjoy my Virtual Art Show. Profits from purchases for the month of June will go to the Casa Hola Latina Association of Knoxville.
Practice the Tail End
When working on a music piece, the end usually gets practiced less, making it the weakest.
Spend a week just practicing the last page or half page of the music to strengthen it.
Note that the “tail” of a whale is actually called a fluke.
At the time of this writing, this print is not yet available on the web site, but you can request a print of any size by email. If you request note cards, I will speed up the printing process.
It hit me immediately! I realized that it is the responsibility of anyone producing a children's book to put all races prominently in a book. This can prove difficult to do, but I intend to improve the 2nd edition in this fashion. It this time I am working on paintings for both the 2nd edition of the first book, and for my 2nd book planned to be more practice tips either explained in further detail or with more complex ideas. So I am working on expanding my racial representation in both these books, as you can see in this new painting posted.
Also, I am starting to collect stories about practicing to go into the book, hopefully making it a book about all ages. So please spread the word and get back to me with fun, funny or interesting stories about practicing. Write your note in the comments below or send a note to Becky@MusicTeacherGifts.com
