Happy Tuesday 5/2014 - Using Family History As Art

Welcome to the 4th Happy Tuesday of 2014!   I hope you'll join the link party today, and share something that makes you happy!  Check out the info at the bottom of the post and join the fun!

As we continue to settle into our new home, I am trying to use pieces that connect to a story, some history of our family.
Ours is a family of musicians, and music has played a central role in our lives since the first day I met my husband.  So it's only natural to decorate our house with musical themes here and there.   In our new home, we have a front room that is somewhat of a "music library", since it's on the smallish side and the piano is the dominant piece of furniture in there.   So as I was deciding how to decorate, I knew it would be music related.  I wanted it to have some personal touches too.  So, this project was exactly what I was looking for!

I love the look of matching frames, and when I found these on sale at Michael's sometime during the Christmas shopping season, I knew they'd be perfect for this project.

With four musicians in the family, I decided to frame four pieces of music.  Each piece represents something special about one of the members of the family.  

For my husband, it's the first page of the Haydn's "Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra", which is the piece he played for his solo festival during the spring of his senior year of high school.

For me, it's a song that I arranged for my barbershop quartet to sing as the "acceptance song" the year we won our Sweet Adelines Regional competition.

For my son, it's the first page of the "Petite Piece Concertante" trumpet concerto by Balay, which is one of the many pieces he played in his solo festival during high school. (BTW, he also played the Haydn, using the same piece of battered and torn music that my husband had used twenty-some years earlier. I love these kinds of continuity in the family, ... it just feels good to me.)

For my daughter, it's the first page of the "Six Studies in English Folksong" by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which is one of her favorite pieces, and one that she played on trombone for her solo jury during her second year of college as a music performance major.

If you're sensing a theme, you're right - all four of us were instrumentalists in high school, and my daughter has continued this into college.  I played saxophone way back when, but my sax music is long lost by now.  Barbershop is much more important to me now anyway, so that's why my music piece is not an instrumental solo.

Putting these personal touches into the artwork of our home makes things just feel right.

I could have bought something to hang up here, but instead these pieces are unique, have a story, and bring happy memories every time I look at them.

They're conversation starters, too, as visitors to our home often ask about them.  And that gives me a chance to brag on my family, which I love to do. :-)

How about you? What are you displaying in your home that brings up happy memories? I'd love to hear about it - please leave a comment to share your happy decorating treasures.

__________________________
Linking to:

The Dedicated House - Make It Pretty Monday
Between Naps On The Back Porch - Metamorphosis Monday
StoneGable:  The Scoop

__________________________

Now, on to our Happy Tuesday link party. What makes YOU happy? What brings a smile, lights up your eyes, makes your heart go pitter-patter? Please join the link party to share your little slice of happy today. I'm really looking forward to visiting! The party starts at 9pm Eastern tonight (Monday)!

__________________________