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So what is it about certain songs that makes all of us get the creeps? That was the question posed on the Science Friday segment “Behind the Monster Music: Why Some Tunes Scare Us.” I immediately recognized one of the prime examples used – the music from the famous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “Psycho”. […]

Happy World Music Day! What a great way to recognize the importance of music and its ability to bring people together. World Music Day (also called Make Music Day) started in 1982 when the Ministry of Culture in France launched the Fête de la Musique (“festival of music”). The event was a day of free, […]

Allene & Laurie have a dialogue through flutes The December meeting of the Gainesville Flute Circle provided us the opportunity to play our Native American-style flutes and get into the holiday spirit by playing some Christmas carols including “I Saw Three Ships” and “Silent Night.” We had fun with flute dialogues and conversations.  We had […]

I had a different experience in capturing my recent hikes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Usually I take dozens (actually, hundreds) of digital photos. A typical vacation travel habit. This time I captured my views as watercolor paintings. Now I have all the images in one spot – in my Moleskine art journal. […]

Come to the Art Festival at Thornebrook to see my latest artwork. The festival is Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 12-13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. My work includes pieces I created at the Lavender Festival in Oregon, views from hiking in the Grand Canyon, and new scenes from Barcelona. I will be selling original […]

Palette knife Painting Painting with acrylics and developing an approach to different subjects has been one way to stay actively learning while spending time in social isolation. While I have painted with watercolors for two years, acrylic paint behaves so very differently. And painting with the palette knife requires the development of a certain dexterity. […]

I remember very well the first three branch flutes I’ve made.  After that, only selective memory. Sycamore Branch Flute In Oct. 2010 I was out cycling and rode past a team cutting down three significant sycamore trees on the lawn of a local bank.  I stopped and asked if I returned with my car could […]

I was delighted to share my flutes, kanteles and other wood-crafted items at the Stephen Foster State Park Craft Rendezvous and appreciated the invitation to share my musical instruments. The key of the flute, the size of the flute, and the kind of wood are all part of the choices to be made in selecting […]

Come join me at the SoMa Art Media Hub on Saturday, Feb. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. where the Gainesville Arts Market will be taking place. My WrenSong Woods booth (#19) will feature hand-crafted wood products to add to the function and look of  your cooking and entertaining. I’m made gorgeous wood cutting […]

People have asked me how I decided to make both Native American style flutes and kanteles.  The answer: these instruments had such appealing sounds that I needed to have one to play myself.  After making one for myself, I needed to share the joy of playing easy-to-learn instruments. The 5-string kantele is considerably easier both to play […]

Raven in Watercolor A watercolor portrait of a raven was created during my recent hiking and painting trip to the Grand Canyon. As I took photos of a raven sitting on a fence rail, I talked to the bird, telling it I admired its glistening feathers. I think its response indicated that it wasn’t interested […]

Six of my carved wooden spoons are now in new homes. A friend made a special order for Christmas gifts. This order of gift spoons was a lot of fun to create and shows a range of wood and spoon styles. The lilac spoon (second from right) was from a tree in Ontario, Canada. The […]