The Butterfly Charmer

Posted in 1920s, Art, Creativity, Inspiration, Isle of Adelle, Jazz Age, Jazz Musicians, Vintage, watercolor painting by Cindy Adelle Richard

The Butterfly Charmer by Cindy Adelle Richard

Agatha did not discover her love for the cello until she reached her twenties. She had always been extremely active as a young child and participated in lots of sports; the thought of slowing down to play an instrument never crossed her mind. In college, Agatha’s music theory class took a field trip to a museum, and as part of the experience, the students got to try out lots of different instruments. For some reason, the cello just clicked with Agatha. She had no idea how to play it yet, but it just felt right resting against her body. With the support of her music theory professor, Monsieur Lamb, Agatha found a good cello instructor and started taking lessons in the afternoons after classes.

One day when Agatha and her cello instructor, Mr. Kim, were practicing, they decided to go outside to play because it was too warm inside. By this time, Agatha was quite proficient and could play lovely songs on the cello. As she played, butterflies started to swirl around her – first one, then two, and by the time she finished, there were about 20. Mr. Kim had never seen anything like it. The next day, they came back to the field to play, and the same thing happened. Out of curiosity, Mr. Kim played his cello to see if the butterflies would gravitate toward him, but they just fluttered away. From then on, he referred to Agatha as the butterfly charmer. Whenever she performed outside, day or night, butterflies appeared and fluttered lazily about enchanting everyone present. Agatha loved this spectacle because she had always been fascinated by butterflies. It always made her happy to see that the butterflies enjoyed her music, and she kept them in mind when she started to compose music.

To bring Agatha and her butterflies home with you, visit Etsy

19Jul2017

The Jazz Age Style Alphabet

Posted in 1920s, Art, Creativity, Jazz Age, Jazz Musicians, The Great Gatsby by Cindy Adelle Richard

I completed a project that I feel pretty good about called the Jazz Age Style Alphabet. I completed an original watercolor painting and used a calligraphy letter for each one. I thought I might feel pressure or get bored with it, but I liked how much structure it provided in terms of selecting images to focus on for my work. An added bonus for this project was that I learned some things I did not know about some of the people, places, or objects I chose. If you are looking for a great project related to a theme you love, I highly recommend doing an alphabet project and challenging yourself to find unique content. I posted the entire alphabet below – I hope you enjoy it!

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2Oct2014

Jazz Age Lawn Party – The Crane Estate

Posted in 1920s, Inspiration, Jazz Age, Jazz Musicians by Cindy Adelle Richard

I attended a Jazz Age Lawn Party at the Crane Estate in Ipswich, MA, and it was the bees knees! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist) As you can see, I dressed up for the occasion and so did everyone else. I truly felt like I was experiencing a lovely afternoon in the 1920s because everyone was dressed to impress, live jazz was playing, and people were dancing the Charleston and Lindy Hop. You can see the grand old estate in the background. The lawn extends along a grand alley all the way to the ocean. I will be posting more pictures of the inside of the Crane Estate from a house tour I attended, but in the meantime, I hope you enjoy these pictures. I wish you all could have been there!