"I love to watch (and paint) musicians playing together. They build off each other’s energies and ideas, weaving in their individual sounds along the way. It feels like magic to me; they create something rich and full and communal. I watch them pass the melody back and forth, like a gift they offer up to one another. I see them catch each other’s glances, smiles and nods - subtle acknowledgements of the shared experience. And I am aware how different this is from my own work, which seems so much more private in nature. But I’m learning about the things musicians and painters have in common too. We are both playing with rhythm and harmony and color, following some little thread of an idea with the hope of building an effective composition, trying to communicate a feeling from inside the confines of our mediums. I feel so lucky to be able to work side by side with friends who share the same creative pull. We can’t help but do this stuff, whether it makes sense or not. Thank you to all the musicians who have let me peek into the experience of being a musician, for helping me understand a little more about who I am trying to paint, and for making me feel like I belong."

Linda Langhorst, painter