TexasGirl Photography

The other day we went to Taylor, Texas, for the first time in many many months. Our destination was the coffee shop, which turned out to be closed, so we sat at the Texas Beer Company instead (pale ale for him, Topo Chico for me). It was fabulous : life and chatter bustled all around us; I soaked it all up and wrote, plus I saw my friend Nick who I hadn’t seen in even more moons than my last trip to Taylor.

While we were hanging out, I noticed pianos on the street; one stopped me in my tracks on the way to our table. Apparently, they have recently taken part in a Painted Piano Project, which I would link here for you if I could find any info online about it, but my searches came up largely empty handed.

Now, if you know me in real life, especially lately, you will know that I am mad about the piano. My Grandmother’s passing in October was the equivalent of me being born again to the childhood skill / passion I abandoned about the time I became pregnant. The revival continues, with my recent purchase of a new piano that gives me chills every time I look at it, especially since this is the first time in 25 years that I have lived with an actual acoustic piano (I had – and still have, because I can’t bear to sell it – a digital Yamaha that was a faithful friend for 20 years but it just ain’t the same as STRINGS and hammers y’all.)

I will admit that I felt equal parts pain and pleasure about the pianos. They are lovely works of art (especially the one Nick designed and made – yes, I am declaring a favorite of the ones I saw), and it’s terrific how they have music attached for the brave to attempt. But oh, those poor pianos. Absolutely wrecked by the elements. My hope is that it was paint or the junkyard for them, and this is a happy second life for them!

I didn’t try playing because I am shy about performing and dislike drawing attention to myself, and there were a LOT of people around, but I hope I’ll be able to go out there again soon and play to my heart’s content. . . . . or as far as the wonky keys will allow. I photographed the ones that I happened upon with my Polaroid Now, and wrote a little poem. Those I present to you below!

If you are reading this and are the creator of any of those pianos, please let me know! Also, if you know the location of more of these, I would certainly be interested in visiting and photographing them.

Painted pianos
weathering sidewalk lifestyles
noteworthy neglect:
these decorated songbirds
waiting for their strings to sing