A Gift for an Artist

Today, our Steinway piano leaves the house, sold to the highest bidder by Dot. I woke early this morning, ready with a title for this essay and a mind filled with words too scrambled to do justice to the scope of my emotional feelings. Dorothea Lippart was the music teacher at Ranney when I began teaching. Dot is a talented and lovely person, a beloved mentor to every young student who ever had the honor of working with her, and a very generous friend.

Just over six years ago, Dot retired from Ranney life and was planning to move from her beautiful, antique filled home in Rumson, NJ. Two grand pianos sat together in her tight first floor living room, a house of a true musician. The pianos were eventually going to be gifted to her two sons one day. Meanwhile, she was not going to her new home with both pianos, and asked if anyone would be willing to hold one of them until her son, James, was ready to take it. We went with Sam to her house to see the piano. How thrilling for Sam to play on a real Steinway, a beautiful grand lady meant to fill the concert halls of the world with music. It was an ordeal to bring the Steinway home. Piano movers removed her base and wheeled the body of the piano up the steps on its side. We delegated all the furniture in our living room to the garage to make room for her visit. Only a couch and a chair remained, comfortable seats for an audience to enjoy her sound. We sat around the Steinway for the last 6 years, simply kvelling at Sam's gift of a piano and his gift of musical talent.

Sam's post on FB the day the piano came was a proud and excited blurb. He learned to be a musician on a Howard, a used upright piano too old to be tuned properly. That day, he began playing on the concert grand Steinway. Quite a change in status and quite an honor for our young, talented musician. Sam composed the score for an original musical on the Steinway and wrote a CD filled with original songs on the Steinway. He made us smile with his music, filled our home with magic, and entertained scores of friends and family on the Steinway. He was gifted with the best keys and the best sound for many years. Today, movers are coming for the Steinway, taking it to Virginia to be restored and sold. Dot's son, James, did not want the piano after all.

Completed painting for Sam
20" x 26" acrylic on canvas

I painted a canvas for each of my family members over the years. They all own an original B Levine and a very precious piece of my heart. For Sam, the painting that hangs in his room is a realistic composition of his fingers on the keys of the Steinway. I must have taken over 50 photos of his fingers on the keys, all with a good view of the Steinway logo above his hands. I remember asking him which photo he liked best, as I know little about music and which keys he was pressing to give him which sound. A true collaborative effort, an image of Sam was selected by Sam, then painted by me. I have done many paintings in my life and not all of them have dogs in them. This is one of my favorites. The piano moves into a new home today, but my painting of Sam's fingers on the keys remains as an homage to a grand lady who filled our living room with beautiful music. I am thrilled that he has my gift of a painting to always remember his gift of music from Dot.

Sam will own another piano one day, whenever he is ready to choose one for himself. Right now he proudly plays on a grand electric keyboard, various guitars, ukeleles, drums and assorted other instruments. He graces the halls of his school and the courtyard of his camp with his talent. He amazes audiences and totally captivates his proud parents no matter what keys or strings tickle his fingers. Can someone find him a microphone, please?