Today's prompt for #clairestelle8challenge over on instagram is the seasonally-appropriate "Mother's Day". After a bit of debate about what direction I wanted to go in for this mani, I decided to base it around honoring my own mother.
My mother comes from a very musical family, and music was always very important in our home growing up. She played the piano (her own mother was an actual child prodigy on the piano), and taught us how to play as well when we were young. Most of us went on to choose other instruments to play during high school, and she was always very supportive and encouraging of those pursuits. She helped me learn violin, and then was supportive of the giant pain-in-the-butt instrument I chose next, the upright bass. Imagine the shortest, tiniest girl hauling around the biggest instrument possible, and you've got a pretty good mental picture. Orchestra directors loved me, though- bass players are hard to find.
After a performance, it is traditional to give red roses to soloists. So I decided to pair the floral staple with piano keys to represent my mother's passion.
I started out with two layers of white... again... I feel like I keep using white as a base in my manis, but I genuinely tried to get around it this time. Those piano keys just had to be white.
The "I love Mom" image is from an older Born Pretty Store plate, and the rose detail above it is from this cheap no-name pate off of Aliexpress. Some really fun designs on this plate!
So yeah, I used a crazy number of plates for this look. Actually, I pulled out even more plates than this when I started because I wasn't 100% sure what would work. But, there you go! My Mother's Day mani. I hope you enjoyed it! If you'd like to see more, check out the #clairestelle8may hastag on instagram.
Very pretty. I am sure your mom loved them and I admire your bravery for buying the Doodles 11 plate. I wouldn't know what to do with it. :)
ReplyDeleteFunny coincidence: today is the first time I ever attended a piano recital. Do you still play the upright bass?
Thank you! I love that plate- beautiful images!
DeleteI haven't played the bass in over a decade. I never actually owned one; I always rented them because they were expensive. When I got my own place I never had enough room for one, or a group to play with. I do sing in a choir now, but that's the extent of my musical outlet nowadays.
Anyway, you can't play stringed instruments and have long fingernails. So when I was in high school, I always had to keep them super short! I enjoy having them longer now, though.
That was always the disadvantage of the bigger instruments. I sometimes wonder if I'd still be playing the flute if I went with it like my music teacher suggested. I'm sure choir is much easier on the nails, but do you miss playing a musical instrument?
DeleteWhat instrument did you play?
DeleteSometimes I miss playing; I think the best part of it for me was being part of the larger group, playing together and the feeling I got when I lost myself in a piece of music. It was such a beautiful feeling! I do get that still with the choir, but it's different somehow. I guess part of the fun was the thrill of preforming in front of an audience too, and the choir definitely gives me that outlet.
I played the french horn. I had braces at the time so it was rather painful.
DeleteI don't know how challenging the pieces your choir does, but perhaps the level of difficulty makes the difference? It's good that you still have an outlet though. Working together with people is good for the heart. :)
My sister played the French horn for a while- started on flute, then moved to that. It is such a beautiful instrument! I can imagine that braces would complicate things, though. 😬 I had braces in middle school- I was pretty grateful that I picked a stringed instrument at that point in my life! 😂
DeleteYeah, the choir music is fairly simple most of the time, but every once in a while I get to do a more challenging descant. Right now I'm working on a more difficult acapella trio piece that my neighbor arranged. I'm excited about it- and nervous- because I've never done something so intricate.
I still think it has a different feel though- singing is almost too easy because it is slower and there is no tricky finger work involved. Also, there is something about being connected with your instrument and the feeling of it being an extension of yourself that you don't get so much with singing.
Braces suck! ;D
DeleteI can see your point about the instrument being an extension of yourself. The french horn is much more simple than a string instrument as far as finger work goes, but its sound soared far more than my voice ever could and it felt really good to hit those notes. Maybe when the kids are older you can pick up an instrument again.
Meanwhile, acapella is awesome! :D
Love this mani & the story behind it! Sometimes the best manis involve a little bit of everything!
ReplyDeleteVicky x
@thepolishlist
Thank you so much! This was a fun one to make; I enjoy pulling out all of my plates every once in a while. ;)
DeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
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