Leinenkugel beer-branded painting

I just finished this branded painting of a local Wisconsin beer logo.  It is a christmas present for my brother-in-law.  The name of the beer is "Leinenkugel".

Ukes on parade!! (a RED on RED! instrumental)

Lately, Nicole and I have been trying to challenge ourselves to write more music, not just songs with lyrics....sometimes there is a marked difference in our lives between the two.

In this song (some things happening in the backdrop):

* Nicole and I are teaching our kids to tune the ukelele by singing "my dog has fleas"....just strumming the uke open like that makes a beautiful sound.

* We also have had many discussions about musical theory--especially in the context of classical music. The latest hot topic in our conversations is how classical composers will find a melody and repeat it/explore it consistently throughout the symphony.

* My kids are teasing my Mother's bijon frise during the recording (which often reminds of a circus act, with both of them circling and taunting the dog, jetting their hands in quickly for a pet or poke and out again before she can growl or bite their tiny little fingers....needless to say, my mothers bijon frise is not good with children.)

Enjoy!


Ukes on parade by ryan kennelly

PS.  I think I have come up with a title for this song: "the amazing, flying trapeze act of Baby Coda (the name of my mothers' dog)"

RED on RED! is back! (we promise)

Shewwww!! Its been a distracted and disheveled year. But Nicole and I are committed to finishing this project! So committed, in fact, we have begun to rearrange our work schedules to fit in more creative work time, as well as hiring someone to help us produce the RED on RED! album. The producers (wow that sounds professional??) name is David Atchata, he is a friend of ours, and he's holding us accountable on a short leash to get our RED on RED! goals accomplished. Sooooooo, here is another song I wrote for the project. I was thinking of who I was and where I was before I met and married Nicole when I wrote this....Enjoy! RED on RED! : She'll brake your fall. by ryan kennelly

Carving pumpkins and negative space......

The kids and I took advantage of the sunny weather this afternoon to make jack-o-lanterns. While I carved out their drawings on the surface of the pumpkin, I told them about negative space and how it sits around the subject matter. It was a tangible lesson and they seemed to pick up on it (especially my daughter, who drew these elaborate scenes on her pumpkin-leaving me no carving room except in the negative space surrounding them).

FLEET FOXES helplessness blues

('http://www.youtube.com/p/ECBBB4F52B9B189C?version=3&hl=en_US',)

This too...

florence and the machine

('http://www.youtube.com/p/B47BEAD8358FE62C?version=3&hl=en_US',)listening to this list often....

This ones been a "slow-roller", but for some reason I've found it really therapeutic to get geeky about minute details such as skin tones and shades and the way the water reflects off the sand.....