Nanette Hooker Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 BTW I have been absent from this forum for over a week due to a stay in hospital. I had a stroke and am recovering very quickly. I tried playing my concertina today and it wasn't as chaotic as I thought it would be. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Woah. I've been there. It's not much fun. Believe me, playing the concertina is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Nanette, Best wishes for a full recovery. Perhaps playing your concertina will be part of your rehab program. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It will. When I told the hospital physiotherapist I was a musician she was delighted. It seems musicians tend to make better than average recoveries from stroke. The determination to play, and the skills involved in playing, really do help in regaining brain function. Chris <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks to everyone who wished me well. I think concertina playing will be good therapy. I was paralysed down my right side for three days and recovery has been amazingly quick. My motor skills need fine tuning and concertina playing will be good for that, however I found working the bellows was quite an effort. My recovery rate amazed both nurses and doctors at the hospital. What a good reason to be a musician. I think my concertina playing had much to do with my recovery. I can see (and feel) improvement every day. I could only type a few words the other day and look at me now. Thanks again everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Jowaisas Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Your ongoing recovery is wonderful news! Do maintain your positive attitude and keep working hard at your therapy. I seem to recall that the making reconnection process was time critical. It will be an inspiration to us all. And keep us posted on your progress. Best regards, Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Bravo Nanette! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 (edited) Firstly Nannette I would like to say how pleased I am that you are making a good recovery and also Chris from the posting by Pete having heard him play recently. I will try and expand this conversation to say that mentally I have found playing the concertina to be theraputic.At times of severe stress,deaths in the family or deaths of close friends,financial or personal problems or just day to day situations,playing the concertina ,for me ,seems to help me overcome these difficulties.I have often worried that I am running to the concertina as a safe haven,my mind being split in three directions,family man,business man and concertina player,but we all live fairly complex lives and it is part of living ones life to the full. Al Edited to put the N in Nannette it makes all the difference and it stops me from getting a slapped wrist!! Edited February 7, 2005 by Alan Day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Nanette, So pleased that you are doing so well. Please keep in touch. Al, You are not running away, you are relieving stress so that you can jump back into the fray when you are ready. Of course if you play 23 hours a day and sleep one hour and forget what your family looks like, then maybe ... Hee hee hee Well, I think Nanette has opened this up to how concertina playing is therapeutic. I am wondering how others have found this to be so. Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 We had a bit of a discussion about this in the hiatus from playing concertina thread. Certainly that's where my ruminations about the effect on me of both stroke and concertina playing ended up. I think there's more to be said, though, so go to it! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 I think Nanette has opened this up to how concertina playing is therapeutic.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> I hope that doesn't mean that one can only play concertina if one is in need of therapy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 I for one need to play for emotional balance. Cheaper than the thearapist I spent plenty on over the years . The instrument completes me, always has. It, combined with the act of singing lets me slip into a place were time stands still. The act of holding it and manipulating it's bellows is, gonna sound nutty...a holy thing, a communion. At some point during a practice session it is not a separate instrument, but part of me. Only the failing light or an interuption reminds me there is something else. Now that I'm playing again, my teenage children are a joy, problems at work....just a bump in the road....my beautiful wife....well, that hasn't changed (yee-haw), but life is now full and complete. Only down side is that I have not painted a canvas since Tina came home with me. I think about it, but the smell of the leather, beautiful cherry wood and those black little buttons seduce me. Uh-oh, that don't sound nutty...it's just plain weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Now how about painting your concertina Mark ,two birds for one brush. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Alan, I'm a devoted Child of Wheatsone and could never deface a religious object...but my banjo (which most folks including myself consider to be an instrument of torture) I did paint up! I have a "thing" for sunflowers and did my best to turn in into one. Have had some rather "colorful" comments from other banjo players! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Day Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Thanks for the picture Mark.I actually meant paint a picture of your concertina on canvas.While I am on this subject there are very few concertina paintings.I have the one of the little boy playing a German Concertina in a barn with the little Jack Russels howling, but apart from a little painting, I have of me done at Sidmouth, I cannot remember ever seeing another. Al Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Evans Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Ifin' ah weren't a banjer player ah might a figgered that out! Paint on a Tina indeed! What was I thinkin'? There is a canvas of a concertinist I started up in my closet....Haven't smelled oil paint in a long time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Booth Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 as for paintings of concertinas, there is the one of the blind girl with the concertina in her lap, all ringed 'round by a double rainbow...can't remember the title or artist though, but I'll bet someone can supply it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 I think David Barnert would remember where to find the painting of the blind girl with concertina. Don't know why I think that, but seem to remember him posting when the thread addressed that painting. Gee, Al, I thought you meant he should paint the concertina. Itself. Mark, you and Wendy with the sunflowers. Beautiful. The banjo, by the way, is gorgeous. I have a fiddle with a picture on the back of it. Folkies love it. I think the violin shop was thrilled to sell it. But they were very nice about it. Anyway, fortunately it is a very good fiddle with a wonderful sound. But I love how hokey it is. Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Mark, you and Wendy with the sunflowers. Beautiful. The banjo, by the way, is gorgeous. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yeah, I think I started liking them so much when I saw that they're sure to grow around here, even when I don't plant them (the squirrels do!). I got so tired of garden no-shows. I love that banjo, Mark! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animaterra Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 I know this thread started out as being about physical therapy as much as anything, but let me add my voice to the chorus affirming the concertina's value as an emotional and psychological therapy godsend. Many of you know what a bleak time I had 1 1/2 years ago. When the concertina came into my life it was a transformational gift- not only have I survived, I have grown and blossomed and explored new worlds I wouldn't have known otherwise. And yeah, it's physical therapy, too- both sides of my family are prone to arthritis, starting in the fingers. I was beginning to experience arthritic twinges before I first picked up the 'tina- since then, nary a twinge! "Use it or lose it" is certainly true in this respect! Great thread, folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 ...where to find the painting of the blind girl with concertina. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Search/More Options, text: +blind +girl, brings up four Topics, including this one. That isn't the only painting with concertina, but prints of it appear frequently on eBay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanette Hooker Posted February 7, 2005 Author Share Posted February 7, 2005 I have the one of the little boy playing a German Concertina in a barn with the little Jack Russels howling, but apart from a little painting, I have of me done at Sidmouth, I cannot remember ever seeing another.Al <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That would be one featured on the front cover of 'Concertina & Squeezebox' number 12, an oil painting by Arthur Wardle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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