Resilience in Aging #4

Learn something new!

Learning to Play the Cornet, 2026

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re·sil·ience (rəˈzilēən(t)s) noun

1. the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

Resilience in aging is the capacity for older adults to adapt and recover well from adversity, stress, trauma, or significant challenges (technology, health, politics) encountered during later life, in order to maintain or regain physical, mental, and social functioning, ultimately leading to a higher quality of life and successful aging.

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The thought occurred to me that when older folks learn something new, it is good medicine for their brain functioning and their spirit. Resilience shines with music! Instead of learning a gentle instrument, it is way more amusing to portray a “little old lady” blasting away on a trumpet.

I put out the word to my local peeps in Facebook recently that I was looking for a trumpet to borrow for a photo shoot. My friend and fellow photographer Carl Hartt offered his cornet which turned out to be a perfect size for me.

I dusted off an old green chair from our basement storage and put it in my studio on the oriental rug along with the cornet case. There was no music stand, no music, and no room to convey a place for this woman to practice. A brochure in the case showed me how to hold it. I wanted to purse my lips on the mouthpiece and puff out my cheeks like Dizzy Gillespie. I crossed my eyes to show how hard I was blowing. I like those little gags in my portraits to reward those who take the time to look at everything I added to the scene.

Next, I took my lights and tripod up to the family room to use our fireplace as the back wall of her practice room. The stereo is there too which adds more music to this space. I changed the carpet below the rug and the paint color on the wall in Photoshop, to look a little classier than our worn-out carpeting and plain white walls. I took the door out and put a fiddle leaf fig tree there instead. I found a photo of a music stand and fashioned a brochure “How to Play the Cornet” for her.

Last, I painted in some shadows where necessary. A few clone fixes were needed because I try to be closer to perfect if I can. I spent about 20 hours on this photograph by taking two days off from work.

Side note: the stone lithograph above the fireplace was drawn and printed by my father-in-law Harold E Hansen on his own turn-of-the-century press.