If anyone's humble abode describes him or her to a tee, it's Jay Kruse's one-bedroom apartment in Spring Valley. A smorgasbord of instruments double as decoration throughout the home. Hand drums hang alongside artwork on the walls. Flutes and drumsticks dangle from the ceiling, and auxiliary percussion instruments line the living room floor.

Most days, Kruse can be found sitting cross-legged on the floor of his small porch hunched over a piece of reed. The 40-year-old musician and artist started to make bamboo and reed flutes out of his home 15 years ago. He launched a Web site, www.jaykruse .com, in September and recently has made a push to pursue his first love -- the art of music -- full time.