Thank you for the music! Holiday giveaway - 2012!

Here we go again with my holiday art giveaway!!  Rules are simple - below are listed are song lyrics I've written down during the past year from whatever is playing at the time.  Words that just stuck out and they spoke to me.
Your job:  take a look at the lyrics, write down the song and/or artist the lyric is from, and send your results back to me.
My job:  check you answers, if you're the first to get your answers back to me and they are correct, I'll send you an original piece of art!
LYRICS:
*I'm not naive, I would just like to believe
*Mind's distracted and confused, my thoughts are many miles away, they lie with you while you're asleep, kiss you when you start the day
*And I feel I'm letting go, of these sorrows I'll take leave
*When the sunsets on your memory, does the moon bring back your pain
*A radio's on, windows rolled up, and my mind's rolled down
*Hey love, I did not choose you, but you came to me anyway
*It's been a restless several years, full of ignorance and fears
*My spirit ran to greet you before my feet left the porch
*I sing these words for good luck, I sing love me foolishly, love me foolish like
*Your stare is strong and my knees are weak...Call me spent
*Everyone's at the mercy of another one's dream
*Man needs something he can hold onto, like a 9 pound hammer or a woman like you
*If you can't stand the pain, the you are sense-less
*How can I forget about your love
*It's a cosmic concerto and it fills my soul.  Life is people in the space of a face
*Wanting, just keeps me wanting
*You can give all that to Goodwill, for the Glory of true love
*Are you back in my life to stay?  Or is it just today...Be for real
*You gotta trust me when I tell ya I'm not in a hurry.  There's too many places to get lost in, too many forests
*It's hard to dane with the devil on your back.  So shake it up
*When I was still creekbed and and you were still wilderness
*Her touch was soft & delicate with a thaumaturgical touch that only a rabbi's daughter could have
*Boys will be boys, and girls will stay wise
*I still remember how it all changed, my Father said, "Don't you worry child"
*What am I gonna do when I can't smell her anymore

That's it!  Have fun friends!

AGAVE

"When you say agave...you mean the color, right!?"  Was my first question when Kelley emailed asking me to do draw an agave for her and Jeff.  Her kind response was "an actual agave plant (succulent)."  A blonde moment?  Or a difference in train of thought!?  Either way, this is where that question brings us today.  Living in Austin, we see Agave plants everywhere - some huge, some small, and they seem next to impossible to kill.  My favorite use of an agave is in the Christmas season when people put ornaments on the agave leaves - Charlie Brown Joy is what I feel!  My second favorite use (or maybe my first) of the agave is that golden warming liquid it brings us called tequila!  Those were the first things I thought of with the agave.  Then I come back to Kellley and Jeff - a wonderful, creative, loving, energetic, active, giving, consistent, and hilarious couple.  Kelley does a weekly 'margarita fueled shout out' on Facebook that comprises expresses the traits previously listed.  Those 3 things fed the energy behind this drawing.  I wanted that energy, that liveliness, and warmth to jump off the page and land gently on the mind.  I hope these lines provide a lifetime of joy on the walls of Kelley of Jeff's loving home!  Thank you for asking me to be a part of your lives in this way.  Bless you!  

18"x22"

SOLD

we are all poetic, we are all surviving, we are all everything

I wrote this years ago, in the midst of a sleepless night, in the midst of what perhaps was love, in the midst of that space where one floats in wonder of what is what.  (As you can gather, I didn't get far with any of those midst moments).  I recently ran across this and have also been somewhat ambushed with poetry from all angles.  From the radio DJ, a CSI episode, a rap song (you heard me), graffiti on agave...I'm telling you, the more random, the better the poetic-ness.  Strange to see Keats present himself on a large leaf of Agave, but it happened, and it I took it into my heart.  I love the ability of the human language to melt a soul into a tender moment.  
Back to these words I mentioned...  I figure I'll share them.  I laugh at myself in the memory of this and am able delight in the fact that I am away from that space in my head, but appreciate having been there.
Still laughing...

@6:27am
There was a bird in the sky
It fell, I don't know why.
There was a song in the car
It sounded good and took me far.
There was a dent in my hood
And I stopped.
There were some words in my head
That woke me in my bed.
All my friends the night before
Brought the worlds happiness ashore
Then an hour came upon me
And it stopped.
So those words in my head
That disturbed my hours in bed
Brought many thoughts in front of me.
Wondering what could be
I thought about tears
Then I thought about the years
When my face was streaked & stained
with saltiness and pain.
Then I thought about him
And it stopped.
Now that bird in the sky has a purpose.
It left up there to spread love among us.
To show us simplicity
To show us what could be
To remind us of a song
To hold our hand while we stroll along
To give us a feather to give our friend
To show us the road may end or bend.
And how that feather can repel
A stream of tears when we've cracked our shell
And those things will never stop.

Women and Their Work Gallery - RED DOT ART SPREE

Women & Their Work Gallery (www.womenandtheirwork.org) had their annual RED DOT ART SPREE, this being my second year to be involved.  It's a great event to help the wonderful gallery raise fund for their exhibits through out the year.  It was a great night with a wonderful collection of art to be seen!  Glad to be involved again.

BERMUDEZ

19"x24"
SOLD

UNA MATTINA

UNA MATTINA (One Morning)
This piece to me represents the days spent that each begin with mornings.  With one morning, the ordinary or extraordinary can happen.  Each layer is one day, one journey, one encounter that creates these different layers of memory, vision, action and feeling.  I have not doubt that these lines come from my days spent in the likes of mountains and meadows emptying my mind of all its busy-ness and shedding light on the bright and crisp thoughts that lie beneath all the heavy.  I find beauty and movement in each layer, each step, each encounter; because from those things we learn.  We learn about who we were, who we are, and who we want to be.

18"x36"

SUMMER STREAM

Seriously inspired by summer time - flowers, sunsets, fireworks, energy, and the tree roots worked their way in due to time spent along the Guadalupe and Frio Rivers.  Summer has the ability to inspire happiness, excitement, youth, and energy in which I was trying to wrap up in this piece.  Attainable year round.  

6"x24"

JIM has left the building...

JIM - one of my favorites, has sold.  I cherish every piece I have done for very connected reasons, but I have had this face with me since high school (1996 to be exact) and he only surfaced to the public in 2009.  This face, those eyes, EVERYTHING about this reminds me of who I am, what I see in a face, of a sacred moment where the solemn is just a beautiful as an elaborate sunrise.
I trust that it's new owner will cherish this face as I have, so I am happy to see him go.  Time for a new face, perhaps??

GOLDEN

This was created for a friend who was recently beginning a new chapter in his life.  Perhaps seen to some as a challenge, but to him it seemed more of an opportunity.  This drawing represents himself and his two children.  I thought about making the trees the same size, but then I thought about that no matter the age, success, wisdom, or greatness your child achieves, you still want to provide them shelter.  A little shade on a sunny day, have you.  The white tips of the tree represents new growth - present and future.  The background is all ENERGY bouncing in the wind (golden wind) which to me reflects his positive and light take on his new lot in life.  The color of the energy are from Wade and his two children (navy), and the external energy source (purple - light and dark) - all coming together to keep it all going, so to speak.  

19"x24"
SOLD

LIFE OF THE DA'S

I'd like you to meet Wanda (my Mom, on right) and Glenda (her bestie and college roomate). Or as I have decided to call them - the Da's. This picture is from what I believe to be their Freshman year in Gardner dorm at Abilene Christian University. Below their picture, is my picture, of what I saw inside of that relationship. Megan, Glenda's youngest daughter asked me to do something for Glenda. I hope you love it Glenda, as much as I love you!

My family spent many a holiday break stuffed in a car driving from Texas to either Cali or DC to spend with Glenda and her family. And we always had so much fun! Three daughters of her own, myself and three brothers got along like peaches and cream. As did Glenda and Wanda but their get-a-long came with something extra, like champagne poured on the peaches and cream. Just perfect. I loved their friendship. I even call my best friend my college "My Glenda!"

The drawing? Where did it come from? Well...I had their picture, and I wanted to take that moment and then incorporate their life beyond that moment in Gardner dorm. The 'curtains' in the back of the drawing are being raised, slightly to resemble the curtain to a theater stage. The stage of their life. With in their selves, are pockets of energy, love, laughter, pain, and loss. But those experiences did not make them bend. Their frame remained the same and the growth of who they were continued. Those experiences stayed contained, controlled by the cool calm of each Da. I think the most admired trait of my Mom was her strength. And I see Glenda in the same light. Always smiling. Always forging on in life. As I have mentioned before, my Mom had a creative stint with stained glass. I think she completed 2 pieces. One is at my home with my Dad and the other is with Glenda. I wanted to incorporate that gift into the drawing. I also wanted the bottom half to represent the life and energy they created with their families. I remember when Megan was about 1 year old. We were with them at Christmas time in Nevada. Billy Joel was playing - "We Didn't Start the Fire." I think Megan was getting passed around to everyone dancing in the room to Billy Joel. And one of my brothers eating a Fire Ball Jawbreaker decided to share with Megan. She hated and loved it. And we all got a good laugh! I think those lines are who we all are mixed together in life, and that night was a memory not to forget.

Thank you Glenda, for sharing your life with Wanda. For being strong. For helping to continue the life of Wanda in my life, with our friendship! I look forward to all the years to come and everything else that is to come!

xoxo

Erin

SOLD

14"x17"