Creation date: 2019.09.16

Medium: paper, “Dave Dances:, By Lynda Jo Mykkanen Sokalowski, ‘So Much To Say, Dave Matthews Band 20 years on the Road’, by Nikki Van Noy; National Geographic Mag: September 2016, Nov-Dec NG Traveler Vol 27,#8;  AFAR mag: Sept-Oct 2018, May- Jun 2019,   July-Aug 2019,  Sept-Oct 2019

Original: 16x20

48 hours and 17 minutes to completion

A few fun tidbits about this piece:

What started as a quick birthday present turned into a quick – just get it to me when you’re done present.  As per my normal I go into something thinking it’s going to be fast, but my soul tells me it’s done when I’ve spent way longer on it than I anticipated.  “The Dave” as we nicknamed it was a labor of love from one Best Friend to the next.  Happy late birthday, Emily. Look through the pieces and Dave has birthday wishes for you as well.

This was created mostly from photos and accolades in Sokolowsksi’s book which is just chock full of beautiful imagery. I also designed pages with lyrics from the band and found some awesome randoms to put in.  The microphone is made from a car door and the shine and color gradation is all one piece of paper.  The guitar grain is the beautiful cliffs protecting the ancient pueblos in Mesa Verde National Park.  The beautiful fire flies of the south are scattered throughout the shirt.  And with all of this you can of course also find screaming fans and excerpts from your favorite songs.  Mine is in his left eyebrow. ‘Crash into me’ placed subtly over the eyes of a vintage pinup.  Funny story I was doing the back stroke at my high school swim team practice singing this song to myself.  I got distracted and ran into the wall.  “crash into me” I did. Give yourself more time and I’m sure you’ll find other pieces of paper that you find are your favorite.