Soccer Art
A new style art of was born – Surreal Impressionism. The technique is similar to the impressionist technique, but the subject matter is surreal because of the juxtaposition of real things that are made to look like soccer balls!
Soccer patrons were constantly inquiring as to the origin of the "orchard painting," so Eryck asked Lana to top such a feat. Could she create another painting of similar proportions, also on wood, to hang in the lobby at Avila Soccer? The result was Reflecting on Soccer in which the moon reflects on the ocean water and casts a soccer ball shadow over the waves. People who stare at this masterpiece up close are often caught spellbound....and, the colors glow at night!
It was then that the idea of a gallery of soccer art was conceived. Eryck began commissioning Lana to create more surreal impressionism in keeping with her inimitable style. He tried to influence Lana and give her ideas for other paintings, but she would not listen or share her ideas, only follow her inner muse. She would simply show up with the finished work when least expected. The suspense for Eryck was terrible!
Next came Everything Revolves Around Soccer in which the perspective of distant planets set against a nearby sun showcases exquisite skill that can only be described as a ridiculous control of the brush – and is the actual inspiration for the Avila Soccer phrase mad skill ™. The gaseous burning sun which is featured as the soccer ball in this painting has a texture up close that constantly tempts people to touch the painting and eventually forced the staff to move its location away from curious hands.
The Birth of a Soccer Player came next which portrays a sort of Jurassic period in which a baby dinosaur is hatched from an egg resembling a soccer ball. Young children particularly love this one. Perhaps because of the ancient forest-like nature of the painting. It was fitting that Lana delivered this to Eryck at Zilker Park where he was training a player under a tree. She just drove up in her truck and unloaded the masterpiece with no covering... Eryck couldn't wait until she could deliver it to the Avila Facility!
The last of the wood paintings of this size is the called Dig Deep and is a personal favorite of Eryck's. It symbolizes what it takes to reach our goals. In the painting, an ambitious diver sets out from his small boat at twilight to reach a pearl shaped as a soccer ball poised in an open shell. Those who really stare at the painting are struck by a feeling of sentimentality. Eryck had been recovering from an injury at the time and felt the painting reminded him of what he had do to regain his footing. The painting arrived when he needed to see it.
One day Eryck overheard Lana telling the story that Monet's famous Water Lilies were actually colossal-sized. In Lana's opinion, Monet's ability to perceive space and depth in such a grand way was part of his genius. Lana is an artistic genius. Eryck wondered if she could create something colossal-sized for Avila Soccer...
So, on May 13, 2005, with the idea of using the blank canvas of the walls that surround the indoor soccer field, Eryck rented scaffolding and pressed Lana to paint a mural on the 40-foot space. The Avila Sun would be a painting of a beach complete with coconut soccer balls and an Addidas sand dune! The next day, Eryck showed up to see how the progress was going and to his surprise, she was already done!
On May 15, 2005, there was a grand opening party to celebrate the expansion of Avila Soccer’s field and the introduction of synthetic grass versus the old hard floor. But of course, everyone only talked about the mural. It was also Eryck’s birthday, and what a great way to celebrate.
Later, Lana did a series of four tiny, whimsical paintings which clients called Soccer Peas in a Pod, Soccer Mom, Soccer Ladybug and Soccer Bomb.
By this time, Avila soccer had established orange and grey as the primary business colors, so Lana used colors in these paintings that complimented that schematic. Of course, these fun subjects really appeal to children and despite their small dimensions they tend to be the subject of the most conversation around Avila Soccer.
Following this change in theme, Lana went back again to the larger format and created the now-famous Live and Breathe Soccer painting of the fish. What is not apparent from the photos on the website is the sheer magnitude of this Avila icon. It is a 6’ by 4’ painting on wood. It is also the most elusive in its soccer reference. Many people have to be told that the fish bubbles are actually soccer balls.
Then Lana decided to take her creative talents in a new direction by recreating already famous paintings and giving them a soccer slant.
Van Gogh’s Starry Night was the subject of the first of these pieces featuring soccer balls in the stars. Called Starry Soccer Night, Lana’s recreation is uncanny and some people again, completely miss the more than 12 soccer balls that are ingeniously blended into the original model of the night sky. It was also done on wood and hangs 6’ by 4’.
Then came Lana’s recreation of The Son of Man by Rene Magritte. About his painting, Magritte said:
At least it hides the face partly. Well, so you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding the visible but hidden, the face of the person. It's something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in that which is hidden and which the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a sort of conflict, one might say, between the visible that is hidden and the visible that is present.
Our version is called Soccer Man by the children. Lana replaced the apple, of course, with a soccer ball and to some, this symbolizes the same conflict that someone committed to soccer may see in the world. This is why Eryck keeps it by his desk to this day!
Finally, the most prominent and last of the 6’ by 4’ paintings in this series of masterful reproductions in Lana’s surreal impressionistic style recreates The Scream by Edvard Munch. Naturally, everyone has a story as to why this guy’s eyes, which are lit up by soccer balls, seem to communicate a feeling of despair. One Avila Soccer patron said, "I just pulled a move on that guy – that’s why!" One soccer mom said, "That's how I feel on the sideline." The painting has definitely made some people think.
At the time of writing this history, Lana was putting the finishing touches on her most recent artistic contribution to Avila Soccer: expanding her earlier 40-foot-long Avila Sun beach mural around the indoor soccer field to fade into a solar system and moon some 25’ high over the western wall of the field, which also reaches 25’ high. Come see it in its grandeur and feel the soccer magic that permeates Avila Soccer. Maybe you can help name it!
Come visit Avila Soccer to see all of Lana's soccer-themed paintings in the lobby and her full-size murals in the practice area.
