Summer fun

A bit small to be a conventional noserider. This is a 9'4" noserider, that I built for myself this last summer. Generally a noserider is longer than 9'4" but this board works well in it's small stature. I had a costumer that wanted a noserider but pulled down in length. After he shared with me his theory on design I figured that I would try one out for myself. It has worked out great. I appreciate peoples ability to think outside of the conventional design box, it certainly is encouraging to me. Trying new designs and tweaking existing designs keeps things fresh and exciting.

New work space

I moved into a new shop on the West side of Santa Cruz this last summer. The space is small but does the trick. There is a shaping room, laminating/airbrush room, and office. I am in the upstairs of Almar glassing shop where Michel Junod and Strive surfboards are located. I really enjoy working with all of those creative guys, it's a great atmosphere. Feel free to stop by and say "hi".

Mural

This photo is of a mural that I painted for a Young Life camp in the Santa Cruz mountains. The painting was a triptych on three joining walls. This is the smallest of the three paintings and my favorite. This is the largest that I have ever worked to this point. I enjoyed the project and was happy with how it turned out considering the limited time line that I had to work with.

Big Top Has Crumbled

This is a first in a series that I am working on. The painting depicts a circus elephant pulling a massive ship. In this sereis I will use the death of the circus as a narrative for the viewer to engage with and to explore the idea of finality. The work is also a discourse on American culture and our incidious hunger for "new" anything. In the series I will be drawing as well as painting. The piece shown is 8'X4'.

Non-objective

This is the latest painting that I have been working on. I chose to use colors that I usually don't use. The reason I did this was to challenge my natural intuition or response to a painting. The piece is very much about an internal dialogue going on lately in respect to the choices and direction of my life. Working on the piece gave me some perspective on those choices.

The Bay

I have been working on some new templates recently. With new templates come new designs, this is the heart of surfboard building as well as surfing. It's through these explorations we come upon discoveries.

Stencil

I have been working on creating boards that have a unique look while still being time efficient. I have been making stencils that are from free hand drawings, this way they have that personal feel. The stencils are layered giving each one its own look. I have been happy with the way they have been turning out and look forward to making more of them in the future. If a costumer orders a board I can make costume stencils for that individual.

Hooligan

The Hooligan is a double winged swallow that I designed as a transitional board or for a guy who is bigger. This board has a single to double concave bottom and has low rocker for ease of paddling. This board would also be a great summer time board.

Mark "the man" Mathis

This board is the Mark Mathis Model. I named a surfboard model after a good friend of mine, Mark Mathis, whom isn't a very good surfer but is a great guy. It was a joke that we had going for years that I would some day give him a pro model. While "pro", isn't in the model name, Mark still managed to get a board named after him. Great job Mark!

Fire and Rain

This is a painting that I did last semester for a class. I had a blast painting it. I felt like I learned a lot about pushing the boundaries of paint. I was focused on what the paint could do rather than what I could do with the paint. I ran into some compositional problems but feel that I worked through some of them in the end. These two paintings together are 9'x4'.

Grenade

This board is so much fun! One of the things I love most about being able to shape for a living is that I get a chance to try out so many different designs. This little board is 5'5" in length but don't let that fool you. It is a rocket. I designed it with very minimal entry rocker to keep it flat and fast. This thing surfs great in the pocket and in little nooks and crannies. I have also had a chance to surf this design in overhead surf and it proved itself great.

Matador

The Matador is a bigger wave model. My semi guns run from 6'6" to 8'6" range. This board is a 6'10" that I built for myself. I haven't had a chance to get it out in the water yet but I am definitely looking forward to it.

Conspiracy

I have been turning my focus on the Conspiracy line the last few months. Generally I receive more high performance shortboard orders during the winter months. I am currently Working with Peter Thomsen on designing a twenty page catalog for consumers as well as retailers. This photo is of the Raven model which is a high performance quad fin.