Jeremiah Kille

2012-02-08T10:32:00.000-08:00

Hello out there, I've been away from blogging for a while now. Here's a picture of a painting that I just finished for my Whitewalls show that will be hanging at the end of 2012. The show will be a body of work that explores the history and traditions of bullfighting. This is the first piece that I have completed for the show. I'll keep updates as to when and where the show opening will be. Check out Whitewallssf.

Open Studio

2011-11-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

This is a painting that I wrapped up for Open Studios a few weeks ago. It's part of my ongoing narrative work forcing an elephant into a ominous scene with a man made object. With this piece I was focused on the symbology of the five pointed star. I'm interested in how we use reoccurring symbols for meaning. I find the origin of symbols pretty fascinating.

2011-07-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

I've been in the studio a lot this last few weeks. I've been trying to get work done for group shows, and open studios. The image is a close up of a larger piece. The painting is 3'X6'. Of course theres an elephant or two that will be present in the landscape. This painting is a pseudo commission piece that I'm doing for a couple that have been super patient. The colors in the photo are off quite a bit from the actual painting. The waves are up this morning, I think a surf before the studio is in order.

Zebras

2011-06-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

I have always really like Zebras, their contrast and pattern make them pretty unique creatures. Here's a close up of a painting that I'm working on that is going into a group show related to street art. While I wouldn't call myself a street artist, I certainly have some street art and graffiti influences in my work. I don't know what else to say about my Zebra herd. I think that I paint much better than I verbally articulate myself.

2011-06-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a piece that I just wrapped up last week. It's part of a small series of paintings that I'm painting around elephants in open spaces, interacting with man made objects. All of which have ominous skylines. The painting measures 36"X72". I just dropped off this piece at my favorite coffee shop in Santa Cruz,Verve Coffee Roasters. They've been kind enough to house some of my work, as I have run out of space in my studio in the past. If you're ever in the area, you should definitely take the time to stop off and treat yourself to some of their amazing espresso. I also would highly recommend, a slice of their carrot bread, or their chocolate chip cookies. Their treats are insane.

Riding Waves

2011-06-13T20:57:00.000-07:00

After taking a pretty long sabbatical from surfing I finally got back into the water last week. There was a nice little South swell hitting Santa Cruz. One of my favorite spots to surf opened up, that is usually pretty fical. It takes a good size South with a really low tide to get it going. It may not break more than a dozen days out of the year, but when it's on, it's super fun. I was fortunate enough to surf two days with my buddy Alex, who makes all of my canvases and frames Check out pacificcoastfineartcanvas.com. I'm getting antsy to get back into the shaping room after being out of it for the last year and a half. I think the next board I'll shape will be a longboard, that I can take my son out on. I think he's just about ready to get out on a surfboard.

National Donut Day

2011-06-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, one of my favorite days of the year. I do feel though, that it is a very under observed National day. The first form of the donut can be traced back to Europe, however, the donut is as Americana as it gets. I fortunately live in the land of donuts. Although I haven't confirmed it, I think that there are more donut shops per capita in Santa Cruz County then anywhere else in the world. If you weren't already aware that June 3rd was National Donut Day, don't beet yourself up, most donut shops don't even know that it exists. So go on, get out there and support your local donut shop. Crispy Creme is not a donut shop. For for more on the history of the donut Check out donutdayusa.com.

2011-05-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

I was just checking in on S.F. based band, "Big Light Band" website to see what they're up too. They are all really good guys. I've been able to get to know them a bit through working on the album cover for their 2010 release, " Animals in bloom". While I was on their site, I noticed they were offering a free download. If you get a chance, give it a listen. I don't really believe that anything is free in life, but these guys challenged that notion. Nice work, guys. Check out.Big Light Band.

Never Ending Project

2011-05-13T17:11:00.000-07:00

Heres a painting that I started a few of months ago. I've been working on multiple paintings simultaneously, so things tend to go a little slow. I'll be hanging up a show at LuLu's downtown Santa Cruz tomorrow. The work will hang for 6 weeks. If you happen to be in the area, stop in a check it out.

New Art Studio

2011-03-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

I found a new space for making my paintings. It's a huge space on the third floor of the complex that I've been at for the last couple of years. With the help of a couple of friends we framed the space into three sections. In the video I'm painting a 65' section of wall in the most efficient way that I could think of. Skateboards are amazing tools, I always keep one around. You never know when one might be handy. I should be moved in by next week. Feel free to stop by for some coffee and check out the space.

Slow and Steady

2011-02-15T17:02:00.000-08:00

Well here is where my latest painting is currently. I have 5 paintings that I have going at once, which is a nice way to paint, but it feels like you aren't making any progress. The photo doesn't show it well, but there is some amazing gold paint on the piece. I just discovered a brand of gold aerosol paint, that is super shiny. Bling Bling, now if I could just get my bedazzler to work on the canvas, I'd be set. Sorry about the pour image quality, I blame it on my Droid.

Forge on

2011-02-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

This is a pic of a under painting that I just started a few days ago. I have been working on paintings that have vast skies with deserted landscapes. I have been enjoying working on the series, but thought it would be fun too work on something a bit more spontaneous. The jet will be covered by layers of large text and imagery. The piece is 72"X36" . I use the word "forge", a lot in my work. I am interested in words and fonts. I think the word is a bit ambiguous without context. Often I think of it in the sense of, pushing on, or moving forward in ones life.

I'm Horrible With Titles

2011-01-24T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well, there it is all finished. The colors are a bit more accurate than the close up image. I'm super happy with the piece. It was nice to finally get this image out of my head and onto a canvas. I have had this idea for a while, and did a preliminary drawing collage piece some months back. The piece is 36"X72" Unfortunately there are some little nuggets in the piece that don't translate in the photo, small drawings and text that have been scraped into the paint.

I've Been Traveling

2011-01-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

I have been very disconnected from the cyber world the last few months. Holiday travels and school have kept me out of the studio as well. The last couple of weeks I have been in a painting frenzy, trying to wrap up some pieces for my portfolio, so that I can pursue some gallery connections. This is a close up of an element, that resides in my newest painting. I finished this piece at one in the morning the day before yesterday. I have to speculate that all the flying over the holidays may have had some influence on the imagery. I can't help but think of plane crashes every time I step foot on one.

Encore Weekend

2010-10-12T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hey Everybody, Open Studios was a great time, thanks again to all of you that showed up. I wasn't signed up for the Encore weekend of the 16th, 17th, but have since decided to open up my studio for it. If you didn't get a chance to cruise by the first weekend, here's another chance to stop by. There are 5 of use with our studios open in one building, so it's a great chance to see a variety of art in one place. I'll be open from 10am-5pm. Hope to see you this weekend.

800 Estates Dr. #300
Aptos, CA 95003

Open Studios 2010

2010-10-05T20:37:00.001-07:00

Hey everybody, Open Studios Open Studios last weekend was a blast. Thanks to all of those who stopped by my studio to check out my art. Special thanks to Peter Thomsen, Ryan Thompson and Chris Matley for all of your help putting this thing together. If you didn't get a chance to come by my studio and you wanted to, there's always the Encore weekend of Oct 16th and 17th Encore weekend of Oct 16th and 17th. My studio will be open from 10am to 5pm. Hope to see you there. Check the photo gallery that Peter Thomsen put together.

Open Studios

2010-10-02T00:46:00.001-07:00

Hello everybody, I am participating in Santa Cruz County Open Studios this weekend. It should be a good time. There are 4 other artists in my building that all create amazing art. There will be some light food and wine. Also, my buddy Peter Thomsen peterthomsen.com will have a photo booth set up with one of my paintings as a back drop. Come have some wine, get a photo have a good time. I will be posting slideshows from the photo booth, throughout the weekend, so make sure to check back. Hope to see you. 800 Estates Dr. #300 Aptos, CA. 95003

2010-03-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

Big Light Band had their CD release party on the 4th of March at the Independent in S.F. My buddy Peter Thomsen and I cruised up for the night, to watch the show. Big Light was on fire, they played an impressive set from their new album. The place was packed and there was really good energy. If you haven't heard the bands music, you can check them out at biglightband.com or check them out on Itunes.

2010-03-04T10:02:00.000-08:00

Check out Big Light Band at the Independent in San Francisco tonight 3/4/10. It should be a great show. Big Light is releasing their new full length album, Animals in Bloom on vinyl. If you haven't heard their music, check out their Myspace page or on Itunes. You can also hear their music at biglightband.com Hope to see you out there tonight.

2009-10-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

This is a board that I shaped for my buddy David Matsumura. He ordered it for his sister as birthday gift. The three circle icons near the tail is their family crest. I don't have a family crest, so I was hoping that the Matsumura family wouldn't mind me borrowing theirs. The Japanese writing is his sisters name. The board almost didn't get to her, I was so happy with the outline of the board I considered starting over and keeping this one for myself. In the end I decided that it wouldn't be very professional on my part.

2009-09-16T12:26:00.000-07:00

My friend Andy Lewis asked me to paint the office space window for Faith Community Church. Here are a couple photos of the windows. The space is next door to the Rio off of Seabright Ave. The painting was a bit challenging because everything in revers because the painting is on the inside of the windows.

Keep a Breast Foundation

2009-09-04T14:55:00.001-07:00

My friend Ashley Lloyd called me last week to ask if I could participate in a project to raise money for breast cancer reaserch and awerness. A handful of female pro surfers made casts of their chests and had artists paint or create a piece of work on the casts. I only had a couple of days to get the cast painted and in the mail. Considering the time crunch, I am happy with the final results. The pieces will be shown this next week at the ASR surfboard tradeshow in Southern California. After the tradeshow the peices will travel around Southern Ca. for a few weeks and then will be auctioned off to raise money.

2008-12-15T10:20:00.000-08:00

Summer fun

2008-09-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-09-14T21:17:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-07-28T23:07:00.001-07:00

Big Top Has Crumbled

2008-05-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-11T22:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-01-17T20:27:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-17T20:19:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-16T20:24:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-16T20:19:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-16T20:05:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-16T19:59:00.000-08:00

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.

2007-11-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

This is the latest in my painting creations. This painting is 6'x4'. The paint application is varied in thickness and stroke. I think that this is a direction that I would love to explore more in depth. I enjoy the rendering aspect but I also allowed myself to paint outside of the lines so to speak. I like the contrast of realistic images painted with a loose style. The paint is splattered in areas and smeared on thick in others. I would probably describe this style as expressive realism.

2007-11-18T12:11:00.000-08:00

The pirate board. I had a lot of fun building this board. I actually built it all the way through myself. I have forgotten how much work goes into each board. I usually shape and do the art and design and leave the glassing and so on to a team of glassers. Thank you Bob Miller for the hints on the raised pin line.

Simple

2007-08-12T00:16:00.000-07:00

This is one of the latest boards that I've built.My goal was to use a simplified approach in the line use for the art. I wanted to keep it relatively simple in the design and color. Customers and friends that have seen the board have really liked the minimal palette and images that were used. I'm sure that I will continue to sketch more of these little characters out and use them on future board designs.

2007-08-12T00:14:00.000-07:00

New Creations

2007-08-12T00:04:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of pieces of art I am currently working on. The Snowy Egret is 5'x6' on canvas and the owl is a drawing that is on archive paper. Both of these pieces will be in my show at San Jose State in the fall. I will have aproximatly 10 pieces in the show.

Art Form

2007-07-27T15:24:00.000-07:00

This photo is of my recent tattooing appointment with Dan W. at O'Reilly's in Santa Cruz. I had some cherry blossoms added to already existing tattoos on my arms. I feel very driven and inspired by other's visual art as well as creating it myself. Canvas, paper, window, skin, whatever the surface may be I just love art. Thanks Dan for the great tattoo, I look forward to our next appointment.

2007-07-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

As I cultivate my board building skills, creativity in new ideas and approaches is the spirit in which I want to see it grow. Recently, I was able to build a board for a friend's engagement present. I was asked to do an inlay of beach glass on a wood tail block. It worked out well and since then I have made a few more boards with inlays.

Above is a photo of a "Current" board I recently shaped. On this board I placed a piece of abalone near my signature. I am pleased on how it turned out and I definitely look forward to requests for inlays of objects in the future.

2007-07-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Conspiracy is finally in the works! Conspiracy is a label where I plan to shape high performance boards, typically shorter boards. This is a photo of an epoxy board that I shaped for good friend of mine in S.F. This board will hopefully see the inside of a lot of Ocean Beach barrels!

Currently, I am shaping boards for some guys who will do some "R&D" for me. It's exciting to see where this all goes. I am working on getting some computer templates for the Conspiracy label. In the future I will be using the computer to aid my shaping for the high performance boards.

Before I get too far ahead of myself I should give a huge thanks to my good friend Peter Thomsen for helping me in designing my logos. He has been a great help and encouragement to me. "Thanks Peter Mahn!"

2007-07-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have been interested in shaping boards more reminiscent of the sixties and seventies designs. Single fin noseriders are some of my favorites. Recently my friend Alex came to me and asked If I would shape a board that would ride well on the nose as well as off the tail.

One of the requests was that it have a painting on the bottom that was similar to a painting I made on a old glass window. I really enjoyed building the board. Putting art on the board forced me to try some new methods in mark making. I was very happy with the results.

I am excited for future projects and developments of painting. Thanks Alex for the board order, I had a great time building it!