Reid's Point Break Fantasy

My good friend Chris Reid said he had too many white walls in his Leucadia pad so he asked if I could help him out with a little visual stimulation. This was about a year ago; fast forward to 2 months ago and Reid is on the cusp of turning the big "30". Life and other obligations had gotten in the way so I finally stepped it up, put on the painter's cap, and came up with this "other worldly" piece. I think it turned out quite nice. It makes me want to insert myself into one of these heaving freight train lefts. Reid (I call him by his last name...) hung this on the wall space above his flat screen t.v. and says he often gets distracted by visions of perfect lefts marching on by. I'm glad he likes it and expect he'll have many years of mind surfing this perfect wave ahead of him!

Ponto on Fire

This painting developed from a bunch of sunset photos I was shooting back in September of 2006. I think the month of September has some of the most amazing sunsets that Southern California has to offer and this day was no different. A layer of high Cirrus clouds were positioned just right off the coast to capture an amazing display of pinks, reds, and yellows mimicking a sky on fire. I had been driving back from checking the waves to no avail and happened to have my camera with me in the car. Luckily I managed to snap some cool shots to commemorate the moment and ended up painting it a few months later.

Santa Barbara Skyline

This was a painting I did custom for a friend's birthday. I was experimenting a lot at the time with painting crazy kinetic skies and I'm pleased with the way this one turned out. As always, the tropical, lush theme makes me feel right at home.

Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur-California

This painting was inspired by a road trip I did in April 2006 from San Diego to San Fran and back. On the way up we stopped at Pfeiffer State Beach to take in the surreal, awe inspiring views of the mighty Pacific Ocean slamming into weathered nooks and crannys of this beach. This day was a rare one indeed with "blue bird" skys, warm air temperatures, and a solid swell running as well. I almost put on my 4/3 fullsuit and booties to snag a few waves off this cranking left as seen in the painting, but the "Jaws" theme song was reverberating a bit too strong in my head. I'm used to So. Cal crowds devoid of shark fin soup conditions, no thanks! I ended up scaling the big rock that the wave is breaking off of and found all kinds of crazy fossils preserved in sandstone columns. There was also a cool keyhole conduit that ran through the rock with waves crashing through at high tide. I highly recommend this beach if you find yourself cruising down the PCH in Big Sur!

Rio Nexpa Sunset

This is a painting I did for a travel companion of mine on a surf trip to Mainland Mexico in May 2007. We spent a week or so driving up and down the coast, surfing and scoring fun, warm water waves all to ourselves. We ended up hunkering down at this great break called Rio Nexpa, a long, and at times perfect left pointbreak with amazing views! For only $10 a night, we scored a cabana complete with a porch, a hammock, and a restaurant conveniently located next door. Every night we would sit on our porch, completely surfed out with a few beves and this amazing sunset to end the day. There were quite a few brushfires in the area at the time to burn off the prior season's crops, which made for some interesting hues in the sky at this time of the day. As always, it was nice to get back and see what kind of photos I had scored from the trip. The photo I took as a reference for this particular painting definitely stuck out in my mind. Sunsets are just one of those timeless moments that always seem to have a unique signature depending on what time of year and what part of the world you may find yourself in.