Heather Brown

Heather Brown - In the Barrel

Hawaiian surf artist, Heather Brown is featured in the latest edition of Foam Magazine. There were a load of positive comments after the feature on the website which prompted me to check out her website.

Based on Oahu's north shore, Heather is a surfer and artist who doesn't have to search very far for inspiration. The islands that are her home, the enviable choice of perfect breaks and her love of the sea all combine to make up the essence of her art.

Working in various mediums including acrylics, photography, woodblock prints, screen prints, intaglio prints and linocuts her pictures have a beautiful stained glass effect and she has evidently established a substantial fan base. The picture posted here is from 2006 and has appeared on the pages of both Free Surf magazine and Longboard magazine in 2007.

Having recently been commissioned to do the artwork for Jack Johnson's 2008 Kokua Fest concert, Heather is about to host a solo exhibition entitled fresh flavours of surf at the Chinatown Boardroom in Honolulu which opens on 30 April and runs for the month of May.

Loose-Fit Film Night

I watched the trailer for One California Day and the film looks awesome. This is an artistic surf documentary about surf culture and the traditions of the sport, filmed across six different coastal regions in California and focusing in on the lives of seven different surfers. The movie has been available on DVD stateside since November 2007 but Loose-Fit, in North Devon, is one of the few places in the UK that stocks it.

Following the success of their first film night last month in Bristol, Loose-Fit has decided to do a re-run of the event, this time showing One California Day on Sunday 4 May at 8pm. Here's a trailer that gives some insight into the making of the documentary.



While i'm on the subject, Loose-Fit has a great website and recently I signed up to their 'daily drop' delivering a slice of North Devon beach life straight to my inbox two or three times a week. Nice.The website is great with lots of non-commercial content, the shops look cool, damn they even have a gallery space which has hosted exhibitions by Alex Knost and Devon Howard - have a gander yourself www.loose-fit.co.uk

I Want Your Job: Surfer

I opened yesterday's copy of the Independent to find a nice little interview with Cornish surfer Sam Lamiroy. Click here to read it in full.

Way of The Bird

Having taken a look at Andy Davis’ art I spotted that a while back he had co-written a book with Andrew Kidman which I tracked down on Amazon the other week. It arrived from America really quickly and straight out of the box I read the story of the boy who meets an old man who teaches him to surf and becomes a very influential friend.

Teaming Andy Davis’ illustrations with Andrew Kidman’s photography resulted in a beautiful fit. The book maybe aimed at children but its appeal extends far wider, teaching its readers about the history of surfing, instilling an appreciation for the waves and cultivating a respect for the environment.

I loved simplicity of this book and the enchanting mystery behind the story reminded me of the wonderful Ernest Hemmingway novel The Old Man and The Sea. If I haven't done a good enough job of convincing you it's well worth a read then here is the link to an interview with Andy and Andrew about this book from back in July 2003.

Harry Daily's Sketch Holiday

Harry Daily - Adam & Eve

Harry Daily creates some of the most beautiful surf art I have come across. I happened upon his work by reading an old post from last summer on Beach Bum's excellent blog and I was kicking myself that I hadn’t been on the pulse enough to get down to The Driftwood Gallery the previous August and meet the man in person as well as hotfooting it to the till with one of his original paintings or more likely, considering the current state of my bank balance, a signed limited edition print.

Harry Daily is from San Diego and began to paint and draw before he could even remember. Straight out of high school, Harry started to work for some of the biggest brands in the surf industry including Volcom, Roxy, Surfers Journal, Surfing, Surfer Magazine and Free.

Following the success of his first solo show in 2002, Harry took off for a short surf trip to Australia and did not return for three years. It was during his experience there that the self-described optimistic drifter produced the "Art of Holiday" series.

Since then he has had shows in California and across Europe and this year Harry’s work will touring around the world as part of the The Happening Live exhibition. I can’t wait until the show gets to Cornwall in July to see some of his new artwork up close and in real size. The one I have posted here is from Harry’s Sketch Holiday series from a couple of years ago and I just love them all. You can see plenty more at www.switch-foot.com

Material Things

This beautiful board bag is crafted by Michele Lockwood who custom makes each one using hand-screened original textiles. I've put it on my wishlist.

Celine Chat at The International Surfing Museum

Celine Chat - Psychedelic Day

Celine Chat is an artist I originally found out about through COTW. I instantly fell in love with her pictures from Guadelope of female surfers painted in beautiful bright colours and full of fun (see above). Trying to discover more about her and find examples of her other artwork has been pretty hard.

Thankfully however she has just recently updated her website and added a whole heap of artwork and travelling photos, probably to coincide with the launch of her new exhibition, opening 20 April, at the International Surfing Museum of Huntington Beach in California. Running throughout the summer the exhibition will include a selection of Celine's artwork painted during her time in Australia, the Caribbean and Brazil.

Celine Chat is a surfer and artist from France. For the past twelve years, she has traveled all over the world in the quest for good waves to surf, different cultures to engage with, and new people to meet. All those discoveries and experiences compose her inspiration. From each of her journeys she came back with a series of very different paintings, distinctive in their style to reflect her lifestyle at that time as well as the country she was living in.

Her unique and creative artwork is now renowned in many countries including France, the US, Australia, the West Indies and Brazil, where last November she was invited, as the only European surf artist, to exhibit at the IV Mostra Alma Surf: an International Surf Culture Festival.

For more of Celine's beautiful pictures, check out her website www.celine-chat.com and if, by some small miracle, anyone happens to read this who visits the show I would love to know what you thought of it.

Driftwood Gallery

Cruising the web to discover more about surf culture I have looked on with envy at the multitude of events and exhibitions that seem to spring up on the other side of the Atlantic. Galleries and surf shops such as Mollusk in New York and The Surf Gallery at Laguna Beach in California seem to host some serious parties showcasing the work of the artists I have read so much about on a regular basis.

But then I came across the Driftwood Gallery in Cornwall. With three shops in Truro, Newquay and Ilfracombe (Devon - but I won't hold that against them)their website has a dedicated section on surf art and the galleries house collections by some of the greats including Wolfgang Bloch, Thomas Campbell, Harry Daily, Albe Falzon and George Greenough as well as a good selection of hot local talent too.

I've signed up to the mailing list and chatted to a couple of guys about various paintings and upcoming shows but if last year's Switchfoot exhibition is anything to go by then this a gallery I will definitely be keeping my eye on. Have a look for yourself www.driftwoodgallery.co.uk

Thumb a Drift

The stylish looking Drift Magazine has been available as a digital publication, to download free from the internet, for almost three years. During its infancy the first few editions have brought its readers informative features, inspiring interviews, stunning photography and a commitment to highlighting sustainability within the industry.

I've stopped by the website more than a few times over the past six months or so and was pleasantly surprised to see the first edition of the paper version take prime position in the sports section of a London Borders at the end of March. Produced every other month the cultural articles and focus on the 'alternative surf scene' are my highlights with issues such as coastal management, community projects and travel keeping me addicted.

I'm all for spreading the word of this great title - and as paid-for digital subscribtions are not currently a viable option, expanding into a traditional print format is the only way to increase interest and build the readership - but as a self-proclaimed 'environmentally-friendly magazine' i'm glad the publishers are going on record to commit to looking at alternatives to replace a tree paper magazine and working to reduce the carbon footprint of overseas fulfilment by producing the magazine in different parts of the world.

Check out the website www.driftmagazine.co.uk to see digital copies as well as some nice image albums, good video content and a long list of surfing blogs.