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It was not an easy day. It was a long, at times cold, other time scary and constantly challenging day. Furthermore there was no reason to put myself through this ordeal. After all I was skipping out on my responsibilities of work, you know the kind that puts food on one’s table and furthers a career. Instead I was working on self-indulging my physical and mental senses, not to mention copping an adrenaline rush. The payoff? A day of rejuvenation, of feeling alive, and maybe a bit of creative reward. The alarm sounded at 6 a.m. A check of the… Continue reading 

I’m not sure if I should refer to the hand shaper of board #14 in the 15 Surfboards by 15 Shapers project by his name, Jim Phillips, or his alter ego, ‘The Genius.’ In actuality there is little that differentiates the two personas, though I do believe there is a transformation that happens when a piece of wood or foam is placed in Jim’s hands. It is at that time that one witnesses a true genius at work. Prior to meeting and working with Jim I asked the previous shapers in the project to suggest a top shaper/craftsman from Southern… Continue reading 

The 3 Amigos – the unlucky lucky one Believe in it or not, #13 is significant for its unpopularity. After all, tall buildings skip the 13th floor all together. But where exactly is the 13th floor? I mean how do you go from the 12th to the 14th with out passing through the 13th? Is there a black hole that passes through time and space, that defies gravity and three dimensions simply so that we don’t land on #13? I don’t know, this is all fascinating but honestly what does it have to do with a surfboard, even the one… Continue reading 

Like most who have witness the effortless gliding of pelicans through and over the trough of waves, I am spellbound by the beauty and grace of their formation flight. I have never made a conscious effort of photographing this spectacle of nature though I have captured numerous images of these birds when by happenstance a camera is in hand. However, one thing I’ve done only once or twice in my career is photograph them from a water vantage point of view. Seeing them as a surfer would and photographing them as such has always been a goal of mine. Of… Continue reading 

When a second B.A.T. surfboard was shaped by Brian Tudor and adorned with the #2 of 8 “Down The Line” print I envisioned it being ridden by a skilled surfer that I could photograph to showcase the ‘functional art’ aspect of my Surfboard Art Project (SArtP). The pictures could then be used to promote the functionality and aesthetic beauty of a hand crafted surfboard with an in-layed original photographic print. What I did not foresee was donating it to charity. An astute intern at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) came across one of the boards from the SArtP while… Continue reading 

JUNGLE FALL – Legendary by Association. While still in Hawaii, and after finishing Pat Rawson’s The Wall, circumstances and good fortune allowed me to complete a second surfboard. This other surfboard would become the twelfth in the collection of the 15 Surfboards by 15 Shapers project. It would be no average surfboard, however. In any field or profession there are those that with hard work, motivation, innovation, excellence and certainly through time and demand become legends. Whatever they produce, by sheer name association, becomes collectible if not legendary. Dick Brewer and Jack Reeves are two such legends and they are… Continue reading