Pinwheel Fins by Lukas - 5 and Ajia- 2

More fins were sent in by proud father and Avo lover, Jason Werbelow. Apparently the two loved coloring the fins so much that when finished they insisted that he put them up in their bedroom. Pretty cool.

Thanks Jason for sending them in!

New Show in Town - Cheryl Sorg - Text • Context - Enc. Library

Our own Cheryl Sorg's work is being displayed at the Encinitas Library. Her work went up last Friday and will be there until March 31st.  The show is of past, present and current works she has been producing, which is quite a treat. If you've ever visited her website and read her bio you would see that her work has been displayed at some renowned museums and galleries. Pretty cool that we get the chance to see her work in our own back yard. 

We featured her on the site a while back where she dismantled surf mags to create some amazing pieces. This time around she is dismantling entire novels and reassembling them into huge forms that can be read from start to finish.

I have been lucky enough to live next door to Cheryl for the past 4 years and have been able to witness the hard work she puts into these pieces. She once told me that a finished piece can take a 1000 hours or more to complete! She cuts an entire book up line by line, word by word or letter by letter to create her masterpiece. Pretty amazing seeing that she has two young kids as well!

She is having an artist reception March 14th from 1 - 3 pm 

For more photos of the exhibit go to her Facebook gallery.

Also below is a bit from her artist statement. It gives you an idea why she does what she does.

Enjoy.

"Literature, and its ability to transfix and transport, has served as the inspiration for my work for a number of years. A humble but passionate translator, I use books to create large and elaborate constructions, forms in which a viewer can get lost, as in a well-told tale.

I began by making small-scale pieces for the purpose of photographing them, the photo being the final ‘product’. Quickly I set aside the camera, however, and focused entirely on the making of the sculptures and installations themselves, wanting to see how they would morph - expand - without the resulting photo in mind. Along with this new focus came a new set of parameters designed to alleviate my guilt over ‘destroying’ books, objects I consider sacred .... that the books must remain in their entirety, and readable, in the final pieces.

I achieve this in most of the pieces by cutting the book (two copies of the book, actually, in order to get both sides of each page, and therefore the text in its entirety) apart line by line - sometimes even word by word, letter by letter - and assembling the text with clear tape into a variety of configurations. The content of the texts is integral to the the work, the stories within their pages informing and inspiring the shape each piece ultimately takes.

Many of the books I use in my work tell stories of obsession, or the obsessive pursuit - Moby Dick, The Odyssey and Lolita are prime examples. As I strive to keep the work within the strict parameters I’ve set for myself, and as the pieces become larger, more complex and time- and labor-intensive, obsession serves not only as the leitmotif, but as my own (for better or worse!) personal methodology as well. Should literature follow in the footsteps of music and film, with books going to the wayside like so many LP’s and VHS tapes, I make my contribution to their preservation with my archive of re-configured books. In my own obsessive fashion, I am building a unique ‘library’ comprised of classics and personal favorites - a large, idiosyncratic, readable-only-in-theory, and most unwieldy library to be sure!"

Photos by Cheryl Sorg

Dugan's Family Needs Our Help

After Dugan passed his family was burdened with their rental unit on their ranch being left in disrepair after their tenant moved out. With Dugan, who would have dealt with  the mess, not there to help, the family is in need of our support.  In a community effort Dugan's friends and family have banned together to help out and put together a crew to help rebuild the house so that their life blood is not lost.   

Dugan's longtime friend, contractor Brad Hall is donating his time to manage the construction efforts. With Brad at the helm the family still needs our help to be his crew as well as help with donations for materials.

If you know your way around a construction site please give Chuck 760- 207-2315 or Brad 760-525-0210 a ring.

They need help March 7th., Sat & Sun March 21 & 22  Sat & Sun April 4 & 5

Project materials are estimated at $7,500. Labor is contributed by our community of Grandview Locals and other Dugan friends. So far, $1,500 has been graciously raised from the community.

If you would like to make a contribution you can do so by...

1] Online via credit card or PayPal by clicking here

2] By check, payable to Roger Bodemer. Mail it to him at 2605 Unicornio St Carlsbad, CA 92009.

3] Grandview surfers can pass on their contribution to Rocky, Roger, or Tom.

I just dig the free gift of it all

David sent me these photos and this note.  I thought it was cool. Enjoy.

"You know, In a lot of ways these two shots sum up surfing for me. These shots really are about nothing and at the same time are about something. For me the commercialization of surfing does nothing for me... neither does the contest thing or the surfer cool thing. I haven't even been surfing lately and I still get the same joy out of shooting these shots as I did when I surfed or even back when I was a kid hangin' at the beach with my mom. Surfing is a wonderful thing and way too awesome to try and fit in to the three categories I mentioned before. I just dig the free gift of it all and I do my best to shoot that.

David"

More Wax Art- Wave

Ok I'm hooked. I can't stop making dirty surf wax art.  The feel of wax on my fingers and the smell of feet and coconut.  What's not to love?  This little wave took about an hour to make. It was out of a ball of wax I had sitting in my garage for about 6 months.  I have had so much fun with this and liked the end result so much I have started to keep them on my mantel. People are stoked to see them as they come through the house.  In about six months when my wax is ready to be changed I'll make a new one. That is unless people send me some of their own wax!

If you want to do your own and save a ball of wax from the dump, make them up and send me some photos. Ed Lewis

Photos by Ed

Surf Art by Ethan age 5

My sister emailed me these drawings by my 5 year old nephew, Ethan. These are great, I love them. We Skype all the time and my daughter and I do art projects with him, his brother and sister who live in Japan. This was the result of one of our drawing sessions.  My sister and her family live inland in Japan so they aren't around surfing at all. He gets his surf influence from me and The Leucadia Project. Classic.

Chris Del Moro

David was shooting one day and kept seeing this guy killing it. Wave after wave with big sprays and barrels. After the session he realized that it was local artist and free surfer, Chris Del Moro. Chris, who had met David before was stoked to see the shots, which ended up on Surfline. According to David, Chris is about a nice a guy as you can get. Not only does he rip, he is just really humble -- the kind of guy you want to see succeed at whatever he does.

Mattson Family Benefit Show - A Success - Thank you

View Photos Here

The Mattson Two/ Ray Barbee benefit concert was a huge success. Everyone who was there was blown away.  More then one of my friends who are musicians themselves said it was the best concert they had every seen. Friends and friends of friends showed up to give their support. The concert raised over $11,000 for the cause.  The family is going through a lot right now but are extremely grateful and humbled that our community showed up to support their cause. Good job everyone.

Photos provided by Janell Cannon 

Road Trip - DMJ's

David sent me these photos a few days ago.  These are shots of his friend Chad, who absolutely kills it. David and Chad went up to DMJ's a while ago and got it good. I've surfed up there a few times and it was amazing. The environment is an interesting contrast. 

Single Fin - Binki

A while back I posted on an asymmetrical fin experiment I have been trying. (See Fin Swap Anyone) I have been using two very different fins on my fish. One was a LokBox Turbo fin and the other was a standard LokBox 7.25" keel fin.  The set up surprisingly worked really well. It had a bit more speed due to the cant (angle) of the turbo fin as it opened up the space between the fins. This experiment has opened my mind to thinking outside the box when it comes to fins. It was amazing that an asymmetrical set up worked so well.

Yesterday though I expanded my fin experiment.  This time, however, not by choice.  You see on my first wave my turbo fin snapped off.  I noticed a few days ago that it had a stress crack but never thought it would snap. On that first wave I was going left and that fin was the fin in the face so I spun out.  I was a bit upset at the idea of loosing my favorite fin but I decided to stay out and belly the board around as I had just gotten out.  

I bellied on my first wave and then on my second wave, by instinct, I just stood up. Surprisingly I was able to ride it all the way in. That wave was a spark of inspiration and so I took wave after wave riding with one fin.  After a few test waves I figured out that going right with a good fin in the face was about 75% capacity of how the board rode normally. Who would have thought? You couldn't do a big carve but you could do little slide out snaps, drive down the line and feel pretty confident. Going left was another story. Although I made my first wave I proceeded to spin out more often then not.

Although I'm bummed that I lost my favorite fin, that session was a gift.  It opened my mind to the possibilities in something I had thought to be impossible.  A good lesson in general and memorable session.

Bob Nanninga Tribute Monday 6 to 8pm at E St. Cafe

For those of you who don't know about this it should be quite the event. You can sign up to speak at the event or hang back and enjoy the stories. 

Surf Wax Art.

I am well known for my wax job. I will go six months or more with the same wax build up. Kirk is the same way.  Erik goes crazy over this.  He rides for Sticky Bumps so he gets tons of wax and is always trying out new wax formulas.  One day he was so disgusted that he even offered to rewax my board for me. I politly declined. Besides, it took me six months to get that wax job!

This type of wax job has it's advantages and disadvantages. On the upside it works great. A couple of seasons of wax makes a pretty good blend. You can't buy this stuff. This current wax job was originated sometime in summer so it has a good base of warm wax and is now mixed in with the cold formula. The down side to the caked on wax job is that it looks really bad and it gets really heavy.  It must add a pound at least to the board.

Today I finally couldn't take it any more and decided to rewax my board. Since I have six months of wax I tend to have a decent size ball at the end of the stripping. This time was no different.

I hate to throw out old wax as it isn't the best thing for the environment. I have a few balls floating around my garage just sitting collecting dust.

Today I dicided to do something different with the wax. I decided to put my years of art school to use and make my sculpture professor proud. After looking at this ball of wax I started seeing a face in it. So with a little work I was able to bring my ball of wax to life.

After seeing the results I was pretty stoked. I even put it up on my mantel.  Who knew that your old dirty surf wax would be a pretty good medium to make sculptures out of it? Besides that wax was with me on some amazing waves. It seems fitting that I show it some respect and give it a life after my board.

So the next time you rewax your board, do the environment a favor and make that dirty ball into something cool. When your done, take a snap shot and send it our way and we'll post it.

Cardiff Sunshine

While David was combing through his archives he came across a set from summer that I have always liked.  Here are a few from a small summer Cardiff day.  To me these are amazing. I love the color and the playfulness of a small day. They remind me of why I like to surf, the feeling I get from a warm summer sunset and those moments when I think about life as I paddle back out. 

Pure Beauty

After these storms it has been amazing to witness the colors of the sunsets in the lineup.  I feel so lucky and thankful when I happen to witness these moments of such pure beauty.  

We spend a lot of time in the water searching for waves that we tend to get too busy to stop and look around.  I'm just as guilty of that as anyone but when I do stop for a moment, let a wave pass, and watch in awe I feel better for doing so.  

Photos by David Gray

Post Storm

Here are a few shots from today.  David was down shooting this morning and got some good ones.  I was out last night for a walk and it was victory at sea. What a difference a day makes.

Mattson Family Benefit Show - Sunday Feb. 22nd @5PM

If you have never heard these guys you will be blown away. They played for years around town and have now made it big and are traveling the world and playing.  This event is a special deal as their parents are both self employed and are both recovering from surgery. The concert will help pay their bills and get them back on their feet. This show will most likely be nothing like you have ever seen. These guys play their hearts out for strangers let alone their own family.  

If you can make it you won't be disappointed. If you can't they are graciously accepting donations as well.

www.mattson2.com

Please send donations to:

Jan & Arlene Mattson
c/o
Brooke Mattson
1563 Village View Rd.
Encinitas, CA 92024

Goodbye Bob Nanninga - Thank You For Protecting Leucadia

Click Here for more photos

Early Valentines Day morning we lost one of Leucadia's strongest and most passionate crusaders - Bob Nanninga. Although a native that never surfed, Bob dedicated his life to the preservation, health and quality of Leucadia, it's beaches, and the ocean. He was our personal Environmental Warrior. An avid believer of the spoken word who also had a remarkable gift of poetry and public speaking - Leucadians were somehow the lucky or "chosen" ones who were the recipients of this gift.

I will miss you dearly, Bob, 

Mrs. Anne

What I'm Watching - One California Day

I had seen for years on MTV's Cribs all the pop stars who had movie theaters in their mansions. The first thought that always came to mind was how cool it would be to watch surf films in them.  I never thought I'd have the opportunity to have my own personal movie theater until last week when my neighbor went on a trip and his wife was cool enough to loan me their digital video projector. 

After looking around my place I realized that if I pulled one of my paintings down I had a wall that was 12' x 12' and perfect for watching surf films. So far this week I have watched at least 6.

After going through my collection I started to branch out to my friends.  Erik loaned me One California Day which I hadn't seen in a few years.

The first time I saw One California Day it was at the La Palama on opening night.  It was quite the experience.  The film was good the first time but like leftover Leucaida Pizza, it got better with age. 

That is the one thing that is special about surf films. Ninety-nine percent of the movies I watch in pop culture I can watch once and get bord with them after that.  A good surf film is nothing like that.  You can watch them over and over and they become like an old friend who you don't see for a while but think about.  Once back together, you hit it off like you were never apart.

When given the oppertunity to watch the film again I was immediately transported to the opening night and the scene that inspired me the most.  Although they have a ton of great sequences, like Tudor at Big Rock, Joe and Tom Curren in Santa Barbera, Greg Noll in his work shop, and the Malloys in Baja, it was the Alex Knost and Tyler Warren sequences that by far stood out to me in the film.  I remember being blown away by Alex and Tyler and walking out of the theater completely inspired. It was the same this time around as well.

If you haven't seen this film yet it is one that you need to own in your collection.  The DVD is a great set as you get the extra footage of the Greg Noll segment and a lot more which is really cool. If you can't wait they got it in last week at www.thesurfnetwork.com. Enjoy.

Local Eli Mirandon at Black's

Long time local Eli Mirandon was shot by David at Black's last month on his quad fish shaped by local Manny Caro.  Check out Manny's site The Swallowtail Society. Eli is a great surfer and I love these shots. Manny's boards are amazing as well. The second shot is one of the set that made it on Surfline. Enjoy.

Stained Glass Fin by Jan Rogers

Last night I got a great surprise.  Jan Rogers, long time friend and neighbor, brought over her fin entry, a stained glass original creation she made just for me! I currently have it displayed in my house and will treasure it forever. Thank you Jan!  I Love it!