Leucadia love

Photo by Allison Renshaw 

I often find these heart shaped cobbles myself and seem to always take them home with me. I just can’t help it. I’m always amazed by them and how they were formed. When I got this photo from Alison I couldn’t help but spread the Leucadia love.

Lauren Tolford + Almond = Sweet Swimsuits

Our friend and neighbor Lauren Tolford just did a really cool collaboration with the guys and gals at Almond. Lauren is making all these suits herself.  I'm always blown away at the talent in Leucadia, let alone on our block. So stoked for you Lauren! Congratulations.

My New Favorite Portrait

This one is going up on the wall. 

By Alia age 5.

Taped Off - One of my new favorite blogs

www.tapedoff.com

Peter St Pierre is a legend in Leucadia but more importantly the world of surfing. We are lucky to have him on our planet. He of course is the one that paints those trippy universe scenes on surfboards for his company Moonlight Glassing. I think it's been around for 30 or 40 years. Kipp and I have always looked up to him and somehow I just found his own blog called Taped Off. I love the about...

ABOUT

I really like making surfboards. Shots from our shop Moonlight Glassing. Plus anything else I think is cool. think of this blog as a spinoff of Surfy Surfy but with crappier photos and more typos. --Peter St Pierre

A while back JP passed off one of our handplanes to him at the shop and months later he handed this off to JP. The writing on the bottom said "Enjoy The Universe". We were so stoked he did this I couldn't get the smile off my face for months. I still get a warm fuzzy every-time I look at this. THANK YOU PETER!!!!

At any rate his new blog is a few months old now and filled with tons for great posts from Moonlight Glassing. It is worth a daily click for sure.  Enjoy!

Lines from a Poem - By Nathan Oldfield

Lines from a Poem by our friend and ultra soul photog/filmmaker Nathan Oldfield just got released on thesufnetwork.com. Nathan is the filmmaker who made Seaworthy another great film. Lines of a Poem was Nathan's debut film and features lots of great longboarding in Australia. If you are a fan of Nathan then this is a great one to add to your collection.

If you haven't seen Seaworthy yet you are in for a huge treat. One of my favorite of all time.

Video- Artist/Surfer Micaiah Hardison

Micaiah Hardison doing his thing in the water and with his paint brush. I've known Micaiah for about 15 years now. When I met him he was an 18 year old self taught painter and beach rat. Always either painting or in the water. I love to see how things don't change even after a few kids. He is an amazing artist. His art just gets better over time. I have a number of his pieces and they are my favorite things to look at when I get up in the morning. Thank you Micaiah for the years of visual enjoyment!

Falcon's

Here is a cool little video about Justin our local bodyboard shop owner. If you are local stop by his shop and check out his fin selection. He donates all his boxes for us to ship our handplanes in.  Thanks Justin!  http://www.falconsbodyboardshop.com

Video by Adrian Henke

Happy Father's Day

Father's day is great. Now that I am a dad it is even more meaningful. As a kid I remember giving gifts of crafts made in my class to my dad and waiting wide eyed at how he took them in. No matter what the gift (and how bad it was) he always unwrapped it with a sparkle in his eye and love in his heart.

Now that I am a dad I am on the receiving end of these such gifts.  This year I got the best present I have ever recieved. The teachers at my daughter's school are so amazing. They had the kids fill these pages out and had them do a drawing of the child and their father. It is a treasure to see inside you're child's mind and their perception of you. I am feeling very loved this father's day.

To my Pops, my dear friend. You are amazing and I love you so much. To you I give you this:

I love my dad because:

1. He taught me what it is to be a father.
2. He is always there form me.
3. He can always make me laugh.
4. He is the best listener I have ever met.
5. He is patient and loving.
6. He tirelessly edits my misspellings.
7. He will always pick up the phone no matter what time, day or night.
8. He modeled for me what it is to be a kind and gentle to others.
9. He always encouraged my creativity.
10. He brought me into this world and has never left my side.

The best to you on your father's day. 

Treasures for Trash Beach Clean up - Sunday June 19th.

Our friend and neighbor Erik Baldwin from Nirvana Surfboards is co-hosting a beach clean up at moonlight beach tomorrow (Sunday - June 19th). There will be a raffle, BBQ and bonfire. Sounds pretty amazing. Thank you Erik for doing such a good job in our community and for all your hard work that goes into a community effort like this. 

Surf Indian - Wild Ones - Show Photos

The opening for The Wild Ones featuring Susan Wickstrand and Kevin Roche at the Surf Indian was unreal. What a night. The energy at the event was amazing and the artwork and photography was utterly inspiring to say the least. This was the second time one of our handplanes has made it into a show but the first time Kipp and I were at the event to see it hung.  Seeing someone buy a Susan / Enjoy original lit me up. I could barley contain myself.  

Susan and Kevin are some of the nicest and most talented people I have ever had the pleasure to get to know. The joy they were feeling while in a room filled with loved ones and strangers alike enjoying their passion was contagious. I seriously couldn't have been more stoked that night then if all my own work was on the walls.

The thing that I like about Kevin and Susan is there ability to collaborate. Kipp and I are huge fans of working together with others but these two take it to a whole other level. The work by Susan mixes her own talents with the works of legend photogs and Kevin finds his way into the lives of some of our most beloved surf figures to bare their souls in all his glory. 

The Surf Indian was a star in itself. A show there just contains an energy that is hard to find anywhere else. I don't know if it is the location or the energy it attracts but events there are well worth the trip if need be. 

All and all I give the show a huge double shaka and wish all to see it before it goes down. 

Micaiah Hardison Originals

Evening Sandbar

Oil on Claessens Linen

18 x 36

Available

Over the Sandbar

Oil on Linen

18 x 36

Available

Relentless

Oil on Claessens Linen

24 x 48

Available

All oils of local breaks. Check out http://micaiah.net/collections/12645

Wish Big launch party on June 18th at Art n Soul in downtown Encinitas

Kids for Peace (www.kidsforpeaceglobal.org <http://www.kidsforpeaceglobal.org> ), a San Diego-based nonprofit, is hosting a book launch party to celebrate the publication of their 2nd book, WISH BIG: Children’s Wishes for the World.  His Holiness the Dalai Lama was recently handed the very first copy.

Children ages 3-11 from Kids for Peace chapters spanning the globe submitted artwork to accompany their imaginative “wish for the world.”

I wish for peace in all things. by Shivani Parmar, age 9
I wish our earth was free of pollution.  by Tenzindavaa Negi, age 8
I wish that everyone could be friends and not bully each other.  Daniell Pahm Nguyen, age 8
I wish everyone could close their eyes and know they're in a safe place.  Richelle Mah
I wish that children around the world had a warm bed to dream in. Skye Mirandon, age 11


The WISH BIG book launch will be held on Saturday, June 18, 2011 from 11:00pm – 1:00pm at

Art N Soul on 101, 633 South Coast Highway 101, Encinitas, CA <http://www.mapquest.com/maps/622+South+Coast+Highway+101+Encinitas+CA/> .



An award-winning high school band will provide entertainment while a few of the youth authors and illustrators eagerly sign “their” books. All children are invited to participate in a special Father’s Day Wish activity.



ABOUT KIDS FOR PEACE
Founded in 2006, Kids for Peace is a chapter-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating every child’s innate ability to foster peace through cross-cultural experiences and hands-on arts, service and environmental projects. With over 100 chapters spanning 6 continents, boys and girls of all ages meet regularly to creatively put their “Peace Pledge” into action.  (www.kidsforpeaceglobal.org <http://www.kidsforpeaceglobal.org> )

ABOUT ART N SOUL ON 101
Art N Soul on 101 in Encinitas is a gallery with a passion for social change, with 100 percent of store profits donated to area charities. (http://www.artnsoulon101.jigsy.com/)

A Surfer's Memories and Observations

Swamis 2010

"Nolan's New Family"  Nolan was my dog (family) for 14 years.

John Flores is having  an exhibit at the Civic Art Gallery at the Encinitas City Hall until July 18th.  The exhibit “ A
surfer’s Memories and Observations” includes paintings of two different styles which are represented above.

Reception on June 15,
5-7pm.

City Hall Art Gallery at 505 S Vulcan, open weekdays 7 am
to 6 pm. Closed every other Friday


Www. jfloresw.com

Susan Wickstrand Collector Handplanes at Surf Indian Tonight

Our friend amazing artist Susan Wickstrand hand-painted two handplanes for her and Kevin Roche's art show The Wild Ones tonight at the Surf Indian. Doors open at 7PM and it goes till 10pm. Music by the Mattson 2!  Come and stop by and check out these beauties.  See you there.

Surfindian

4652/4658 Mission Blvd.

Pacific Beach, CA 92109

858-412-5334

Save the Surfing Madonna Mosaic

Whoever made this is a genius in my book. Well done for sure. This piece is to good to tear down. If you feel the same way sign the petition to keep it up and let the city know how you feel about it. Thanks to the Leucadia Blog for sponsoring this petition.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-the-encinitas-surfing-madonna-mosaic/

Yucca

The  Crown

The old and the new

Best friends

My friends Pierce and Petra Kavanagh live in what I would call paradise, a little slice of land that is filled with local flora, cacti, the largest torrey pine I have seen and this amazing yucca. How they get any work done there is beyond me. The day I got these shots I stood in his yard for an hour just listening to the birds and watched the bees. I have a new love affair with their yard so more photos will follow.

Wild Ones Art Show - Saturday 7pm Surf Indian.

Our friends Susan Wickstrand and Kevin Roche are having an art show this Saturday night at the Surf Indian. Live music by the Mattson 2! Kipp and I will be there. Susan even painted up two handplanes for the show! If you have seen the list of legends she’s worked with, you will understand how stoked and honored we are to have her do some handplanes. See everyone there! http://www.surfindian.com

Ladies Night of Surfing - Friday, June 10 · 7:00pm - 11:00pm

Our friend Whitney is a really cool garage shaper. ( http://www.whitneypeace.blogspot.com/ ) She is a part of the Ladies Night of Surfing this Friday. Go check it out. She will be displaying a few of her boards. The premiere or “Leave a Message” is also that night.

Friday, June 10 · 7:00pm - 11:00pm
Location   
Shaper Studios
6310 Riverdale St.
San Diego, CA

Bruce Stephens Fund-Raiser, Encinitas, June 9!

For those of you blessed to live in Encinitas or nearby environs may have been privileged to meet Bruce Stephens, (or Swami Bruce) local poet, yoga teacher, massage therapist, surfer and all-around great guy.  Bruce, a strapping big man with a huge smile and gentle demeanor, is active in the community, especially in the poetry world, participating and mc'ing the Full Moon Poetry Slam in Encinitas twice a year.  His poems, witty, humorous and sharply observant takes on life, surfing, aging, you-name-it, leave you chuckling, nodding and wistfully smiling.

Early this year, life took a different turn and Bruce was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and then Ganesh stepped in!  Ganesh, as you know, is the elephant-headed Hindu god of beginning and ends, unexpected challenges and obstacles overcome, patron of art and science and wisdom.  And needless to say, Bruce, being a man of letters, took to scribing this new chapter in his blog, Journey with Ganesh (see link below).

All this to say that an EVENT, a CELEBRATION, a FUND=RAISER, a BIG DEAL! is happening in Encinitas on June 9, 7:30 - 9:00 pm. at the Pannikin to support Bruce and family through this expensive medical experience.  All segments of the community have stepped up and in to contribute: Las Olas, Ki's, Brigantine, Jake's, Seaside Market, Sbicca, Stone Brewery; big name artist's artwork; David Alan Collection furniture; O'Neill surf stuff, vacation rental properties, and much much more - all donations to be raffled or silent auctioned off with ALL proceeds going to the Bruce Stephen Fund.

Can you tell?  We LOVE Bruce and will support him and his family through this challenging experience (and with the good company of Ganesh, of course)!

If you live locally, send this PDF to your friends, email lists or groups.
If you live locally, consider if you have talents, donations to contribute (contact Elena Burgeno-Berman - bermansbythesea@cox.net)
If you live locally, ATTEND!  (with heart and checkbook in hand)

Read about Bruce's Journey with Ganesh in his blog:  http://supportswamibruce.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-journey-with-ganesh.html

Surf Dad - Written by Adam "Trout" Traubman

I laughed out load. Classic writing from our buddy Trout.

A 5'4 Mandala - Possibly the best Birthday Present Ever

Happy Birthday Kirk and congrats on you're new Mandala!  Anne gets the wife of the year award for sure.

Kirk found this little beauty this morning floating in his Jacuzzi. I've surfed with Kirk on his birthday for manny years and usually in June it is 1 foot slop. How stoked is he that a new board comes with some glassy waves! See you in the water my friend.

Shots from the Tyler Warren Loft 9 Event

The Tyler Warren art show and board fest was huge success. I was so stoked I went. Tons of great art and boards all displayed for you to drool over. The vibe was great and I was pleasantly surprised by all the Leucadian folk that I saw there. I seriously was worried about who was watching Leucadia.

The big star of the event was Richard Kenvin's loft. It has become somewhat of a legend these days but to finally see and experience it was a whole other deal. For a guy notorious for never leaving my little town it was well worth the drive to downtown SD. The architecture and look into Richard's lifestyle was worth it alone.

For those of you who showed up it was a blast. If you didn't get down there do the next one for sure. You'll be stoked.