Surf Art

Here is some surf art from my 6 year old nephew Austin from Japan.  He drew them while we were doing a Skype video session one day and I made his mom send them to me. When he showed me over the video you couldn't really make out exactly what they looked like. But when she sent them to me I was blown away. How he came up with these on his own I don't really know.  He doesn't have surf magazines lying around and doesn't get subliminally influenced by surf videos. However, he came up with them the result is amazing.  Obviously he is a surfer at heart. In somewhat of a vacuum he managed to draw some very interesting pictures of some very real surf moves complete with barrel shots, and even an off the top. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Dugan... We Will Miss You

Anyone who knew Dugan had respect for him.  He was a one of a kind sort of guy who was a living link to surfing's past.  For the past 12 years that I have surfed Grandview I have been both inspired and humbled by him.  On the days that I would wear a 4/3 he would trunk it. On the days that I was nervous to paddle out, he would be out at the crack of dawn (in trunks) taking off on the biggest sets.  On the small days when the surf was flat he would entertain me with stories of the places he's been and the people he met along the way.

Dugan was a true waterman, a living legend, and a friend to all he surfed with.  He lived life to the fullest and made a lot of friends along the way. Personally I will never forget him.  This world and our little surf spot he called home were better places for having him.

Good bye Dugan.  We will miss you.

Ed

Photos courtesy of John Costan.  The story of them is below.

Dugan was always and will always be the master of his universe, the
ocean. I am thankful for the opportunity to know him. I had the good
fortune of many fun sessions with him in the water.

This was a Fall day in 2006, cold water and a big swell. Dugan
trunking it, of course... as usual!! I happily had these printed and
presented to them to Dugan at Grandview. We agreed on payment of a
good wave, or two!

There will be a Celebration of Dugan's life Memorial Paddle out Scheduled for Sunday January the 18th, 12:00 noon.  Memorial will start at Ponto Beach and then be followed by a short walk to Grandview for the paddle out. Please pass this info on...For more information please contact 760-445-9839.

Camper Fin by Rodney McCoubrey

Camper Fin by Rodney McCoubrey, Age 54 going on 13. Camper Siding, Paint and Fun

Here is a longboard fin by Rodney McCoubrey which is a stand out. In standard Rodney fashion he thinks completely out of the box.  Having fun as usual he takes a piece of camper siding, sprays a fin template and goes to work.  I spent over an hour shooting his back yard studio and getting inspired.  If you've never seen Rodney's work in person go check out the Encinitas Library. He has a permanent display in the children's section.

In a new section I'm going to feature some of the most beautiful places we never see, our local artist's back yards.  I have been lucky enough to have seen the yards of Rodney and Mary Fleener, who both have some of the most amazing spaces I've seen. Look for them in future posts. 

Cobble Fin by Kevin

Here is an entry by Kevin who with his submission simply said. "I really like Cobbles."  I'm with you Kevin. I dig them as well.  Thanks for the submission!

A side note on cobbles, a friend of mine and local artist Steve Klinsky started to take notice at how beautiful the stones were wet and wanted to see what they looked like polished. He bought himself a tumbler and was amazed at what he found. It turns out that the cobble we keep trying to bury under the sand are often rare and sometimes valuable stones. He gave me a few and I was blown away at their beauty. It changed my outlook forever on those little things I keep stubbing my cold toe on. 

Little House Fins

Little House Fin by Mick Waters, Age 38

Ruby Fin by Ruby Waters, Age 4

Skye Fin by Skye Waters, Age 1

Here are a set of fins all the way from Australia. Mick Waters is the creator of the surf film Believe.  I have become a huge fan of his work and he has become a regular visitor of the site. Check out the two fins from his kids Skye and Ruby. They are great. If you look closely the little figures are on boards complete with fins. Great works guys.

As soon as it hits the shelves I'll be doing a post on his new film set to release in the next few months called Little Black Wheels.  He sent me the trailer and I was blown away. Checkout it out for yourself, it looks so good I can't wait to see the whole thing.

Another Road Trip to Cardiff

Here are two shots sent in by David Gray. He has been getting these unreal shots at dusk with the back lit waves. I love these. I hope you do as well. Below is what came with the email.

Well, finally after a month of absolutely NO surf whatsoever we get our first ray of hope in the form of 3' - 4' clean little waves! Nice! I think the curse Aaron brought down on us all due to his wetsuit covetousness issues has finally been lifted! (see lucasurfsblog for details of how he started all of this mess!) He even had to get a suit with a key holder... absolutely the straw that broke the camel's back for the entire last 30 days. All kidding around aside, the surf was pretty fun last night and I scored a few good shots. Enjoy. David

Katie Keel Fin

Here is the youngest artist we've had yet. This is from my niece Katie who is almost 2 years old. Her fin just puts a smile on my face. Those of you with kids remember the innocence of drawings by a toddler. The exploration of the paper with her favorite colored crayons is apparent. Good job Katie!

Abstract Keels by Ethan

Here are two form my nephew Ethan age 5 from Japan.  My favorite is the top one. Click on it to make it larger and take a closer look. It is really great. Well done Ethan!

Ethan is very much into Star Wars like his brother. We do Skype video chats and they perform some serious Jedi moves for me. They usually come home once a year and as they get older I'm going to teach them how to surf.  Once hooked and they get a bit older I'm going to send them a list of all of the surf spots in Japan.

Star Wars Keel by Austin

Here are three entries from my nephew Austin, age 6 from Japan. Check out  The Star Wars Keel! I love it.  He is a huge Star Wars Fan so he drew Darth Vader and Yoda having a light saber duel. He was so inspired that he wanted to do two more. This time he felt like expressing his abstract side. Good work Austin!

Local Leucadian Alex Woodard Thursday at the Belly Up

Local Leucadian and musical talent Alex Woodard will be playing at the Belly Up this Thursday Jan. 8th at 8pm. Those of you who know Alex know he can surf as well as he plays.  This is his last local show for a long time so if you can try and make it.  Check out his website if you've never heard his music. 

Collage

Here is a nice little collage that David put together.  Enjoy.

Army Keel and Surf Keel Fins by Owen and Henry

Army Keel by Owen, Age 7

Surf Keel by Henry, Age 6

Here are a couple of Fins dropped of at my door by proud uncle and local surfer Chris Miller. 

These are great. Thanks guys!

San Diego Photo Keel Fin by R.M. Lewis

Here is a cool entry. It's from my dad and photographer R. M. Lewis. He couldn't help but join in all the fun. In fact the week I started my blog he was so inspired that he built his own and has been posting ever since. Check out his blog The San Diego Photo Project.  You'll be blown away at the photography of San Diego. 

Happy New Year and THANK YOU

Erik Baldwin and Lauren Tolford hosted a New Years Eve block party for Coop Ct. Here are a few shots of the fun. Last shot is of Erik jamming for the crowd.

Thank you so much to all of you who have been enjoying The Leucadia Project. Our intension to inspire and share the place we love with our friends and neighbors has spread beyond and has started to touch the world. In our first 24 days of existence we were viewed by over 3100 people in over 20 countries. 

What started out as a spark of inspiration for us to share with a few, has blossomed into a place that people can come together in spirit and get inspired by the talent of the people and the beauty of the place we live.  Our little township is a very special place.  The physical property is beautiful but it is the people that give it it's energy. I am proud of our little piece of the world and I'm looking forward to sharing with you more in the new year.

Ed

Photos by Ed Lewis

Flower Keel by Lauren Tolford

While at our neighborhood New Years party Lauren Tolford handed in this great Flower Keel Fin. Her style is really great.  Thanks Lauren!

Please keep submitting your fins.  If we get enough we are kicking around the idea of holding an art show to show off the works in living color.

Cardiff Road Trip

Here is the story that came with these great shots...

Ed,

My son and his friend wanted to go surfing down at Cardiff the other day. The surf was super small and pretty much grom perfect! I thought hey, the sun is out and they will have a blast! Let's go! They paddled out and caught a few waves trying really hard to get tubed! I'm talking with more stoke and enthusiasm then I have seen in a long time. Anyway, I'm standing there trying to get a photo of them looking just a little bit cooler than a guy with a metal detector with my camera gear in my hand... :) Then I kept noticing a little bit of backlighting on the waves just north of me at the main peak. A little set rolled in and these guys did their magic and bang just like that I had a few good ones to take home. Pretty cool and now they are up on Surfline!

Dave

Bluff top shots from Saturday

As we sit and wait out another week of knee high surf, here is a look at what we got on Saturday. I know a lot of you waited for Sunday and were disappointed. (Kirk) For those of you who did, read rule #17 on the Foster Surf Adventures Blog. Shots above are of Jason and Jeff Werbelow. A couple of lucky guys whose Mom and stepdad rent a house on the bluff a few times a year.  First two are Jason and the last is Jeff.  As you can see the surf gene runs in the family. Shots are taken by Rich their stepdad -- Reminding us that the coolest parents are those who not only let us stay at their bluff house but take shots of us as well.  You get points, Rich.

David Gray on Surfline

Our own David Gray got front page of Surfline today for his shot of Black's.  He made the honors of having two shots in the years best. Way to go David!  You can check it out here. 

Barrel Keel by Erik Baldwin

Here is the latest fin in from local Erik Baldwin, 29.  It is great. I love the use of the fin shape as the lip.  Checkout his new loop'd site for more photos of him.

Shots From Today

Here are few from today. Thank god there are waves. Everyone I ran into lately was getting a bit cranky.  

The first shot of Erik is classic. This is what happens when you keep him out of the water for two whole days. He is so amped that he explodes.  Erik was actually pulling triple duty today.  He ran down the beach with a longboard, shortboard as well as shooting pictures of his friends. 

The second shot is of Erik expressing his mellower side. Erik is the type of guy who you can trade your board with, and the first wave he is surfing it better then you. 

Third and forth shots are of me playing with the new inside sandbar. It has been getting extremely fun on the inside.  I didn't actually make this but I was so excited to have a shot of me covered up I had to put it up so my mom and dad could see.  If you know local and Souls flip flop rep Grandview Dean you know what he would say as you paddled out.  He would look you dead in the face and say that it was a good wave and if you were a better surfer you would have made that. No kidding, just to the point. A classic Dean-ism. I know Dean. I know.

Last shot is of local Bob Holden walking out. I just really liked the shot.  You have to love Bob. On his first wave he takes off deep and hoots like crazy. Then he realizes we are in the water and yells at the top of his lungs...  "Hi Neighbor!" Always a good time with him in the water. We didn't get a shot but he did get the wave of the day-- a set wave that he took off deep on and road to the sand.  Way to go, Bob.

A special acknowledgment for Lauren, Erik's better half who gets the girlfriend of the year award. She came down to shoot Erik on a high tide only to have to do the cobble hobble for 300 yards. She then shot all of us.  You get points for that Lauren.

Photos 1, 2, 5 by Lauren Tolford

Photos 3,4 by Erik Baldwin

THE FLEENALELE

Check this out. I found this on Mary Fleener's site.  She was asked to paint some ukuleles.  This was the first I'd seen of them.  They are amazing.  She isn't only an amazing artist but a great musician. I had the pleasure of watching her and her husband Paul play at a party one time.  It was a real treat to sit that close and hear them play. 

Check out her site here there are some more pictures of the uks.

Avo Street Keel Fin by Mary Fleener

The newest submission is by Mary Fleener. I love it. Avo Street Keel Fin done on typewriter paper and colored pencil. 

Thanks Mary!

"Christmas Fin"

Here is a fin submission from a local 6 year old, artist and ripper. Keep up the good work!

Merry Christmas - From The Leucadia Project

Wishing you all a warm wetsuit and empty waves. 

Have a great holiday!

What I'm Watching - Seaworthy

                          

I got this new surf film yesterday called Seaworthy. It is a great film. It has everything I love. Amazing cinematography, great music and surfing.  

My favorite segment in the film is where the narrator talks about the loss of his daughter.  In the wake of the loss he talks about how surfing helped him cope. In his grieving process he shapes a quad fish that he then shoots the cast of the film riding. It is a great segment. The depth of the emotion, combined with the entertainment of watching each surfer ride this board in their own unique style, makes time stand still as you watch. 

Another great segment is the Belinda Baggs segment. If you've seen Glass Love then you remember the segment of Daize. This segment of Belinda reminds me of that. It is sort of a love letter to the beauty of women's longboarding. 

The film is by an Australian by the name of Nathan Oldfield. After watching Believe I decided to write the creator and he turned me on to Nathan's work.  For me this crew of Australian artists, filmmakers and surfers have a special quality that I find refreshing, powerful and soulful. They have a perspective on surfing and life that feels right to me.  It is about the love for the ocean and the love for the beauty of nature.

From start to finish this film is beautiful with a lot of great surfing. I got my copy for $15 at www.thesurfnetwork.com. I highly recommend it. It is the second film by Nathan. His first was Lines From A Poem. I haven't seen it yet but after this it is the next on my list.