When Waimea is breaking everyone kind of just stops what they are doing to just watch. The wave is amazing, the guys taking off are amazing - everything about the place is. You can spend all day just soaking it in. Its mesmerizing.

A beautiful day on the North Shore with a lot going on in and out of the water. Business as usual.

After surfing three hours at Rocky Point one day, I still didn't want to leave. So I swam back out to the lineup and bodysurfed for a while. The water was warm and beautiful, the sun was shining, and the waves were great. What a perfect day. This is the life, and view that the fish that live there have. What lucky fish.

"Riding"

Hand pulled block print

edition of 50

matted for a 16 x 20" frame - $80

This picture was taken by Bill Harris of Del Mar, and it is of his son Billy, at a contest in, guess where. Bill and his wife Gretchen were nice enough to let me use their picture for this painting. I love it. Even though I didn't take the picture, it is exactly the image I like to paint. Thank you Harris'

What a beautiful shot. This is another shot taken by Bill Harris. I would like to take pictures that good, and I would like to surf that good as well. My next big surfing goal is to feel really comfortable up on the nose like that. That looks cool.

Its cool to hang out at La Jolla Shores on a sunny summer afternoon. The waves aren't always the best in town, but it is always fun before and after any surf session. Sometimes even during a surf session is fun.

 

"Blacks"

5 x 12 1/2 - $35

8 x 18 1/2 - $45

unmatted

Man oh Man, does Blacks make a pretty wave. It draws quite a crowd, and sometimes you can even get a wave all to yourself.

"Late afternoon Session"

12 x 121/2 - $45

unmatted

I love painting the reflections of things in wet sand. And I love painting people with their surfboards looking cool. I would like to thank Mandy and Max Newbold for looking so cool holding their surfboards while standing on the wet sand.

Just hanging out on a beautiful sunny day. I had this painting at an art show in Encinitas, and two people told me this guy's name, but I forgot it. Then I had it at a show in the 101 Artist's Colony, and Michael Narchi saw it and recognized himself. I am glad he liked it.

Even in California, there are some days that are so clear, you can see the bottom while surfing . . . and warm enough to not have to wear a full-suit. I love those days.

I have been trying to get a shot like this for a long time, and was so happy when my film came back. Actually the guy paddling out is the same guy that is riding the wave, and if you have spent any time at Windansea the past couple years, you will recognize him.

"Casa 1"

Looking at the children's pool from the cove in La Jolla, with boomers breaking nicely.

"Waimea Light"

It may not always be sunny on the North Shore, but it is always beautiful.

Some people didn't like it when the sign went up, but since when did a street sign be so helpful and look so cool at the same time?

"Oceanside Pier"

Oceanside has such good waves, and it is different everytime I go. One day could be gentle little waves rolling in, and another could be huge pounding barrells. I guess any beach break is like that, but this one is really good.

More cool little birds. I got this shot one day at Blacks, and you can see the cliffs reflected in the water.

 

I did a painting similar to this one before, but this is a little bigger and has an angle I like better. The waves probably weren't as good as the painting makes it look that day. That is why I like painting. Its fun to embelish a little here and there.

The waves were as good this day as the picture makes it look. This was really the first time I surfed Lowers, and it was awesome. I remember seeing this wave in the magazines growing up, and not believing Southern California could be so perfect. I had so much fun this day. Best day in years for me.

"Paddle Out"

The only way I could get this blue water was to be in Hawaii. The sun was shining and the waves were fun, and my friend Nate was paddling out to Goat Island with me.

"PB Surf Check"

On March 22, I saw this girl surfing La Jolla Shores in the morning. She was really good too. I wonder if she would ever happen across my website and recognize herself. If I ever see her again, I'll try to tell her to check it out, without sounding like I'm giving her a line.

Sometimes it takes as much mental preparation as it does physical preparation to surf the North Shore. And sometimes its so beautiful, you just have to sit and look.

"Pipe Girls"

Some of the girls on the North Shore are hard chargers.

"Pipeline"

The next two shots on this page were taken by Dr. Bruce Robbins. He is an avid bodysurfer, and has graciously let me paint some shots he has taken. As I was painting this one, I just loved the image, and idea that the only equipment this guy has is some trunks and a board - to ride what is naturally provided. Look at other sports like snowboarding or golf, and compare what is needed. Surfing feels so pure. As I write this, I can only think of bodysurfing, which can be done with less.

 

Bodysurfing technically can be done without anything. Even trunks. But fins do help though. Seeing the watershots Bruce was able to take made me jealous, so I went out and bought some equipment to take cool watershots. This shot is perfect. A great wave, and someone who knows how to ride it. Look for more bodysurfing shots from Dr. Robbins file in the future.

"On the Nose"

It took me so long to get this shot. Not only is it hard for me to get to the tip of my board, but trying to use a camera up there makes it almost impossible for me. I need to surf better. But I do like this painting

"Window Shopping 3"

This is my third painting in the window shopping series, and it probably took me the longest. There are just so many boards in the Surf Ride shop in Solana Beach. I wish I could ride them all. Of course most of them are way, way too small for me. When I was 16, my board was 5'8", and these boards would be the perfect size. Now my shortest board is 6'5, and I need a good wave to get it going.

My son saw this painting, and all he could say was "oooh, train tracks." He is 3 and crazy for trains.

Another beautiful day nearing the end. I love the shadows on this painting, and the wave, and the whole place. Swamis is great.

"Coconuts"

This is a great image. I need to paint more paintings like this one.

If you live in San Diego and you are a painter, eventually you will paint the cove, in La Jolla. Even if you don't live in SD, if you paint seascapes, chances are you will also paint the cove sometime in your career. It is one of California's most beautiful beaches.

This is just a simple painting that turned out really good. An excellent scene for watercolors.

"Window Shopping"

This is from Hansen's window in Encinitas. Again, as part of my lif's journal, this is from when I went shopping for a new board, and the beginning of a series I'm going to work on. I like the way it came out.

"Solo Pelican"

It took me four tries to get a background I liked for this painting. Actually it was more like six. But when I got it how I liked it, I really liked it.

"Bird of Paradise"

I have wanted to paint these flowers for a long time, but could never get a shot I liked. I do like this one though. I don't paint flowers very much, because there are a lot of people who do paint them well, but they are cool flowers. They are flowers right, not plants?

 

"Hazy Days at Blacks"

The surf was so good this morning. But so crowded as well. I caught like 3 crappy inside waves in about 45 minutes. Then I was paddling back out, and this guy tries for a wave, gets caught in the lip, and launched. He landed on me and my board, cracking it 1/3 the way down, prematurely ending my session.

"Ponytail"

I have seen other paintings af women in this same pose, and I always like them. I was lucky enough to find someone posing like this as she was about to paddle out at swamis, which makes it much cooler. Its funny, she probably never thought she was making the world more beautiful as she was getting ready to go for a surf.

I keep painting turtles. Sometimes someone will ask me what my favorite painting is. One time when I was asked this, I pointed to this one. I love it.

 

"Neptune and Nautilus"

Every day I take my son to kindergarten. I am the only parent to take their child on a skateboard. Everyone else drives a huge SUV or van or something. He likes it, and so do I. I still wish I could ride my skateboard to the beach. That would be way better.

Windansea has one of the best waves in San Diego county, and a nice little shack to boot.

 

Here is a nice shot of a bright sunset. I hope no boogie boarders get mad, but I changed the guy walking from a boogie boarder to a surfer. It was easy to do. I think the figure just needed a little more added to it - to give it weight against the pier.

"Shoreline Prep"

This is the third painting I have done of this guy getting his board ready for a surf. I did it because I love the shallow water that you can see through, in his reflection. The whole painting was done for that reflection. I'm glad the rest of the scene was there because its a cool shot of things I love to paint.

"Oceanside Pier Sunset 1"

"Into the Sun"

 

I got a shot of these guys going for an early morning surf in Oceanside. The weather has been so clear this fall, with a lot of Santa Ana days in San Diego. It has been great. If only the waves were a little bigger I would call the weather perfect.

 

This shot was taken in the summer. The marine layer was just burning off, and there was a longboard contest for the Oceanside surf club by the pier. Where else would a bunch of longboards go between heats?

"Goat Trail"

I love this painting and the next one. Both images show people getting to truly great and even iconic surf Spots in San Diego. Blacks and Swamis are both, at times, world class waves, and getting to them can be very picturesque. We who live in San Diego can be proud to surf the waves we are given.

This couple is technically walking down to Pipes, but that is Swamis in the background, and the familiar pinnensuela make it a great painting.

Just imagine a low tide in a warm evening, and you are waiting for your buddie to catch his last wave in. That is this painting.

The guy at Mitchs in Solana Beach hassled me for having my camera in the shop taking pictures of stuff. He thought I was trying to steal board designs. Yeah, like there is any way I could even get a hold of a blank now to make a new board, after what happened in Dec, 2005. Actually I do have a blank I bought like 6 months before the crisis, thinking I would shape myself something. Now I am going to hold onto it for my retirement. Then again, I just snapped my board, so I have to use it now.

 

This paintings shows what I love to paint. There is great surf, and there are people interacting with it. I can picture myself as each person here. There is the guys on the wave - the young boy who might be intimidated by the size and crowd - the father who can't wait until his son charges out on days like this - and the person just casually getting ready. And I like all those little rocks too.

 

This is my favorite oil painting. I already loved the image of the guy waxing his board at the waters edge, and I have several watercolors of him done already. But something happened when I did it in oils. I loved the colors, the brushstrokes, the texture of the painting and everything else about it. Every oil painting I do from now on will be measured against this one to see if it is successful or not.

(prints are on canvas, and pricing is different than prints on paper)