Inspirations and dedication 8' x 6' triptych for Jamie O

A brief history....

So yeah, I get this call in August from Jamie O'Brien, indisputably one of the best Surfers in the world today....he was inquiring about doing a few more paintings for his house on Pipeline. Jamie has been a collector of my work since 2006-07. A few years after doing the murals at Pipeline Cafe' in Kaka'ako, Troy Alotis had introduced me to Jamie and MickO (Jamie's Dad) so I could start showing my work at what I like to call the "50-yard-line house" directly in front of Pipeline. Deborah, (my dear late wife) being from Australia along with Mick and Jamie's love for art, we all automatically became fast friends amongst the buzz of that yard. (full of competitors, shapers, filmers, industry folk, and well-wishers' during every Pipe contest) Now, that I live on the North Shore, I still go back to sit on Micko's deck most days that Pipe is firing.

The Commission 
The first painting Jamie ordered is the subject of this blog. An eight foot high by six wide triptych depicting the view of a twelve foot bomb at Teahupo'o, Tahiti....a challenge indeed. If you've followed my art you'd know that I've done a catalog of paintings of Pipe inside and out (as I've surfed it, fell in love with her, and made my peace with not being able to surf there anymore.) Now, to truly depict an experience that I have no intention of even dreaming about doing! Well, dreaming is OK. When he gave me the concept, I said "fukya, but I'm gonna need some guidance".

The first challenge was building the canvas....as it is custom fit to the ceiling in his house....

Custom built stretchers 8' on high side, 6' on the low side, 3-24" wide canvases. I've always reveled in the possibilities that a blank canvas holds, especially one you might feel you want to "walk" through or in this case, "ride" through.


And this is the beginning of a dream scape.
Once the canvas was built, Jamie agreed to come up to the studio and help lay down the initial sketch.....so he brings along Kalani Chapman. Another Teahupo'o expert....

Here we are going over some GoPro footage by Pete Hodgson. We also used references by Domenic Mosqueira,  Clark Little, Brent Bielmann, and footage from Jack McCoy's "A Deeper Shade of Blue" 

Mahalo to two of the world's best barrel riders. My two favorites indeed. To be able to have the insights (pun intended) of these two-made the difference toward the success of this work. I believe in transfer of energy, whether it's talking story or just being there to have one suggestion, it all affects the painting process. I think the more input and appreciation that a painting experiences while it's being created gives a piece power. It's amazing how certain people can feel this energy while looking at a completed piece without knowing the history of its inspirations. 

With the initial lines drawn, the next step was to refine, define, and align all the subtleties of this immense wave. 

The first color layer after laying down the initial sketch in Burnt Umber. By using a warm color instead of Black for the sketch, color theory comes into play when painting with translucent paint. Since the finished work will be predominantly Blue, by using its compliment, an orangey brown brings more life into the mix. Once the first color layer was applied, it mapped out where the textures were added.

Here it is in the afternoon sunlight coming into the studio at sunset time. The first layers of light layer glazing beginning to glow-showing promise....

At this point, Jamie and I were discussing how the bottom drops out of huge barreling waves and wanted to capture this movement. We turned the light blue reference lines at the bottom of the wave towards the mountain to create more draw off the reef.

Also, changing the lip line to a more horizontal line to widen the space between the lip and the viewer. We also took away most of the foam ball (the explosion caused by the lip of the wave to the right) to create more openness within the barrel. Once these references were addressed, the composition was set and  I could begin with the heavy glazing process.

"The science of play and dreams are more than half of the work. This is done using the tool of imagination".

....and the use of my room mate tool..... Seriously though, the talented Mr. Patrick Parker steps in for a few defining strokes. We always critique each others art as students do in art class. It keeps our art vocabulary straight forward and honest- bringing out the best in ours and others works. This is the gold of "the Plant Too Pupukea", it's facilitation of the creative and collaborative process thrives here....We are about to celebrate two years at this energetically magical place. So many artists have come here to paint and exchange ideas....So grateful for this place, Mahalo Ke Akua

Here, the mountain's details are laid down. At this point, there are twelve layers of glaze, paint and varnish with the paint layers getting thinner and the glaze layers thicker. This allows light to penetrate while bottom layers remain visible. This is the key to the painting's ability to change colors as lighting varies.

Detail shot of the Tahitian mountain range.

At this stage, translucent iridescent pigments were added throughout...thin layers of Gold, Violet, Magenta, Blue Green, and Silver.

After all the shiny stuff was laid down, yet another layer of translucent blues were added to calm down the reflective iridescent layer.

The painting was then moved to my usual painting space where I use dimmers to see rough areas. By raising and lowering the light levels I am able to connect the dots and smooth out transitions to match the changing light. 18 layers and counting.....

Here's a detail shot of the textures.

The completed piece done, a total of 22 layers of paint, glaze, and varnish. "A good days work never hurt anyone" was the caption of this photo. The sides of the painting were painted with the same color as the wall in Jamie's house to give it a clean floating effect....

Delivery and installation of the pieces into Jamie's house....

The most sturdy way to hang large pieces is to use an "Irish Cleat".

Once the cleats were installed on the painting and wall, it was easy as 1,2,3.

Mission accomplished. Stoke out one of the best barrel riders in the world....my job is pretty friken cool.

Ladles and Jellyspoons, may I present to you "The Jamie O'Brien Contemporary Museum of Modern Surf Art" featured on the far left, Banzai Pipeline, a 4' x 6' painting that he ordered last year after seeing the commission for Banzai Sushi Bar in 2013. 

I've known Jamie and MickO for a relatively short time, being closer to MickO through the years as our ages are closer, but it's this Teahupo'o piece that had grown my friendship with Jamie. Sharing a ton of laughs and insights about surfing and life throughout the span of this project. 

The North Shore is built not only by its waves and the droves of surfers that come here every year. It's built on healthy relationships and a love for this unique community. It's about humility, grace, and, hardships in the water and out. It takes years of these qualities to be a constant presence here....

People always ask, "How long did that painting take?" I always say, "about 37 years....."

Photos by Patrick Parker, Clark Takashima, and Christian Cook.

"vibrational plains"

"There was a time when everything that i have ever imagined & experienced did not seem real at all....until it lead me on a quest toward what i thought was real....The nightmares have become the lessons -of truth and pure vibration. The road just a small part of the journey, the journey, just a small part of the story, the story, just a small part of the love..." sea-T2013

EYE LA VIEW

Now, the beginning for real....at least in my dream, Story.

    The juxtaposition of your dream and my dream.....a happy healing happening. When we come to understand that everyone has their own understandings, we find a calm state of an unhampered flow in our lives.
   So YEah, I'm a learnin' real good about all that is temporal.
   Our time here on earth, living is relatively minute-when compared to the time of mankind, then less to the age of the Earth and Universe. Time and the measurement of it in the Happy factor. Time well spent in the realm of HAppy without a smidgen of worry or dread stemmed from fear.

    We are Spirits that  occupy bodies...ha, i used "occupy'....

We have been taught many complicated things throughout our life, we sometimes are distracted by it all- then epiphanies happen. Usually for me, its been a flash of sparkling clarity that comes in a flash of a moment of "neow". Then, i think back and it has been said before in some age old saying that we all learned-but forgot. (and yes Neow is a word combining New with Now, a New Now. a Fb friend calls these words, Clarkisms)

    Some have imposed discipline and mix up others to submit.
 
Within, our own will is all we can control. Where our spirit lives and is just about all where will is properly supplied, implied and applied. It's the special place where physicality is not a viable part of any decisions in your forward momentum as a healing human being. Our spirits go beyond our bodies here. Every time world records in sports are surpassed, a first step is taken after people who were told they would never walk again, and yes, old dogs can learn new tricks.

    It's within a spark of a nano-second that big changes occur. Being open to that possibility is.... as possibility does.

    When i began this Blog i worried about context and form as if i had to be able to make sense and stay within the structure and boundaries of a book or novella. But, you know what? It is becoming an example in flow-of how life sometimes goes.....A SHARING of experiences and imagine nations within that nano-spark.
   In the movie Australia, there was scene where it was emphasized that all that mattered (in our lifetime in the here and now) is the "story of your lifetime". In watching many movies and deciding worthwhile or not, there are many that hold higher life lessons. Some-we relate to- then become attracted to-the one's that have exciting and interesting twists and turns. Movies that are formulated can be fun too, as are romantic comedies. All have components of Happy endings-which i'm finding are happy beginnings and forevers. The lessons learned here, are only a speck of understandings to what is ahead in the here after.

     "Art in Everything is Art"

"Everything" being our environment, chosen professions, everything physical and not. As big as Universally to our current social situations and our own will.
Noticing everything at certain points in time, that surrounds us in this life-time, is where inspiration happens. Being open and aware-brings you to the ever present possibility of the creative process in any endeavor while practicing a peeling away of any negative thought and replacing then with love and hopes of positive outcomes. Ok, back to painting.....






Sent from my iPhone

It's Symphonic

all is one. As time is truly flying by faster through this 9th wave, Dr. Bronner had it right.
Faith and love is the main components in this time of awareness and time travel-Faith in yourself and all that is good and dandy. Faith in a "what's going to happen next?" kinda way. The "Doing" from Being that "does" from a loving heart for the good of all concerned.

As fashions and trends are cycled and recycled, we are now in a time of collective of thought. This school of thought that brings us nearer to our goals. The buzz word of Collective consciousness, universal laws, intent and spiritual growth.

We are all now Shamans in the way we can now communicate across the miles, look up virtually anything as fast as we might ponder a question. What is correct, true, and viable is up to us to decipher. The road is wide open. The knowledge base and choices growing everyday-at every moment.

So with all this information and misinformation, complications and redirection......a simplification is in order. LOVE. the generality, the whole, dissolve Fear with faith....find correction in the simplification of age old sayings....... and just Breathe....

Two dear friends, Heather Brown and Clark Little. With all they're success's,  have always been a support for me. In what would usually be a competitive atmosphere for most artists in the same genre, they've always shared word's that are helpful and positive. A multiplication of happiness and a full ignorance of negative thought seems to be how i have come to understand the gold of success. A succession of learning, rewiring, retraining, & reinventing of the brain not to entertain any negative thought.

There are so many positive variables to put our attentions to..... there is no sense in entertaining or perpetuating negatives. Just as we learn behaviors, unlearning takes time and practice. The Practice of Acceptance, Gratitude, and Love in Actions.....Without physicality. i see, in spirit i look at you.
Happy 2012 kids, Jus me, Sea-T

on its way.......i paints flowers today.

Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work Work

At Thom Madro's Gallery in Haleiwa town. Where the sun in shinning and the waves are.... flat~ for now. so hi-ho hi-ho......u know the words..CM, infamous sparkle painter and flower arranger.

45% its only a #

Works in progress have no real percentage for how far the work has to go before completion. During every creative process, most times, time is our way of not burning our cookies....

real illusions

no internal power struggle

Light aware

11-11-11..........are U In

I HATE these kind of parties........ha.

One things for Certain....

There are certain folks that revolve in your life. Funny how sometimes you run into the same folks at random times or you call someone and they were thinking to call you... Some, you never run into. I'm beginning to feel this energy thing (Energy shared) between two people holds validity as does the invisible electricity that lights our lights. Night wise and soul wise.
With an accepting heart that lets your energy flow....attracts very cool vibey people and circumstances....the opposite seems true for...well the opposite.

So here's some words that came to me as i was showering last nite.....what the shower has to do with these thoughts?....i dunno :)

I'll share with you all
the imperfections
of Me
Until You will come to know
me perfectly

certainly
its a kind of
shelter for our friendship
and the reason for
this energy shared
Reciprocally

Every day i wake to Thank You
as i wonder what is that
makes you so cool
Then i think IT, what i think,
really doesn't matter

We come clean as the same
the structure of our brains
the universe, the trees, and streams
the weaving of our thoughts in
synchronised Patterns

Our storied lives kept in
light space between the mind and heart
in collected memories
is the truest location of 
Eternity


Ok bye for now......










 

Detail o details

Stoke stroke stoke! Thinking I may just wanna do this for a living one day......

Progression session 11-11-11 am

Old Chapter to write a New Chapter. (Take 3)

Ok.
Its been a few days...The painting has begun.
Now, thoughts. This past year has been a process that has led me here and there in mind and body.... mainly a trip. As this blog began with a dedication of Love, it will continue with love.
Deborah aka Porkchop left us on August 8th, 2010. After a diagnosis in May 2010, The aftershocks are only now beginning to subside. Ten years of unconditional love, is an inspiration from beyond the perception of time. I am a Lucky man. She is the love groove and is the reason for the season in my art that continues to grow. Her sounding board voice is missed dearly as she kept the business end of my career groomed. Her Spirit lives on in my heart yeah....she saved my life, my art, and i'll explain how in a future post.

So Yeah, in reverent remembrance. the light of a new chapter sparks an awakening to write this to anyone who find themselves in a bind of past learned beliefs that may inhibit their growth spiritually or otherwise. This is a turning of the page. A venture into a next now...Thank you for reading.


"The" Facebook
My Facebook had garnered some attention during last Summer's personal race for a cure and is the "incubus" of this Blog. If you hadn't had the chance to scroll through a few years of posts, here's the skinny.

When i began my Facebook account, (Along with every possible online interview i could do) it was  pure advertisement for the art. An Art show online. The coolest thing was to be able to bring you into the studio as works were completed without airline tickets, venue hassles and shipping costs. Back then it was a different animal. Folks were posting stuff that seemed superficial to me and lead to the beginning of my posts aimed at making small change in thought patterns leaning away from materialism toward a collective consciousness for the betterment of our world. The purpose and mission of the posts were simple. To bring about change in a positive manner without rants, finger pointing, & without saying my way is the best way....
By listening to the heart, the advertising side fell by the wayside to show the human at the keyboard. Complete with comments that ranged between the slightly profound to child like and simple. Mix in a twisted vocabulary and a few tunes that had poignant writing, there he goes again....friken ARTIST. (We all have things to say or admit and are free to do so, hopefully, without offending or defending.)
   Deb and i first saw the opportunity to "Share" for awareness with the opening of "The Cove".  The Dolphins, actually, did make her cry before Hootie ever sang about it....
Some might say some of the posts were too "heart on the sleeve-ish".... too personal, and too "out there"  ~there were times when friends pulled me to the side and said, "won't that effect your sales?" or "arn't you afraid of what will people think?".... all i'd say to them was...."artist" and smile.  If i'm not making people think or have a reaction good or bad, then i'm not doing my job. Basically, i had the music blasting as i painted, had a thought, or a song that triggered the thought-then posted it on FB. It lead to my brush being guided by another source. Mainly, posts were made to remind myself of where i was and should be in this space and time.
 Thankfully, there were only rare occasions that negative reactions surfaced. My "Got Heroin?" post was one such instance, it was just another way of saying, "I feel like shit because i have to move out of my beautiful studio that i created art in for ten years". Because of my self admitted past in the dabbling of hard drugs, some may have thought i went back.  As a general guideline, opinions on politics and religion were taboo for the page because of it's vicious cycle-ness in nature.

So Yeah, Mind, Travel, Surf & Rock-n-Roll were all out on the table and i always tried to post in a tasteful manner.... Sooooo, what does all this have to do with painting waves you ask? Process. The flow of reactions spurred my creativity virtually as i painted alone in my studio.  Art, its putting yourself out there on a virtual edge. Be it personal, vicariously or otherwise.... what folks thought about me or the art wasn't the focus as much the sharing of doing the art and the process behind it- It is also about bringing about change and opening dialogue to perhaps free a few minds along the way. I do believe everyone has their specialty in Art. A Chef, a Marketer, Farmer, Mother, Etc. By opening my mind and heart to an audience from my studio, a venue was found. Albeit full of Dragons and Butterflies, Angels and Soul families.....

The message of the Art, this relatively undefined relation of painting waves.
 The wealth of this micro-genre now called "Surf Art" may hold an example, a daily reminder of all that is known and felt within the act of Surfing to Life's everyday lessons and how we fit into this world with its ever changing environment.  Non-surfers are already channel surfing and Surfing the web. It is within this shift out of the industrial age into the information age and the chance at a little Human comfort and understanding which pulls at my purpose.... we all are seeing people go a little nuts from the bombardment of this information, some, basically losing it completely. Who knows? You may already think i'm there!

It is my intent, my dream-to help people to see their life as if they are a surfer in the ocean and eventually on surfable wave in their mind.  As we all learn to flow intangibly on this flexible plane called the information age, there is struggle and there is flow. The speed of information coming at us may throw us off center. Surfing parallels decision making in virtually all aspects in life today.  o.k. i'll shut up and paint now.....

OOOOkay....lay lay on its way way.....

da lip....(crest)

at this point i am making several decisions on composition thinking in terms of the rules of thirds....of course, the course of the work may change at any moment....

all in the details...or lack there of.

middle earth