It all started when...
I realized, after a few years of shooting surf shots for the magazines, that the images showed what it looked like but lacked a feel, a vibrancy, a sense of emotional flow. Even in my best shots, there seemed to be a feeling that the camera hinted at but couldn't quite get. To get closer to the feeling, I went back to my fondness for drawing and painting. I started using color and expression, with a surfing image as the starting point, to reach something that can't be found with a photograph. Photos can do great things but they always convey a snapshot of a time. The vibrant use of color and expression has emotional content every time you look at it. A photo captures a time that was. A painting evokes a feeling that is.
With that in mind, I began with a photo of a friend at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz and played with the shapes and colors until I found something that vibrates with light and color, moving past a depiction of an event and creates an experience of excitement, the excitement of a big wave.