Surfer Painting Art Artists John Robertson
Surfer
As I live only a couple of blocks from the beach and my
studio is even closer, it is only natural I would paint a surfer. This surfer is standing on the rocks at Ventura , California
break. "C" Street is more of an inside break as apposed to the "Point" break.
Surfing
I first started surfing many, many years ago. How Long?
Well I do not want to give away my age but when I started surfing there
were some guys using redwood planks and wore knit swim suits. Women still wore bonnets to the beach. The boards were ten to twelve feet of solid
redwood and weighed a hundred pounds. To
get one of those things off the beach was like dragging a dead seal back into
the water. It was like paddling a canoe
with a chance of splinters. I actually
started out on the old balsa boards - no splinters and slippery when wet. We used candle wax for the surface. By the way - no wet-suits either and we surfed
year-round. Living about 6 miles from Malibu it was the natural
place to surf. We sometimes went up to Leo
Carrillo and County
Line Santa
Monica and Venice
breaks because - well, just because.
Because Malibu
was close and just about the best break anywhere - and few surfers then. A crowded day was about a dozen guys out.
Body Boarding Now
Even though I live close to a couple of great breaks I do
not surf anymore. I do get into the
ocean regularly, body-boarding, but surfing has lost it's appeal. Main reason?
The same as many. Too many
people. But just north of us is a nice
shore break. A few boards come out but
not enough to interfere with the body-boarders. It is more about just being in the water and
not on top of it. I feel more part of
the environment. And most of the year
without a wet suit. When the water drops
below 60 degrees then that is about the time the wet suit comes out. But that is what so great about living in
sunny Southern California - living outdoors and you can be in the water all year long without wearing a big rubber .... suit.