When in Virginia Beach Jim and I go to this fantastic little surf shop called Freedom Surf. A shop that embraces all the ideals of community that I value in a culture, they support local surfers and artists by carrying unique products and sponsoring events. Freedom Surf believes that surfing is more than just a summer activity, they promote it as a lifestyle and an experience. Though I don’t surf I still can become mesmerized for hours by the fantastic unique products they carry throughout their store. One of my favorite artists regularly featured is Andy Davis.

Andy has a very distinct style with flat two dimensional figures elongated and contorted to fluidly mimic the motion of the ocean waves. His imagery is seductively playful using rich earth-tones accented by strokes that elegantly very to sketch out rich female figures. It all looks so effortless, capitalizing on the negative space around each fantastic sketch for emphasis. In a way his work encapsulates the art of surfing, making the incredibly difficult task of catching a wave look like anyone can do it.

Andy has a clothing line called Ando and Friends that I suggest you check out here. Andy’s online presence is a pretty static one. But who can really blame him… I mean hes pretty busy with surfing and drawing. Here is an excerpt from his Bio:

If someone had invented a 25-hour day, Andy Davis might have had a website a year ago. But everyone has a choice to make. Andy’s is drawing, surfing, and spending time with his wife, Ashley, and their son, Noah. Much preferred options fora guy who admits he can barely send an email.

Summer needs to hurry the heck up. For me it means weekend trips to the beach to join Jim surfing. Though it is cold outside that doesn’t deter him from hitting the waves or the web to search out the latest in the surfing community. I don’t surf. Not yet. But I do love the overwhelming exposure I get to surf art and culture through him. Everything I learn about it from resin tinting to surf films directly influences my web design, and I hope to feature it more here in the next few months. Not only do I find the art of surfing inspiring but the overall attitude is too.

This evening Jim showed me a board by Tyler Warren that is just stunning. I got so intrigued that I looked up more of his work. At only 21 years of age Tyler is a fluid surfer and has a unique surf art design style.

Check out Tyler’s Work Here at his Website
Most of this info was found via Surfy Surfy a fantastic blog about surfing.

This is a follow-up to my earlier guilty confession that I love to drink overly priced yuppy water. I can not stress that this is a personal struggle I have been dealing with for a long time. It is water. Seventy Percent of the earth is water. The stuff is literally falling from the sky for free yet some marketer and designer has packaged it up and brainwashed me to turn over cold hard cash for it. Some magical force comes over me and I BUY it. And buying it isn’t enough… I almost always am hypnotized to get the most expensive kinds. Flipping genius. Damn you Fiji!

Recovering from my rant I would like to share with you that I found this water while shopping (if you can call skipping around the store making fun of things that are too expensive to buy or too old to be real candidates for president) with Carly at Balduccis. This water is marketed online as being “fashionable” and “portable”. It is said to have been

“inspired by the military canteen, is designed around the principle of portability and utilization of space while maintaining a subtle harmony of form and function. The bottle is useful and fashionable; and the taste of SEI natural spring water is pure and crisp”

Brilliant. For pete’s sake… it is just water, but it on my desk in spite of my thirst… taunting me with it’s beautiful shape and making me feel unworthy of it’s elegant design. It has been weeks since I actually bought it and still I can not bring myself to drink it… it is far too lovely to look at 9.4 fl oz = 2 dollars.