Serena Mitnik-Miller just had her art opening at Mollusk SF and her pieces are for sale through the shop. The work is gorgeous, what looks to be a combination of photography, painting and wood-block printing, with a presentation style to match.
For those of us that are geographically challenged, Mollusk has a nice photo gallery ’simulating’ the show, complete with piece groupings and wall-direction markings. Go to the Mollusk site and click on “art” (no deep link).
Beautiful work.
Magic still happens.
Case in point: stars aligned and we were lucky enough to be in LA for Maggie Marsek’s show at Shelter Surf Shop. I’m lying a wee bit, Maggie’s show was actually a large impetus for the timing of our trip. It was wonderful seeing her photos up-close and personal. Large, yummy prints made from real film. And it was equally awesome to finally meet up with Maggie and her man Rob (70 Percent.org). Rob and I have been talking back and forth, across the internet tubes, for a few years now and it was super nice to put a smile and a face to the legend.
Along with Maggie’s work, I was fortunate enough to meet Ryan Tatar (Shakas and Singlefins) and to peep his photographic work that coincidentally is also hanging in Shelter. I’ve written about Ryan’s work before.
I have to give it up to Graham at Shelter for being such an ardent supporter of local surf photogs. It’s easy to rely on established talent to coat the walls of your shop, but Graham is really pushing the edge. Finding new, untapped talent and giving them a podium to show their stuff. keep it up Graham!
To top off a very very cool night, I got to meet JP of Moonlight Glassing and Surfy Surfy fame. He is one of the most down to earth, humble cats I’ve ever met. Heart of gold. I resisted the urge to (over-enthusiastically) get him to sign my tshirt. I know the boards he glasses are shaped by other people, but his work is truly a work of art. Reading Surfy Surfy, seeing a visual diary of all the new boards coming through his family’s shop, coming in as shaped foam and leaving as pieces of realized art. It’s a daily education on classical surf craft form.
It was super nice to meet all these people from the surf blogosphere, putting faces to blog header graphics. Living in a small mexican town can be a wee bit isolating sometimes (offset by multiple uncrowded surf breaks) so it was nice to have a night of Tecates, photography and new friends all in the name of surf culture.
Thanks Maggie, Rob, Graham, Ryan and JP for a wicked night.
Posted in surfing, travels | Also tagged Photography |
“We must be the change we want to see” b/w “Fuck whoever wrote that”
The first quote (a bit mangled) from Mahatma Ghandi. I can’t quite figure out where the second quote is from, but i think i’ve heard it somewhere before.
Posted in my photos | Also tagged Photography |
This is a return to ‘form’ of sorts. Photography-wise, I’ve been experimenting with knocking the contrast and saturation down, intentionally making the images more flat. I’m tired ‘a that. Also, these are two images from a larger forthcoming series on losing local breaks to unchecked real estate development here in Nayarit.
image from Michael Dweck’s Montauk series
Michael Dweck has some gorgeous photography, especially his Montauk series of 50s era surf-culture / americana inspired shots, his book looks amazing.
[via The Year in Pictures]
The top shot taken on a surf trip to Ostula Michoacan, in August of ‘07 and the bottom shot, taken at local mainstay Quesadillas. Visual cousins.
On a side note: some jerkwad burned the ramada down at Quesadillas, this past week. The one the bottom picture was taken through. Nothing that can’t be rebuilt with a little hard sweat and a machete, but definitely a random, unnecessary act of destruction. totally bummer.
Went searchin’, today, for any pre-cursors of the incoming swell. There’s definitely a lot of chop and the bay is looking super worked from all the air. But no real swell and any uptick is blown out in the massive wind. Conversely, the kiteboarders are having a field day. All along the beach in bucerias day-glow parachutes whiz above the tree tops.
I tried to stop in at Pools/Albercas, one of my favorite breaks – that only works with the summer storm systems, to check the access situation (there’s been rumors) and much to my dismay, there is a new security gate that denied me access to the road that passes near the break. I was under the impression that A. The road is built on top of a river bed, what would be designated as “Federal Zone” (hence illegal to put in a gate or deny access without laborious and costly, federal permits – which I highly doubt they have) and B. The road itself was not deeded property of the condominium association that owns the Punta Del Burro property, so it would be illegal for the association to deny access to the road. We’ll have to do some due diligence.
This gets to the heart of a serious problem happening all up and down the coast between La Cruz and Punta Mita and one that I’ve been reticent to write about. Access to our handful of surf breaks is slowly being choked off one by one, as is the access to each of the local swimming beaches. People point fingers and say that it’s the Gringos, but I don’t think it’s that simple.
The past four years has seen an explosion of land development along this coast. Land exchanged hands, plans drawn up, permits filed and now building is starting to happen everywhere. Relatively rapidly, access to sacred surf breaks are being choked off by developers and homeowners associations, who don’t want people accessing the beaches from what usually amounts to lot boundary lines and semi-dry riverbeds.
This is a heavy and laborious subject and requires more than a simple post, so I guess I’m committing myself to a series of posts that will in all likeliness just graze the surface of the unintended problems real estate development is creating, in the bay.
For now, I’ll point you to Vida Cadu Cada, the blog of a recently enacted local civil association whose raison d’etre is to work with local, state and national authorities to secure access for surfers to these sites. I’ve kinda signed on, to help with the english speaking contingent.
Why? cuz kitties are cute. that’s why. that and the fact that Ana can surf a short board better than you. She shreads! Put gnarly surf chicks together with kitties and it’s photo gold, my friend. works every time.
Posted in my photos, surfing | Also tagged Photography |
With impending swell on the way, I went for an 8:30am checkup. not too early to catch the morning session (and accompanying traffic jam of earth moving vehicles, buses and pick up trucks stacked to the gills with albañiles – all on their way out to Punta Mita to make luxury houses for the richie riches). and not too late, before the rays start to bake you alive and the wind whips the water into a blown-out, frothish frenzy.
Assuming there’d be at least some kind of swell, I over-shot and brought the shortboard. Rolled up to “the spot” to find 16 longboarders with occasional two to three footers. With nice, glassy conditions there were some nice waves coming through, an uptick from last week, but nothing chewable for a 6′0″. I surveyed the scene for a while. Some longboarder chick was rockin’ it, inna fine style. Amazing leg work, subtle and steady. Just as a I grabbed the camera, she headed back to shore.
Back to the break at 6:00pm with the wind whipping everything into fine white foam. This time the 6′0″ worked nicely on the slightly larger set waves, but with no real power in ‘em, they’re what I’d call “lazy”. I still had fun and being back out the shortboard was a nice change from the waterlog, good paddle practice for any incoming swell and nice to work out those shortboard legs.
Last week was spent trimming ankle slappers. But sometimes you just need a taste. Not a local to be seen in the water. A ghost town populated by visiting surf families with multiple surf instructors.
Survey sez: major swell approaching. Depending on who you ask, it’ll arrive here Wed or Fri, I’m betting on Wednesday. Spent this weekend repairing mis cuatro tablas. Each board with varying degrees of dings, bruises and gashes. The fish had a nice run in with a visiting mini super grom whose soccer dad was video taping him, as I ducked the wrong way and his skagg put a nice 6 inch gash into my rail. The super-light ATL 6′0″ had a nice little nose ding, with foam showing, probably from out-of-the-water damage. and the longboard had a year’s worth of gouges and scrapes, it ain’t called the “waterlog” for nothin’. I ran out of catalyst along the way, so funboard repairs are left til next round (the learning board). I’ll have to restock up next time I head to the states. Finding ding repair kits in Mexico is not easy, you can thank homeland security for that one. We guard our kits, here, like our first born.
More pics on the flickrtrim.
Posted in my photos, surfing | Also tagged surfing |
