I had to start with this poster. I mean look at that painting that Stan Chew did. He calls it MANGROVES AT DUSK. I love his work. He and I have so much in common and I'm proud to call him a friend after so many years. I always look forward to his art each year. And once gain, he did not disappoint me.
Welcome to the 15th Annual SURF ART BLOG!
The planning of my annual Surf Art Blog is always a crap shoot.
The reason why I do it in the summer is I figure it's a good way to break up the monotony of a typical summer Flat spell. Not this summer. We had waves all week and it looks like we will have waves into this next week. So, I'm still a surf photographer and when there's waves I'm shooting. Unless there's nobody out surfing, in which case I am surfing! Which is exactly what happened this week. I surfed for 3 consecutive days. And get this, the water temps were in the low 70's. Holy Moly Batman is this true? Yup. It is. It was damn near tropical out there. So I shot a few pics and caught a few waves.
But back to the surf art Blog.
Why do I bother having one each year?
Well, for starters I'm willing to bet that most of you surfers have doodled enough waves in your life to appreciate a good painting, illustration, or sculpture of a wave or surfer. Doodling is art. And to be more specific, if you doodle a wave, that's Surf Art! Like this one below. I did this one a few years back and it has to be one of thousands that I've done that so many surfers and non surfers can relate to. I think I did this in under five minutes. Doodle Dee Doodle Dum.
So if you are one of those doodlers who has kept a few of your doodles, hang onto them, and then send them to me next year.
I fell in love with the Surf Artists from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. From my main influence Rick Griffin,
to Odgen, and Reitveld. I love those guys. And I love some of our local artists as well. Sam and Hannah Vokey are two of my favorites. Imagine being a husband and wife team who not only surf, but are professional artists. That's what Sam and Hannah are. Married Surfers/Surf Artists. You have to admit, that's pretty unique.
This is just one of many of Sam's incredible paintings. He calls this one SUNRISE AT THE BEACH. Having seen my share of sunrises at the beach, I can look at this painting and be reminded of the beautiful world I am so very lucky enough to live in.
And this is one by Hannah. She calls this DREAMING OF HAWAII. Only a surfer knows these feelings of what the paddler is seeing and doing and what the rider is experiencing. This is one of her new ones. Both Sam and Hannah have their own gallery down in the gallery section. Be sure to check them out and their websites as well.
I've become keenly aware of Erica Nardone's whimsical art of Gulls and Surfing
the last 5 years or so. She has this very cool style of drawing Gulls and the Surf environment. I told her she should do a children's book.
Erica has her own gallery down in the gallery section.
Each year I get submissions for artists that literally stop me in my tracks. This year Randall Rosenthal's unique art submissions caught my eye. He calls this one MUNICH WAVE. Randall has his own gallery as well. I encourage you all to go through all these cool galleries to see the incredible talent of our local surf artists.
This is Phill Munson demonstrating his unique style of painting with socks.
I'm not sure if Phill has been hit in the head too many times with his board or not, but I do know he's one of the most intelligent human beings on our coastline who surfs and does surf paintings. He recently completed his PhD and will be moving to Boston this weekend for a new position researching skin cancer at Massachusetts General Hospital. If he can help find a cure for Cancer he can paint with his damn underwear for all I care. All kidding aside, he is a dedicated human being who I am very proud of and we all wish him the best. And yes, Phill has his own gallery too!
The thing about surf art is, it doesn't have to be a painting or illustration. Like John Catizone's beautiful stone wave carvings. Surf art can come in all mediums. Drawings, paintings, sculptures etc etc. So next year if you have some kind of wooden wave, or stonework, or even some bent metal. Take a pic with your cellphone and send it to me. In fact, you can send it to me at anytime during the year. I've already created the folder for 2020.
This is me and the family in front of the Mural down at JB's on North Beach in the late 90's. I'm sure if you've been in JB's, you've seen it. There's a large frame around it now so you can't see my name. Little inside secret, I had my wife and three kids put paint on that mural. So it's basically a family painting. I've done that a few times, having the kids contribute to the large scale paintings. There's a large wave painting hanging in our living room that I gave to Cory for Mother's Day and all three of the kids painted
on it. Of course Max had to go against the grain, but at least his strokes are in there.
And check this out. This is an illustration that Cory had made for me on my recent birthday. It's from a photo of me playing my guitar in 1983. There's also a wave behind me. This would be the first of it's kind, combining my two loves of music and surfing. My wife is the BEST! I Love her to the moon and back!
Please check out all of the artists down in the gallery section. If you sent me art it is in one of these galleries down below. There's one gallery with various artists, so if you don't see you art on the homepage it is in that gallery. And REMEMBER you little i Phone freaks, you can now see all of the galleries with your i Phones!
Thank you to all the artists who contributed to this annual Surf Art Blog!
"Surfing, Art, and Love Heals All Wounds."
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This is a very cold day in 2013. I needed a cold weather pic to get my mind off the current heat wave. Photo by Ed O'Connell
*Click the photo above to see a larger version of Ed's Pic.
Now for Some Local, National and International News
This shit you can't make up. Is it really the second coming of DUMB and DUMBER? What the ever loving hell is going on
in this wacky world??
The only fool missing in this pic is Gary Busey.
Speaking of funny...tonight is the last night of the four day comedy festival. Get your butts down to the Ashworth if you have not seen this show. Trust me, it's worth it!
Jimmy Dunn and his annual HAMPTON BEACH COMEDY FESTIVAL! July 25th, 26th, 27th, and 28th! FOUR NIGHTS!
These are some of the BEST times of the summer here in Hampton. I go every year and laugh my ass off. Get your tix NOW!
CULL (KILL) THE FRICKING SEALS!! Enough is enough.
This is no joke. Something MUST Be Done about the Seal Population on the Cape. It's time to cull the Seals. *I came up with I think might be a good solution. Why Not get robotic ORCAS and have them putter around the beaches of the Cape? Great White Sharks are terrified of them. Hell the mechanical shark (Bruce) in JAWS terrified an entire generation. Let's try the motorized ORCA! Hey it can't hurt.
ESM (Eastern Surf Magazine) using a READY MAG format did the Best of Ralph's Pic. And while they couldn't possibly use everything thing I've ever done, they did manage to put up some 50 pics of mine, plus two videos. And I was truly humbled by their intro. Mez said some nice things about me. CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE THE WHOLE Spread.
So while I was making the GRANITE GIRLS video I came up with this project and concept. It's never been done before. As hard as that seems to be. I'm onto yet another groundbreaking Surf Movie concept. This will be an overview of Surfer dads and their sons. It's a work in progress and I'm hoping to get as many dads and their sons as possible in this movie.
It's that time of year again when we have to start thinking about our annual HIT THE BEACH. This is our 12th year and we are looking forward to this day. So mark your calendars.
There will
be more on this as the summer winds down.
HIT THE BEACH XII on August 30th, 2019 from 8AM to 2PM.
The DVD's are available at all the local surf shops. Or by
sending me an email. ralph@adlantic.com or send a check for $20.00 made out to ADLANTIC and send it here:
ADLANTIC
c/o OC Studio Suites
703 Ocean Blvd Suite C-4
Hampton, NH 03842
Or RENT or BUY it Online. You have spoken and I have listened. You don't have a DVD player so I made it available Online. Watch it on your Smart TV, your computer, or your cellphone! I can't make this any easier my friends.
GRANITE GIRLS and The RIVER WOMEN from Ralph's Pic Of The Week on Vimeo.
NOW AVAILABLE on VIMEO ON DEMAND.
KSM Photoshop of the Week
How many of you knew that KSM commissioned a painting to be done of himself down in GITMO by a famous Chimpanzee Pierre Von Paintyfingers? It's true and here's the proof. I swear he can't let one week of this Blog go by without trying to get involved. DAMN you Khaliddy! I'm not sure I'd pay any money to this Chimp. It does not look like a very good likeness. Am I right?
And so my friends, please take advantage of this weekly photo shop of the mastermind who planned 9-11 and resulted in the deaths of 3,000 innocent civilians by KSM (Khalid Sheik Mohammed).
*Note to self -must pick up a case of Bananas
at Home Depot this week.
CONGRATS TO KAINALU NICHOLS Going PRO!
*Look for the full story in a few weeks. Sorry this got moved
due to the large volume of events this past week and
coming week.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Judith Rastl July 23rd,, 2019!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Tami Heide July 23rd, 2019!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Janelle Donahue July 23rd, 2019!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Vince Shazam July 26th, 2019!
HAPPY 30th Wedding ANNIVERSARY
K&K Grondin
July 23rd, 2019!
GET WELL SOON Kim Grondin!
FYI Lenny Nichols is looking for someone or someones to take over the ESA-NNE District. Please contact Lenny Nichols
by calling his cell (603) 944-2418
Please
Support ALL The photographers who contribute to
Ralph's Pic Of The Week every week for the last 13 years.
** BUY a HIGH RES Photo
from any of the weeks on RPOTW.
Remember
my friends... Surfing Heals All Wounds.
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.
Ralph
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