Holy Smokes!  I felt some serious love from Heal the Bay last week at their annual fundraiser gala, “Bring Back the Beach.”  As 2013 Partner Artist, I donated the artwork to to be used for this years’ event as well as the original painting to be be auctioned off along with some prints on Bamboo Plywood.  The artwork was EVERYWHERE!  Name badges, wall mural, signage, Giant LCD screen, Tribute Journals… Pretty cool. “Kelpafornia 2″ is the second in a series of 3 paintings for our Heal the Bay Partner Artist campaign this year.  Read more about the partnership HERE.   Pretty happy with how the silent auction went, the paintings and prints raised several thousand dollars for Heal the Bay.  A massive thanks to all the folks at Heal the Bay for supporting my art!  Here’s some pics…

Welcome…

Huge mural at the Gala

My super sexy woman checkin out the art auction table

Tribute Journals on all the tables with my art on the cover.

Gala Tribute Journal

A pretty amazing shout out in the Tribute Journal, thanks for the love Heal the Bay!

And a full page ad.

Actress Amy Smart checkin out my art

The place was jammed packed… and a $500 a plate, they pulled in some decent mula just from tickets.

Ziggy Marley was jammin’

>> More about the Heal the Bay Partner Artist situation

>> Check out this Time-Lapse Video of me painting “Kelpafornia 2″

>> Buy Heal the Bay prints and products in my STORE

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Buy prints of “Kelpafornia 2″ HERE >>>

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These puppies are going fast, we just released the first two paintings for Heal the Bay, “Kelpafornia 1″ and “Kelpafornia 2″, as beautiful limited edition prints on sustainably harvested 3/4″ bamboo plywood.  Each print measures 20 inches x 30 inches, close to the size of the 24×36 inch original paintings. They are signed and numbered and come with a certificate of authenticity.  We are doing a limited edition of only 10 prints each.  15% os sales benefits Heal the Bay.

Get all the details and grab both of them now for $400 each in the STORE.  

“Kelpafornia 2″

“Kelpafornia 1″

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Check out the vid…

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3 panels bolted together forming a 96″x48″x3″ piece.

Medium: Acrylic paint, illustration markers and colored pencil topped off with a few glossy Polycrylic clear coats.

It’s currently available at Art Whino Gallery, National Harbor, MD as part of the Branching Out show. Contact the gallery for inquires.

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The warm water and perfect waves beckoned me back to Indo again.  This time we started on a 10 day boat trip through the Mentawai islands off Sumatra then hung around Bali and Lombok for another few weeks.  I had been reluctant to ever go on a surf boat charter.  Hard to justify dropping $4000- $5000 for a 10 day surf trip when that could easily last for several months just cruising Indo or Central America by land.  But now, I can say I’ll do it again in a heartbeat… only on a little bigger boat with a few more luxuries.

Our boat situation was pretty classic. Laughable even.  She was an old teak and hardwood fishing boat fitted to become a surf charter vessel and we got to break her in on her maiden surf voyage.  They were still putting the finishing touches and final stripe of paint on her when we showed up at the dock.  The “S.S. Guinea Pig” was about to take out her first crew of surfers.  Hoping she floats.  The river harbor of Padang is the most disgusting body of water I’ve ever seen. The locals use it as a trash dump.  Guaranteed to grow a third eye or nipple  if you went for a swim.

As we set sail that evening for a 12 hour all-night chug to the wave infested island chain across the Mentawai Straight, we learned that it was our Chefs first time working on a boat.  Awesome.  And our Galley consisted of a giant freezer sitting on the stern deck, a bench and a small stove and sink on either side of the freezer.  All on the open deck.  Wind or rain or waves… he was outside cooking. The odds were against him.  But, apart from the lack of sanitary standards, “Cookie” the chef actually did cook up some delicious meals… and some not so delicious, actually most of them sucked.  Special needs diets need not apply.  Hope you like butter by the scoop.  Brown went on a hunger strike towards the end of the trip.  Everybody had the squirts at some point.  And I’m not sure if it was the seas making us queazy or the fact that every time Cookie cut raw meat (everyday. all day.) raw chunks and juices would be flung all over the deck… only to wash down the port side of the boat and pool up in front of the doorway to our bunks.  S.S. Guinea Pig was changed to S.S. Salmonella. But Cookie turned out to be the happiest, craziest, drunken, pervert on the boat… so A+ for entertainment value, and he did a hell of a job… there’s no way I could cook 3 meals a day for 10 hungry, foreign assholes on a camp stove… on a boat.

Our days were filled with surfing, sweating out the butter from the last meal in the humid tropical heat, and keeping on a steady drip of Bintang Beer.  Life was good.  Here’s some more pics…

I found a few nice shady spots on the trip

As mellow as it gets

The work of a village artist

Jason Lives!!! Sans chainsaw.

Little Sponge Bob Dude

HT’s on the biggest day

It’s always Bintang o’clock somewhere

Little dried out fish and sea creature parts anyone?

Misfits

Vader lives on an island…and surfs.

Stopped here to let Cookie go find us more food.

Epic.

Why am I not here right now?

Too many damn wave pics to post…

Good setting for a sun

Mr. Puente making a mark at around 3pm

Can’t find the end-of-trip-crew-group-shot… over it

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I’m headed back to DC for another showing of art at Art Whino Gallery.  Can’t believe it’s already been 5 years since the last time I had a show out there… and got so smashed I fell in the Potomac River.  I vaguely remember standing in the lobby of the hotel dripping wet and muddy yelling about something to someone… but that’s another story for another time.

“Branching Out” is a 3 person show also featuring the talented Ursula Young and Graham Franciose. The opening is this Saturday, April 13th, everybody will be there.  I’ve got a few large paintings, a few small paintings and a few paintings that are juuuust right.  As well as 9 small mixed media drawings mounted on wood that I really, really dig.  Come check it out if you’re in the area or share this with somebody who is.

The show also coincides with the final day and parade of the National Cherry Blossom Festival I did the art for so there’s a lot going on in DC this weekend.  I’ll be signing Cherry Blossom Fest posters at the festival after the parade as well as at Art Whino on Saturday night.

From Art Whino:

In conjunction with this year’s Cherry Blossom Festival, Art Whino will be hosting an exhibit focusing on this Washington D.C. spring time tradition and will feature the work of the official Festival artist, Erik Abel, along with two other talented and reknown artists, Graham Franciose and Ursula Young . As the trees begin to bloom and bring life to the city, these works of art will depict this time of new life that signifies the end of winter and the return of color. With a diverse assortment of three artists, each work will be as unique as every blossom of these remarkable trees. Erik Abel’s graphic approach, Graham Franciose’s painterly illustrative style, and Ursula Xanthe Young’s surrealist perspective, will blend in subject matter and will contrast in treatment, bringing forth the individuality of each artist’s work and the beauty of nature in Spring.

Saturday, April 13th, from 8-11pm

Location:
Art Whino Gallery
120 American Way
National Harbor, MD 20745

Show end date: May 13th

Complimentary Frost Beverages by PBR.

Partial Proceeds of the sales will go to the National Cherry Blossom Festival

The event is FREE and open to the public.

Here’s a peek at a few pieces from the show…

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