It's Ok Painting

As an artist I like people’s heads to turn, and then I like them to stop and take in the art. I do this in two ways make the art interesting to look at and use interesting canvases. The surfboards I use as my canvas, are pieces of art themselves and I paint subjects you wouldn’t necessarily relate to a surfboard. Other artists use surfboards as a platform to enhance their art but most of the imagery you see relates to the ocean in some way. I never could see the point in using a surfboard as a piece of art and then simply painting on a wave or the beach, as that’s exactly what you would think should be painted on the board. I believe art is supposed to make you think and wonder about the imagery. Not as in what is that but what was the artist thinking about or better yet what is the person in the painting thinking about. I mainly take old surfboards that are past their surf by date, with a few battle scars, remove the fins, old wax, and give them a sand back. Then they are ready to go as a unique canvas. I mainly paint women in a figurative form and faces that have had a weathered life with a story to tell. I find the female form to be expressive and artistic all on its own. My art can be mysterious, creative, cheeky and provocative without being perverse. I have been influenced by the extreme sports world and the women in it as I grew up around these sports. I have traveled to many different countries all around the world and have seen works by the great masters and street art by unknowns. All these images have given rise to my style over the years. My style is bold and stylized, sometimes in colour and sometimes in black and white, but always uniquely me. I can only create my way but my style has lent itself too many different subjects. From book illustrations to old English pub signs, one off pieces of art my style has covered them all. Tom Swift