[caption id="attachment_1222" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="(Photo: The surfer as a grom; John John Florence checking out the surf at Backdoor.) "][/caption] To say that I've had an association with John John since he was a wee bitty grom would be a gross understatement. Not only have we established a bond as surfers, but our friendship has always been tight and crossed-over into a kinship only known between my family, the Fletchers, and John John with his little brothers Nathan and Ivan, and mom Alex; Mom John. I wanted to share some of the photos I've taken of John John throughout the years. This here is just a miniscule piece of my much larger archive. Like my boards, paintings, and sculptures, photography is another artistic endeavor that I've involved my life with. [caption ...

As I blogged earlier, Dibi, Nathan and I currently have some of our artistic creations displayed in the “Swell” exhibition in various galleries throughout New York. We've been getting a lot of really cool reactions and interest. Pretty heavy, ain't it? Check out a little review that the New York Times recently did about the showing. Copy and paste this link if you’re unable to click it: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/arts/design/23surfing.html?_r=2&scp=3&sq=swell&st=cse

Herbie, Dibi and Nathan are presently having their artwork displayed in New York as part of the "Swell" showcase. Check out the press release for more information: "Curated by Tim Nye and Jacqueline Miro. This survey of art inspired by surf and beach culture will open to the public on July 1st at the three locations in Chelsea and will include work by most members of the group of Venice Beach artists known as Light and Space and Finish Fetish. The show historically contextualizes beach culture and its poetic and freeing nature on the Beat Generation, Assemblage, Light and Space, Finish Fetish, and early Pop Art. One of the main axes of the show is the obvious yet sensual relationship between Shapers and the Finish Fetish movement of the 60's. As the show focuses on two cities, L.A. and New York, it attempts to place the Ocean and its proximity to both cities ...

[caption id="attachment_864" align="alignnone" width="401" caption="Herbie Fletcher. Photo by Art Brewer"][/caption] Herbie went on a boat trip to the Mentawai Islands this past fall. It was all-time. With a crew that consisted of Nathan Fletcher, Bruce Irons, John John Florence and Danny Fuller, how could it not be? And when Herbie came back to San Clemente, he came back in typical form: with lots of great tales of near-perfect surf and good times. He also took a bunch of photos for definitive proof of all of this. So stoked, so amped. Here Herbie takes us back to last October and how it all went down. Read it through and check out the pics while you're at it. To say the least, Herbie and the guys were going mental at the Mentawai Islands! This is Part ...