Hi everyone! Happy 2012! It's been a whirlwind of projects, events, trips, and overall life for me these past few months. I'm a strong believer in not only working hard, but playing hard, too. So, often times, I'm out and about on what I like to call a "workcation". The good, the bad, and the ugly. Gotta get it all done, right? So, anyway, I apologize if it seemed as if I slipped off the face of the earth. As many of you already know by now, Hawaii was a huge success as far as getting together the old and the new vanguard of the Wave Warriors. It was great! Though there were some people who plumb forgot about the get-together (Derek Ho and Gavin Beschen!) or were too sick to attend (Shane Beschen) or didn't even know they were invited (Dusty Payne), and others who, unfortunately, weren't on the North Shore to take part of it (Archy ...

[caption id="attachment_1287" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Wanna go for a ride? John John and Ivan cruising the North Shore."][/caption] There are moments hard to forget. Being with your friends, pushing one another, just going for it. And at my age, I'm still doing it; whether it's surfing with the little guys like my grandson Greyson, or going out with the pros, or the older guys cruising on their longboards, or just filming all the beach girls on their shortboards at San Onofre... I'm still doing it and loving all these moments. And often times, I'm lucky enough to capture these moments on film. My collaboration with so many surfers, so many of these characters, have led me to believe that things ...

[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 ...

[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 ...