James McMillan

Greenroom Japan 2007

2012-02-11T11:28:00.000+11:00

This is a photo that a friend of mine from Japan sent me a little while back. I did this wall and a few pieces for the Greenroom Festival in Tokyo.

skull car

2012-02-03T06:57:00.004+11:00

secretsk8

2011-12-28T16:06:00.000+11:00

This spot is in town at the back of a park filled with pine trees. I used to take my groms there when they first started skating and we called it the secret skate park cause no one was ever there

Boxing Day Byron Bay

2011-12-27T01:01:00.003+11:00

Woke to the peak of an easterly groundswell. At 7.55am a 10ft+ 5 wave set rolled through my local break. No chance of getting out unless you had a chopper. 10 mins down the road I surfed some nice 4-6 footers...Kuni Takanami got the shot below of me in a little green womb.

My Asym

2011-12-22T22:53:00.000+11:00

When I first got on my new Darcy assymetrical I was kind of trying to think my way through each wave, because I was on a 5'8 quad on one rail and a 5'10 keel on the other rail. A full-on mindtrip. During one paddleout trance I had a nice revelation come to me...I went back to Feelin' it. And then I got it. Darcy calls it the daytripper. I call it the schizo. It's weird and very fast and I love it. See how it goes in the overhead east swell coming on Christmas day...

Pinch more salt

2011-12-10T20:22:00.001+11:00

Some shots from the night. Was Huge by the way. All the usual stuff we love to look at, listen to, eat and drink, in an unusual place...The Darcy Surfboards factory in Currumbin. Well done to the Darcy family who didn't sleep eat or surf much at all while setting this all up. The whole purpose was to raise enough coin for 'Surfing Wantoks' to ship a container or two of surfboards, food, furniture and other goodies up to Papua New Guinea and into communities that need it much more than we do. They raised $10,000!! Mostly in beer sales I'd say, and a bit of art got sold too. Surfboards to be auctioned online...

Pinch of Salt

2011-12-01T20:17:00.001+11:00

Hanging works last night and painting one of Darcy's surfboards right now for their Pinch of Salt event at Darcy surfboards factory this FRiday night 2nd of Dec. Bands, art, puppy dogs, music, other stuff...

Nimbin roadtrippin

2011-11-19T22:54:00.001+11:00

Once a year the boys and I go west into the mountains, as opposed to, once every couple months, going south for waves. The first night we slept on the banks of the Uki river, woke at 3am and climbed Mt Warning. After that we headed to a not so well known spot high in the mountains near Nimbin. Found Gold.

2011-10-29T23:04:00.001+11:00

Darcy asymmetrical & Rash wetties

2011-10-29T22:52:00.004+11:00

Got this new asymmetrical from Darcy Surfboards. Darc is well known for his high-performance shortboards, but if you peek behind his shaping bay curtain he's got all sorts of amazing alternative craft. And the best part is, they actually work. This beauty is 5'10 one side and 5'8 the other. Riding this board is a bit of a mindtripp but as you naturally adjust to it's schizophrenic character you begin to use the 2 different boards as 1, to your own advantage. I'm lovin it. And I got a couple new suits from Rash wetties Japan. Soft Japanese rubber really does feel good.

C Sea See group artshow/gig thingy

2011-10-03T13:50:00.006+11:00

The girls from REAL creative design hosted one of their artshow/gig/party nights last month. I made some paintings for the show using paper, pencil, acrylic and spraypaint. I put them up for sale cheap, at $50 each, as I was hoping to give $100 of the money to New Earth Tribe for the local bread run that they do in Byron Bay for low income families. So if you would like one of my paintings at a good price, and for a good purpose, please email me at macjimmymac@yahoo.com. Thx :) Took some pics of the bands too...

'the first kiss tree of life'

'flowers for the girl next door'

'he liked clouds cause God made them'

Common Ground interview

2011-08-12T09:35:00.002+10:00

A couple days back, rad surfer and film maker Johnny Abegg from Common Ground website asked me a few Q's about surfing, art, life and the Byron Bay Surf Festival. Follow link here for full interview and pics.

Finished

2011-07-05T08:41:00.002+10:00

'the garden (below)'

'welcome'

'searching for greenland...again'

In Prog

2011-06-17T18:09:00.003+10:00

There's 9 in total. 6 in progress. They'll be hanging at Retrospect Galleries in Byron Bay for the month of July

Byron Bay Surf Festival

2011-04-27T12:20:00.004+10:00

I just finished this commissioned artwork for The Byron Bay Surf Festival coming up this October 21-23. I think you all should go. There'll be surf markets, artshow, music and film by Andrew Kidman, and some kind of surprise with an alternative surf event. Ill let you know more as I know more.

'waterbird collection'

2011-04-17T09:09:00.003+10:00

I actually created this piece in 2010 and it has since sold to, I think, a Byron Bay family. When I first left school at age 15 I wanted to surf surf surf. Mum said I could surf for 1 year and then I'd have to get a job unless I was professional. I began my carpentry trade at age 17. I've always loved working with wood and this piece here was especially satisfying to create with the combination of woodworking and painting. The driftwood was collected from the local beaches near my home in Byron Shire.

white picket fence artparty

2011-03-05T12:27:00.006+11:00

Libby called me out of the blue to be part of this show. Glad she did. Was a great vibe with good art and good people. On the friday arvo I rolled around to 7 Bryce St Suffolk Park in Byron Bay. Kat, (an artist herself) whose house it was had done an awesome job of clearing the floors & walls to turn her house into a gallery of sorts...clean white walls and timber floorboards. There was an assortment of work lining the walls from artists local and beyond. The opening was on the saturday night. Lisa and I got there around half 7. Inside, the place was pretty well packed full of art, people and a really big hula hoop. Out back, a band, blowup pool and Skate film showing on the garage door gave everyone plenty to marvel at and be part of. It was raw and wild and fun. Around midnight the cops showed up and turned the music down. boohoo. Lisa and I walked off under a full moon. I actually sold some art too. Thanks to Kat, Libby, Libby's housemates, Monster Children, deep&strange, Critical slide society and artpark. Yew.

JMc

Kat installation (detail)

Kat - very busy girl

other artist from Goldy

Lisa, my much prettier half. Hula-hooping

discovery

2011-02-08T08:44:00.003+11:00

This original painting of mine sold from retrospect galleries last week. The couple that bought it, I suppose you could call them collectors of my work, received a free print with their purchase. Super stoked for you guys and hope this painting brightens up your home and blesses you guys. Thanks for the support and love. James

heavens rev 1:2,3 searching

2010-12-03T09:12:00.003+11:00

My finished group of paintings for the petites trevaux art show at Retrospect Galleries which opened last last Friday and is hanging till next Friday

...it's called 'petits trevaux'

2010-11-26T06:30:00.003+11:00

Artshow opening at Retrospect Galleries in Byron Bay tonight at 6pm. 'Petits trevaux'.

32 artists with 9 works each, all 250mm x 250mm. 3 of mine above. I'm gonna have a shave for this occassion. Enjoy.

new ideas...

2010-11-23T08:17:00.003+11:00

There's a new show opening at Retrospect Galleries in Byron Bay this coming Friday night. I'll have these new ideas and a few more finished by then. There will be 9 in total.

plane ing

2010-11-05T08:25:00.006+11:00

I'd spoken with Kidman the night before about making a planing hull. We talked and philosophied and factualised. The only thing that came out of it was 5' x 23" x 3". That's the size I ended up making my so-called planing hull. Lindsay Lord probably would have hit me over the head with his now famous naval architecture book. Thanks to Richard Kenvin, and his curiosities and writings, I grabbed my electric saw and hacked out a foam block which I hoped to ride (glide, slide) tomorrow and get some of what Ryan Burch and Lucas Dirkse have been feeling; Friction free waveriding...or something like that.

What I actually got was two waves and a total of 4 seconds friction free sliding. It was fast and free, no doubt. Hard to manage, yes. The best wave I got was on my gut. Which as I thought more about it was pretty much belly boarding. I got back on my quad and having grown up on thrusters and twinnies was much more at home being able to direct my board up and down, rather than straight across.

That's when Mick Waters joined me on his planing hull. All 8 or so inches of it. Ed Lewis had sent him over one of his Enjoy handplanes. We had a killer session swapping and sharing waves. Mick got barrelled, I didn't. Walking back up the trail to my car, Kidman and family had just pulled up. Andrew's son Guthrie says, 'Hey Dad what's that he's holding?', at which Kidman replied, 'that's Jim's idea of a foamie.'

Mick Waters with handplane

Photos by Lisa & JMc

Blue Yonder • new Tees

2010-10-26T00:35:00.008+11:00

I recently doodled some new artwork onto paper and afterwards decided it was time to do some new T-shirts. I haven't done any Tees for a while and these 2 designs I came up with were inspired by some new paintings that I've been working on this October. Ho'okupu surf art gallery in Byron Bay have always been supportive of my art since 2005 when my first book, Blue Yonder, was published. If you live in Australia (or anywhere I suppose) and happen to be in Byron Bay you can get one of my new shirts at Ho'okupu. (Noosa might be gettin some too...Check Solace surf, or back here soon) Each Blue Yonder Tee comes with an original A4 screenprint that I handmade onto watercolour cardpaper. I enjoy screenprinting and I liked the idea of giving away some original art to anyone that was nice enough to buy one of my Tees. Enjoy Blue Yonder Tees while surfing, walking or eating

I made this nice little timber thing too

new art on the way

2010-10-13T07:04:00.006+11:00

Right now my studio walls are full of works in progress of medium to large scale paintings. I have 6 new paintings on the go along with 2 x collections of 9 small works on canvas for the petites trevaux show coming up at Retrospect galleries at the end of November, in Byron Bay and on the Gold Coast. Above is a small section of 'creation'. The surfboard fin isn't part of the art. Will post more as I near completion

Outlaw cowboy

2010-10-12T08:05:00.008+11:00

Just recently I did a photoshoot with Dan Hannaford for his new music project with Clay Blythe. We found some cool spots in the hills just behind Byron Bay. I'd had my eye on the train tracks and old bridge for years, just waiting for the right opportunity. Dan briefed me on the shoot and said somethin' like, 'i don't know, kinda outlaw cowboy I suppose'. Aside from playing music Dan likes trenchcoats, catching fish and surfing. Check his site for more

Little Black Wheels arrives into US!

2010-09-17T07:03:00.004+10:00

The promo reads: 'One family embarks on a five month road trip. A two year old, a pregnant mother, a dog, a dad and a camper van. This isn't a particularly new concept; surfers have been doing it for years. The bread and butter road trip. No boat charters, internet swell predictions or expensive budgets, just a car, some boards and a plan'. Mick Waters' new film Little Black Wheels will be premiering in the US real soon. I travelled with him, filming in Oz, Japan and Bali. Check the trailer and stoke out.

new board

2010-09-13T06:59:00.007+10:00

I get my boards from Stuart Darcy surfboards at Currumbin, Qld. His factory is state of the art, and as far as 'eco-friendly' goes its been voted best in the world, with the only dust particles entering the environment are those that leave the factory on the soles of your thongs. In a time of pop-out boards and (something to do with some parts of industry disregarding enviro issues), Darcy's uncompromising commitment to the environment along with making high quality boards is encouraging. This new quad he gave me goes reeeeeeally fast and it has nothing to do with the fluoro colour bands.
My son Colby took the photos.

Kurungabaa

2010-08-09T08:19:00.006+10:00

The header reads, 'a journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea'. Loosely, from what I've seen of the content, all words, photography and art are somehow surfing related. The Kurungabaa crew of literary hardcores and creative artists have put together this 3rd issue (Vol 1 no.3) of a very worthy publication. I've adopted it into my 'gotta gets' and it sits on my shelf alongside The Surfers Journal and Juxtapoz magazines. You can buy it here, or read it wherever you can get hold of a copy. I'm pretty sure it's only available through subscription. I had the opportunity to submit some of my work for this issue, and it's the first time I've been involved in a publication with a hills hoist on the cover. pretty Stoked.

I'm a Meta4

2010-07-06T21:08:00.025+10:00

Darcy 5'9"

Surfing could be a metaphor, for my life. My life could be a metaphor, for my art. Up, down, good, evil, fun, shxt. My life usually goes something like this; The night before most given days, I will check the weather, and then plan my day. It all revolves around the weather. Set alarm, usually for 6am. Wake up. Stare out window and check wind. To surf now, or later? I'll drift and think, and then usually do something like, stare at my previous nights paintings, meditate on my dreams, or a bit of reading in the morning light. If I planned to surf early it's dangerous for me to stare at my paintings because there's always something not finished, and this makes me wanna paint. And If I do paint, I don't surf. Time flies when surfing. Time super-flies when painting. I've had quite a few 6am 2 hour painting sessions where I'll step back, look at what I've achieved and look at the time and just go, What!!. Same as surfing...sometimes a handful of waves in an hour, What!! . But this past week was a good week. I met up with Darcy at his factory and agreed on the shapes of some new boards, I began working on 5 new paintings, sold 2 other new paintings, and the local rivermouth was pretty-well pumping, between 2 -5ft.

'passing through' (renamed 'coming home') Sold

'wow, finally' Sold

Due to my unpredictability with inspired painting times my surfing is usually done alone or with my sons, but this meta4 week I managed to surf with a couple of friends, Andrew Kidman, and on another day, Mick Waters. Both times were small clean left wedges. Andrew and I swapped boards for a few waves. He was on a Mackie 5'5"(?) extreme flextail fish. I was on my Darcy 5'9" twin keel fish. Mick was on his Kidman shaped widow and he and I surfed with my sons Colby and Blake.

ColbyMc 1

ColbyMc 2

BlakeMc 1

BlakeMc 2

BlakeMc 3

Mr McMeta4

This wasn't a down, evil, and shxt week. This was a good week. Since writing this, I figure that surfing is not a meta4, for my life, nor my life, a meta4 for my art. I am a meta4 of their end result.

studio things

studio

Nat Bob George

2010-06-30T01:16:00.003+10:00

This is all that's left of the original Sea Surfboards factory in Byron Bay...a timeless and simple piece of meaningful grafitti. No need to say another word.

Noosa Loggin'

2010-06-27T08:36:00.005+10:00

dawn loggin'

dusk loggin'

Lisa and I did a lil' roadie to Noosa last week. I'd been real keen to get my 9'3 single on a few tea tree walls for a looong time. There was swell about too, so the anticipation was pretty high. After dropping in to see Josh and the crew at Solace surf Lisa and I hightailed it to the points (even after Josh threw us some local knowledge of a perfect peak over at sunshine Beach). Now this was only the third time i'd ever been to Noosa, so I was like a naive traveller envisioning said surf location through rose-tinted sunnies and images of McTavish and his '48 Holden at Nationals. Anyway all the smiles and big eyes were turned to straight faces when we pulled up at Nasho's at dusk to be greeted by slop. Nice sunset though.

Ye olde Mackie Fish

2010-06-13T21:23:00.004+10:00

My old Mackie 5'6" fish. Was a definite favourite. Fast, loose and slippery. The biggest surf I ever rode it in was in 2005 at Blueys beach in Foster NSW. 6ft wedges bouncing off the headland and tapering steep down the beach. It was the only time I ever had to grab its rail through a cutty. Michael handmade those enormous fibreglass fins. I remember showing this board to Greenough in 2003 on the Blue Yonder journey. He said, 'it needs timber fins'. The colour photos were taken in 2001 and the B & W about 2 months ago when it rose from the dead.

What you didn't see in Byron today

2010-06-13T20:43:00.004+10:00

My nephew Luke, aka Lones, is up visiting from Sydney at the mo'. We been surfing, arting, eating and mulching my fruit trees. Luke's a street artist and enjoys nothing more than a big blank wall, 10 fresh cans of ironlak paint and his own homebrand music beating from his iphone. Looking for waves on the road today he was quick to spot these guys across the field rolling up and setting up for an afternoon of painting. Not just 'writers', but the best in Oz. I've done a small amount of street art, and nothing like this. It was in Brisbane after seeing Wolfmother play. We ended up sleeping on the street that night and in the early hours of the following morning we found a blank power box and made our mark with textas and crayons. I was a street artist for 2 hours (I'm a studio artist. See; garage artist). Next time your heading into the Bay look left and you'll see these finished pieces from 'Next' and 'Sofles'.

2010-06-13T20:41:00.003+10:00

waterbird collection

2010-06-11T07:23:00.003+10:00

This birdie is part of my new waterbird collection. Sold to a nice home, but still part of the waterbird family.

Birdies

2010-06-02T07:42:00.002+10:00

At Lennox Head beach the other day these two birdies were hanging out in the sky just above where I was surfing. They were doin that thing animals do where they follow and mimick each other. It's a collective consciousness type deal where animals are naturally unconsciously reacting in unison. (breathe now). It's an unplanned dance of sorts. Schools of fish do it real well. I've seen humans do it too, without such graceful results. More photos of these two gulls before end of the week. (and the waves below).

'home'

2010-05-25T23:10:00.004+10:00

I did this painting a short while ago onto some nice plywood I found at Main Beach in town. It hangs on a wall just inside the front door of my home. The print of it is now part of a set of 3 that hang in Andy's 'The Top Shop' on the corner of Massinger St in Byron. My mate Tim works there...he's a good cook and a good tuberider. And everyone knows that Andy makes a killer coffee.

Throwups

2010-05-18T07:47:00.003+10:00

I drove past this truck in Byron on Sunday and it reminded me of one of my fave artists Barry McGee. He loves to throwup his tag on trucks and tip them over and fill them with televisions and smash them up and all sorts. I'm not to good at reading tag throwups but I'm pretty sure this one says Frank something...

Love You Mum

2010-05-11T06:55:00.005+10:00

There was a new south swell on Mothers day. Not big, just new. After giving our Mum's their due attention me and my boys checked the waves. Out front was about 5ft. My groms couldn't get out so we went for a cruise into the Bay ending up at Wategoes. There was a longboard comp on the go and about 100 old fellas hanging round. I said hello to a few I knew and checked out some nice logs and resin tints. The waves were 2-3ft, real smooth and real inconsistent, most crew were surfing the point but I spotted a sneaky peak to the left with about 8 surfers on it. I told my boys, Colby and Blake, that it was the best were gonna find. They were all over it, with Blake having hesitations about the 'crowd'...He's an 11 year old soul surfer...likes nothing more than surfing alone, or at the most, with a few dolphins. After being in the water for about 15 minutes we found ourselves sitting on an improving peak with no one out. Yeeew! We'd timed it just right with the contest presentation. The groms ripped up a few lefts on their thrusters and I got a couple on my 9'3" log. Later that afternoon I was feeling all Deep&strange so I grabbed my camera and went for a ride to my local beach. There wasn't one surfer in sight and fisho's aplenty. As the sun set behind the mountains and the light faded I watched the last waves of the day roll through. Dusk and dawn are my favourite times to take photos. With low light it's challenging to capture what your eyes see. I like altering my camera settings and getting slightly tweaked images like these. Happy Mum's Day.

Yonder via Waterlogged

2010-04-12T15:21:00.009+10:00

The Dear & Yonder film showing at the Byron Community Centre was a successful night thanks to the organisers from Waterlogged events, keen logger Vanessa Thompson and her biz partner, artist Tracy Brown. Everything you'd love was there including film, music and art. One thing that was missing was Kath from 'food by Kath'. At the last one of these nights she homemade the fresh Chai and organic juice, but this time we missed her cause she was a lil' sick. Dallas Chong from The Grains turned up and played some cool acoustic while the 80 or so gathered guests listened in and checked out the art I had on display.

First up on the big screen was The Blue Yonder short film, which Mick Waters and I made back in 2004. Tracy introduced the whole show and then called me down to say a few words to the crowd about my film, which was cool cause I got to explain how and why the Blue Yonder short film came about. The short and sweet of it is; I released the Blue Yonder Short Film in 2005 as a companion to my book, Blue Yonder, a journey into the heart of surf culture.

I met Mick Waters through Andrew Kidman along the Blue Yonder discovery trail back in 2001. He was keen to document what I was pursuing with my book. We got together and surfed and talked. The loose idea we worked off was the true story of mine; believing in something enough to turn your back on the seemingly futile, and instead, open up to adventure and discovery. Six months later we ended up with a cinematic journey of surfing sequences, lifestyle images, voiceovers and some soul-touching music from Andrew Kidman. Film locations were NSW Central Coast, Byron Shire and Indonesia. The film is a revealing glimpse at one alternative surfing journey, that hasn’t yet finished. Surfers included are: James McMillan, Derek Hynd, Ozzie Wright & Andrew Kidman. contact me on macjimmymac@yahoo.com if you'd like a copy for $15 incl postage. Thanks Waterlogged :-)

filmgrabs from Blue Yonder

grommets selling my soul for me

Dallas Chong of The Grains

Dear and Yonder

2010-04-07T08:11:00.000+10:00

Easter Saturday

2010-04-05T12:31:00.006+10:00

This session was straight out front of my place. I can't say where cause the locals will blow up my letterbox. The waves were 4-6ft and there was the added buzz of having huge boulders right in front of every wave I caught. Lisa took the photos and I rode my 6'4 Darcy thruster with the snapped nose - it happened three days prior at this same spot when the bottom dropped out of a wave that I thought was a sure tuberide...I remember being perched in the lip on my feet in a super low stance and looking left, about 20 metres down the line. The wave was about 5ft and in the motions of going vertical and tubular. In my mind i was about to get tubed, meanwhile in reality the wave doubled-up, sucked-out and heaved forward. I was under the lip so I didn't get pitched, but there was no back to the wave, and to my absolute surprise I dropped straight onto the flats. The last thing my left eye saw was that circular tube rifling off without me. Not often you get a view from that far back in the tube. Probably the best moment of my session. I'll never forget it.

An Easter Friday at The Wreck

2010-04-04T15:29:00.004+10:00

Wind was up from the south so Lisa and I headed to The Wreck. Lisa took photos I enjoyed surfing a few small waves. One tube was so small it clipped me in the forehead. It's always really cool at Main Beach of an arvo...the sun setting over the coastal mountains. Some locals call it Golden Hour for obvious reasons. The Indonesian guy in the band photo is always up there leading the way for any drum slappers that wanna join in and celebrate Byron Bay.

.

Harvest Cafe Artist Nights

2010-04-04T13:58:00.008+10:00

Harvest Cafe at Newrybar, which is just in the hills behind Byron, has been holding dinner/artsist nights in conjunction with retrospect galleries in Byron Bay. Sometime Early in March before the opening of the exhibition El Mar Mi Alma (the sea, my soul) they invited myself, Alberto Sanchez, and Stephen Jones with tatiana Velasco, to talk about our lives and our art. The place slowly packed out and after an awesome meal via their fine food chefs and an outdoor barbie we were on. I was first up cause i had to bolt north and pick up my kids. Bree introduced me to the 100 or so people gathered and I began talking, hesitantly at first. As the minutes passed I actually began enjoying it because Bree asked me how I first started with my art, and that was perfect opportune for me to talk about being a kid, freedom, growing up in Cronulla, surfing, travelling, starving, writing, photography and painting. A couple other people asked questions too, which was really cool. I'd totally recommend Harvest for a meal too.

'sundaze' 2009

Harvestelmaretro

BOOTLEG

2010-04-04T13:27:00.003+10:00

Dan Hannaford has a new CD out. It's called Bootleg and the cover and disc photo is one that I took of him at the Rails Hotel in Byron a few months back. The back cover photo is one I took of him after some beach strumming near Burleigh Heads. The song 'Try Try Try' is a cracker and one that I associate with.

El Mar openingo!

2010-03-16T02:08:00.012+11:00

The opening night for El Mar Mi Alma at Retrospect Galleries Byron Bay. Was cool. All the heads were there and it was nice seeing the mix of painting, photography and history on the walls. I was a happy artist because one of my bigger pieces 'hometree' sold as soon as the doors opened...so now I can buy more canvas and paint. All had fun and then afterwards I went over the road to the Byron Community centre and watched The Sea of Darkness. It's the dark story of the early days of the G-Land surf camp in Java Indonesia. I was interested because I first went there in 1988 when I was 17, just ten years after it was discovered by Mike Boyum. One night while in bed at G-Land I overheard some old guys talking about a surf spot called Desert Point. I snuck down my ladder and from a distance managed to get a photo of the mud map they were checking out. I went there the next year and camped in a fishermans hut for 2 weeks. 5 of us enjoyed the best barrels of our lives.

'hometree' 2009

Al Sanchez

Hewy looking, Al Knost kicking

Simmons inspired wood and waves
by Ryan Heywood

Ian Burrell

The Sea my Soul (El Mar Mi Alma)

2010-03-16T01:37:00.008+11:00

Retrospect Galleries in Byron Bay opened El Mar Mi Alma on the 11th of March 2010. The first thing I did when I left school (besides letting down Mr Gearin's tyres and surfing for a year) was a carpentry trade. Lately I've been enjoying mixing wood into my artmaking. For this particular show I did a few varied and different pieces and sizes. Included was the timber swallow tail below, using plywood, cedar and driftwood. It's part of a new collection I'm doing called 'waterbird collection'. More bout that later.

See retrospectgalleries.com to check out more of El Mar...

Tom

2010-03-16T01:32:00.003+11:00

This is my mate Tom from New Earth Tribe. He designs and prints his own Tees called 'from tom'.

birdies and waves

2010-03-16T01:01:00.012+11:00

This is my newest favourite bird photo. The usual camera I use is an AF Canon 500D. At the time of this photo it was in for a service so I was shooting with an old Nikon Manual focus. Big Deal - I say, as I write this - I shot the whole of Blue Yonder on manual focus and slide film. Yeah but after a little while the auto focus is just so nice to use for action, but i'll tell ya what, the manual focus is definitely more satisfying. I shot the wave photo about a week later...and guess what, it's my new favourite wave photo.

Little Black Wheels

2010-02-17T00:11:00.005+11:00

Mick Waters has a new film out. Check it out at littlehouseproductions.com.au. Mick Invited me to be in the film which led to Johnny Abegg and I lucking into a couple of fully sick sessions while filming around our local hood

Mick JAb & Jim

Jim

JAb

one goofyfooter

two goofyfooter

Inretrospect 10

2010-02-16T23:22:00.001+11:00

Retrospect Galleries in Byron have a neat new book out called inretrospect 10. It features all their freaky artsists. Bree, the gallery owner, asked me a few questions and showed my answers and some of my art in the book. I'm pretty sure the book is $20 from the gallery or the retrospect website.

Q&A

Right now I am…
Listening to the clock tick and watching shadows move across the floor as the sun rises

The person who has most influenced my art is….
My Dad…He painted western scenes, and the next day he sculpted abstract vases. His paintings were photo perfect realism and his vases were total freedom

My favourite artist is …
More than one - My son Blake…He wakes up at 6am and starts drawing tigers on skateboards and horses surfing. I love my sisters’ early paintings of mountains and trees. My son Colby’s awesome self-portraits. My nephew Luke’s street graffiti

I am at my most creative/productive when…
Creative – when something dramatic happens in my life. Productive – When there are no other people around and it’s midnight

I usually start my day by…
Waking an hour before I need to get up. I lie in bed and stare out the window thinking about my dreams. I like letting my mind go for a walk

I am currently reading….
The Bible, Juxtapoz and The Surfers Journal. That’s all I ever read

The book that changed my life is…
Scuffy the Tugboat

My favourite album of all time is…
There isn’t one, It changes every few years. ’84 was Led Zeppelin, How the west was won, ’94 was Beastie Boys, Check Your Head, 2004 was Ray Lamontagne, Trouble

When I am working I like to listen to…
Birdies chirping

It makes me smile when…
I see my sons happy. When I finish a painting. When I give away money. When Lisa smiles

I get angry about…
Misplacing things. People trying to talk to me when I’m singing

My three most valued possessions are…
My tent, my diaries, my laptop (I think)

The three things in life I could never give up are …
Camping, vegemite on toast, daydreaming

If I was stranded on a desert island I would want…
Nothing. Being stranded is something I’ve enjoyed in life. I once slept in a chicken pen for 2 days when I was stranded on the island of Lombok

If I could travel anywhere back and forth in time, I would go …
To Heaven on Thursdays to visit my Dad. To Spain on Fridays to hang out with Salvador Dali

My dream dinner party of six would include….
Aside from my family, I’d have; Duke Kahanamoku, Michael Angelo, Jesus, Sir Edmund Hillary, Brett Whiteley, Dorothy McGee (my faux Grandma from Vaucluse in Sydney)

If it were my party, I would serve…
Homemade pizza and ginger beer, and I’d invite the local homeless people

The achievement I am most proud of is…
Not going crazy. Writing a best selling book

My most embarrassing moment was…
There have been many embarrassing moments, but I love them. Embarrassment is such a cool emotion. It’s very humbling and it passes so quickly

The craziest thing I have ever done was…
Walk and hitch hike across Australia with no money and no food. I got kidnapped

When I die, I would like my gravestone to say…
He was an awesome Dad

I wish I had listened when my parents (my Mum) told me…
Not to listen to Slayer. Note to youth of today: Add a bit of soul to your playlist

I hope my art.….
Is more than just pretty pictures staring back at you

My legacy to the world will be…
My art and books

If I wasn’t an artist I would like to be….
A drifting missionary in Africa

'balance' 2006

Harry

2010-02-16T23:08:00.000+11:00

It was the weekend of Splendour in the Grass 2009 and Bree from Retrospect had an idea to host an artist do a live painting out front of the gallery. I'd done this type of thing before, on stage with Dave Rastovich at Twin Towns Coolangatta and as well at Splendour '08. It can be an interesting process interacting with the public and the art as it gets created. I like it. It kinda gives the art life as it evolves. On this day lots of festival peeps stopped by for a chat and a comment on what I was creating. Amongst the art I purposely included a dollar sign, a crucifix, a heart and a surfboard. I then asked, mostly under 30's, what they would choose. Unfortunately money won. Sometime after lunch Harry the Hat walked by with red sunnies on like mine.

Day of the Dead

2010-02-16T22:43:00.002+11:00

Retrospect Galleries in Byron Bay is my artwork home in NSW. They recently had an exhibition called 'Day of the Dead'. The theme was around death and religion. I had 3 days to do a painting for the show. I thought if I stayed up for 2 nights and got to work with my brushes I'd be pretty much dead by the second night and therefore be connected with the theme. I really liked my finished work. I titled it 'sundays (gettin' high on)'. It sold to a young family on opening night. Yeeew!

'sundays (gettin' high on)'

Splendour in The Grass Byron Bay 2008

2010-02-16T22:26:00.000+11:00

This was a cool event to be part of. The Splendour honcho's asked four local artists to paint a mural whilst the festival was in full swing. They supplied our gear and gave us a free ticket in (I got my groms in too, they loved it!) I did this piece called 'love is the new drug'. It turned lots of heads and caused a few outbursts.

2010-01-12T07:48:00.000+11:00

In May 2007 I was invited to Japan to be part of the Greenroom Surf Festival for the first time. It's right in the middle of Tokyo, on the water at Yokohama Bay. It was a really nice show to be part of with some awesome Japanese artists like Yasuke Hanai, as well as Thomas Campbell, Ozzie Wright, Mick Waters, Andrew Kidman, Alex Knost and Dustin Humphrey. My favourite part each day was skateboarding from my tiny little room uptown through the crazy busy streets to the venue on the harbour. My next favourite bit was painting straight onto the gallery wall till midnight and they had to kick me out. My 3rd favourite part was on opening day when there were thousands of people everywhere all trying to ask questions in Japanese I snuck off to the rooftop where it was a lot more peaceful and lined with green grass.

2010-01-09T23:51:00.001+11:00

This is a photo of a really nice wave just out front of my house near Byron Bay. It's about 5ft. My friend Mick Waters and I surfed for 2-3 hours. There was a pretty big shark out this day too.

Dan Hannaford

2010-01-09T22:34:00.000+11:00

Dan Hannaford is a one man band from the Byron Shire. About 6 months ago I rocked up to meet him near Burleigh Heads, for a dawn patrol photoshoot. Dan was totally organised with a few different shirts and more than 1 guitar. We had a great morning and Dan sang a song to a mystery hound as the sun rised. The ensuing images were used for his new album and associated media release type stuff.