by Ed Solt
Artist Pat Parker’s surfing background is the catalyst to his creative resin. His waveriding lifestyle influences every brush stroke, creating perspectives and feelings only a surfer knows. Yet what makes Parker a superb artist is his ability to translate to canvas his surf-centric vision to those who may or may not have ever shot the curl.
The South High alumni first became acquainted with the surf lifestyle as a Junior Lifeguard at Torrance Beach, a route taken by many key figures in waterman culture.
“Every summer I’d looked forward to JGs,” he said. “I learned to surf on those big blue softboards. We surfed, exercised, chased girls in bathing suits…what a way to grow up. I’ve got to thank my parents.”
As a lifelong soccer player who was a four-year varsity star for South High and a Division 1 striker for Loyola Marymount University, Parker’s athletic ability eased his transition into surfing. His group of friends’ interest in surfing was beyond JG’s “free swim.”
“Kelly Slater was and still is one of my heroes,” he said. “Kelly had just won his first world title. I was surfing Hermosa Beach Pier with my best bud Shawn [O’Brien] when I took off and angled for the first time. I’ll never forget it. I yelled to Shawn ‘I just pulled a Kelly Slater!’ Looking back, it’s crazy to think of how significant where I grew up is in the history of surfing. It is something I am proud of. It is crazy to tell people I learned how to angle at the Hermosa Beach Pier.”
On his high school surf team, Parker naturally gravitated toward riding all different types of surfboards. This openness laid the groundwork for his multidisciplinary approach to his art; he possesses a willingness to experiment in different mediums.
“Surfing different types of waves calls for different types surfboards. You wouldn’t want to be on a longboard on a steep barreling pitching wave,” he said. “An art piece begins with a certain vision, like riding a certain type of wave. It’s problem solving. You need to find the right medium to express this vision.”
Parker studied at Loyola Marymount University and majored in Fine Art and Graphic Design. After graduation, he spent a year as an art director at a boutique advertising agency in Santa Monica. He quickly burned out. When close friends were packing up and heading to the Caribbean for a year, he jumped on board. On St. Thomas Island, he found a job at Ritz Carlton and worked “pulling the sails” on a 65-foot catamaran.
“I need a distance from art. I maybe did two pen drawings while I was on St. Thomas,” he said. “I found myself enjoying the island life, surfing, fishing, hiking snorkeling, and sailing.”
He returned home after sailing up the East Coast to New Jersey and took a design job in surf-rich San Clemente.
“While doing design work, I couldn’t get the vibrant colors from the Caribbean out of my mind,” he said. “I was inspired, found my art direction and began applying it to my art. My paychecks from design work shrunk and my art commissions increased. It went, 80 percent design, 20 percent art, to 50 percent design, 50 percent art, to finally I was making a livelihood off my art.”
Parker’s art caught the eye of Guy Motil, the editor of Longboard Magazine. The now defunct publication began including Parker’s work in their art issues.
“I’ll never forget picking up the last issue of Longboard Magazine and seeing Pat’s work all through the pages,” said O’Brien, his friend, who is also a longboard star. “Learning to surf around the same time, we both grew up with Longboard Magazine. I was stoked.”
Parker began applying his bright and bold cerulean ocean aesthetic to many different mediums.
“When I have a vision in my head, I react in ways to express it. Just like surfing, you’re reacting with a cutback, off-the-lip, pulling into the tube, as you interact with an ever-changing wave. Ultimately, by putting in the time learning to react to a wave and mastering multiple types of surfboards, you become a better surfer. My art is a reaction to a blank canvas by finding the best technique to express myself, ultimately becoming a better surfer,” he said. “Besides, it’s more fun to do all art types. It’s like having three girlfriends at once that you don’t live with. You can choose your flavor of the week.”
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In the quest for more island and surf inspiration, Parker made the most logical decision. He packed his bags and bought a one-way ticket to Hawaii, relocating to the North Shore of Oahu. With his involvement in many local art shows, his work in Hawaii earned Parker a bigger audience. Galleries in Las Vegas, New York, San Diego, Newport Beach, and Tokyo began featuring Parker’s dreamy tropical landscapes, empty beaches, and waves. His work was reproduced on skateboards by GLOBE International and Dusters California and in publications such as MorSurf, and Hawaii Wellness Magazine. He was also featured in a book by Robb Havassy released in late 2009 called “Surf Story Project.” In correspondence with catching the biggest waves of his life while living only three minutes from Waimea Bay and five minutes from Pipeline, he tackled his largest murals, such as a more than 600 square foot mural for Lanikai Juice in Hawaii, and a 2,200 square foot mural for the EuroCar luxury car showroom in Costa Mesa.
He didn’t get complacent with success. Instead, Parker starting re-exploring collage work. Although he completed his first collage in 2007 using color test and damaged prints, he now had a collection of his own art to work with.
“I am recycling and repurposing my work into a new form of expression,” he said. “I look into my archives and take different types of mediums, colors, and textures and apply them a whole new piece. The canvas is a mirror which acts as a light source creating movement and depth as the viewer walks around the piece. The pieces of the collage are stacked creating a linear design from the many layers of different mediums.”
Nearly 200 of Parker’s collages have found homes all over the world.
Much like surfing, Parker believes art has various levels of gratification depending on the project. For example, completing an air 360 or successfully riding a heavy wave is equal to the stoke felt completing a new painting or 700 ft. mural. Parker hit his ultimate stoke when his piece “Proven Ground,” a labor-intensive collage depicting the ultimate wave, Pipeline, was chosen to be the featured art of the 2016 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the most prestigious series of surf contests in the world.
“‘Holy shit,’ I think to myself when I see my poster all over North Shore,” said Parker speaking in with same giddiness as when he described his first angle. “It is the same feeling as pulling into the deepest barrel of your life, much like the wave on the poster, and coming out with the spit.”
Since achieving his ultimate stoke, Parker has had a minute to relish the moment. But now, he’s back to work exploring new mediums, endlessly pushing his abilities as an artist and routinely reconnecting with his foundation as a surfer.
“I plan on getting into pyrography, wood burning,” Parker said. “Legendary surfboard shaper Dick Brewer’s right-hand man, Jim Yarborough, is shaping a balsa big wave gun so I can explore this new medium before glassing over my work to create a functional piece of art.”
Parker’s work can be viewed at Wys Gallery in Haleiwa on the North Shore of Oahu, the Genesis Gallery in Waikoloa Village on the big Island of Hawaii, and Bill Wyland Galleries in Lahaina, Maui. Originals, prints, and clothing are available on patrickparkerart.com. Clothing and posters of his 2016 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing are available on vanstriplecrownofsurfingonlinestore.com. ER
