photographs by Chris Burkhard
Last week I attended the book signing for “The California Surf Project”, at Mollusk (btw: the cutest and most welcoming surf shop in San Francisco), where I had the pleasure of meeting the book authors, Chris and Eric.
Projects like theirs, always fill me with ideas and an incredible sense of possibility.
These two surfer boys met and became friends, while surfing and making Art (Chris is a photographer and Eric a pro surfer and painter) in their sleepy town of Arroyo Grande, Central Coast. With a passion for nature, surf and beautiful images, they had the idea of creating a tribute to California and their favorite things in life, by documenting a trip along Highway 1, from the Oregon border to the Tijuana Sloughs, on a 1978 VW bus.
At first, they did not have funds to invest on the project, but a few months later, Eric entered and won(!) a photography contest. Soon enough they had the money and a chance to move forward with their dreams without excuses. The book is the story of their adventures and, in their words, “surfing perfect waves, sharing campfires with total strangers, and keeping the bus running with duct tape and prayers in more than 200 gorgeous photographs, soulful text, and a professionally produced thirty-minute DVD.”
I am in love with the book! It’s pure yumminess and wanderlust! To me and my surfer husband (who also grew up in the Central Coast), these guys created a fantastic collection of images and stories, that definitely encapsulate the heart & soul of our unique Californian coast.
It made me wonder…
What is so close to my heart that could turn into a project like this?
And what would that be for you? :)
I think the world needs more and more personal dream projects like this, to keep us inspired and living to the fullest!
***
Have a great week, everyone! Keep on dreaming and creating!
Inspired by Surfer Boys
April 27, 2009
inspiration! sounds like a great book…!
these 4 images alone make me want to grab the book…and hit the road. thanks for the story.
Oh – I would love to see the book that you could make inspired by what makes your heart swell! I’m also very excited about the new developments on your blog, you are rocking it!
how so exciting …can’t wait !! xoxo
Inspired by an inspiring tale of creativity… so cool, and inspired to keep building and creating your blog, very cool! I am thinking this morning about what thing close to my heart wants to unfold and become a working project… lots to consider…
What a coincidence! I am from Orcutt, about 20 minutes south on the 101 from Arroyo Grande. Also, I just read something about this book two days ago, although I can’t remember where I read it, except that I was at home, so it must have been maybe a local newspaper or something. How weird! Also, I remember when I was around 16 I briefly dated a surfer guy from Arroyo Grande who I’m almost positive was friends with Eric Soderquist. In fact, one time the guy I was dating stood me up while he was off on some surfing journey with Eric, lol. What started out as a morning surf session turned into an all day/night trip with them going all the way down to Ventura and Malibu, “following the waves, dude”…the stinkers! LOL So funny. I’m going to have to get this book. The images are so beautiful! And anything having to do with my hometown is a winner to me.
I am really wanting to check out this book, I just tweeted the link to this post because two of my closest friends just joined Twitter and they speak about Mollusk on a regular basis. I have yet to visit though.
This whole concept of “heartsong to book” is very dear to me. Thank you for sharing, I’m visiting from BYW and I will definitely be back. Our journeys appear to have similarities although you are much farther along the creative path. :)
Finally an excellent write-up in relation to the topic, maintain the good work and also I hope to examine a lot more of your stuff in the long run.
You did excellent job of eliminating much of the popular propoganda about foreign dating. Now, I must choose whether I must go for an incredible Russian woman, a scorching Latina woman, or maybe a alluring Asian woman. All of them look remarkable!