Riffing on the classics, upgrading them with surfboards and skateboards instead of weapons of war.

The Camo Spaceboarder brings my love of camouflage back into action. I always liked the idea of being able to blend in with your surroundings. When I was a kid, the only place to buy camo was in the army surplus store and gear for a 55-pound, 4 foot 2 marine was hard to come by. As a kid, my friends and I would ride bikes and make forts in the woods of Vancouver, BC and Oregon, wishing we had fatigues. It was the forbidden or at least non-existent fruit.

The other element in these works is a giant silk screen. There’s something exciting and frightening about pulling a 4 foot squeegee over a large swath of canvas. “Did I ink it right…? Did it move…? Is the ink drying in the screen…?” Some of the screen prints have painted highlights and hints of color, like a Dutch master might have painted over a grisaille underpainting.

The new Spaceboarder series is about making my own heroes. (I can’t really identify with Hercules or Superman and it’s not looking like I’m going to be Brad Pitt or Stephen Hawking.) Growing up, my heroes were the older kids who were shredders skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing; the people who stood up to bullies, who were honest and knew how to enjoy life; and my teenage (and midlife) idols like Bruce Lee and Jimi Hendrix.

Space exploration and skateboarding both involve danger, flying, G-forces, and earthlings challenging gravity. Just like the ancient Greek and Roman gods or any good mythological beings, we all have to pass tests, overcome obstacles and certain people (even ourselves). The goal is to aspire to an ideal and see it realized. The Spaceboarder reminds us to keep testing boundaries further than we have before, whether it’s putting a man on the moon or turning a dime-store toy into a way of life.

My grandmother bought me my first skateboard in 1977 and I’ve been having fun with it with my friends ever since! What started out as kids getting each other stoked has evolved into a unique society of surf/skate/board enthusiasts who always root each other on. We’re always learning new tricks. We’ve just got to keep trying.

When I started surfing, we used to call the coast guard to get the conditions. Nowadays, you can see the waves in Hawaii while siting on your couch! This series of silkscreens are from screen grabs of surf spots from around the world.

I’ve been exploring the idea of limited resources and recycling for many years. The Couch Deer is just that.. an experiment in limited resources, crafting a life-size deer out of recycled sofa parts. As an avid hunter on Craigslist, I stumbled upon this vintage couch in the free section. With some convincing and bribery, my “friend with a truck” drove it to my house. After I literally skinned it, I spent the next month studying taxidermy and the anatomy of white-tailed deer to put it all back together again.

When someone calls you and tells you to come paint a mural with friends and heroes for the cover of the Skateboard Mag… you do it!!! I was so stoked to paint this with these guys. A Hollywood story and a real dream come true.

As my alter ego, Oscar Tony, evolved, I cast him as a stand-in for the gods of Greek and Roman myths, much like the Renaissance masters. As I studied the classic tales, I came to the realization that we need our own heroes and stories.

I toyed with the notion of being an actor when I first moved to Hollywood in 2001. (Took a few classes, checked out Scientology. Don’t worry, I’m fine.) Years later, I attempted to be the dude-version of Cindy Sherman and I invented an alter ego who goes by the name Oscar Tony.

As a movie enthusiast and wannabe actor, I’ve always enjoyed the classic Hollywood movies. To picture myself as as a leading man, I used a face-morphing website to blend my face with some of the old greats and painted the results.

Hot Pink Pussy & 14 Inch Black Cock is obviously a play on words. I like to Forrest Gump my way through comedy — silly double entendre, wordsmithery, being innocently surreal.

In this series I played artist, designer, and fabricator to make a series of handbags. I used my insignia like Louis Vuitton or Gucci. I was questioning the validity of today’s most commercial artists. If it’s not made by the hand of the artist, what is it? Does it belong in a gallery or in your closet.. or both?

My first painting in this style was created out of the frustration of having so many orphan canvases laying around my studio and asking the questions, “What if we ran out of canvas? What if there were no more fabric and we had to repurpose whatever fabric still exists?” At the time, I had a contact at Converse who donated a few dozen Chuck Taylor High Tops for the project. Shoes are made of canvas, right?

This was a fun project with my friends at Six Stair for Vans TV’s Time and Space series. It’s a three-part documentary about me painting Vans ads, doing my artwork, and there’s some fun skateboarding action too.

This was one of those “I have a great idea…” and “How the F%#$#CK do you make a pair of 12 foot tall shorts?” projects that took a month to complete and over 400 square feet of canvas. I had to do it though; it was my favorite pair of shorts.