Ralph's 9th Annual Surf Art Column

Ever since I can remember, I was always drawing waves.

Mostly in class, when I should of been paying attention. I would get lost in my little fantasy world of waves and surfing. And I have one person to blame more than anyone else for my addiction to doodling waves in class. That person would be Rick Griffin. And more importantly, his character "Murphy".

We were all into Murphy back in those days. And with the freeform use of Griffin's wild imagination, Murphy would take us everywhere and anywhere.

I loved Murphy. In fact, I created my own characters back in the early 60's that were a direct inspiration (read rip-off) of Murphy. I called my characters Stonewell and Fern. And we would have our own East Coast version of surf adventures.

My very talented classmate throughout my formative years in grade school and beyond was Thom Tremblay. Thom was an amazing artist. And together we spent many hours in Math class and English class creating our own surf cartoons.

God what I wouldn't do to get my hands on those early drawings. We spent hours drawing and then laughing our heads off as we stared at our boys skateboarding and surfing all over the world.

How did I not save any of those classic drawings. Maybe because our teachers confiscated them? That sounds about right. Imagine our horror as the teachers would rip up our "silly surf drawings" in front of the class. We had to learn to be more discreet. The problem was, our little surf drawings were becoming popular in class. We were doomed by our own creativity.

What's really funny is, here we are some 40 plus years later, and
I am still doing silly little surf drawings. And as you can see, I am still influenced by Rick Griffin. Because Rick Griffin was the best. Just ask Stan Chew. Or Jay Gould. Or any of the old time surf art lovers. Griffin was, and is, still the best . Long Live Murphy!

These two characters (second photo) I created a year or two ago. I named them "SUPPO and Kook-eh." And you don't have to go reading between the lines to find the obvious references to some of the individuals we find around these parts.

But before anyone raises an eyebrow or two, if we can't chuckle at ourselves, then we really need to take a chill pill or two. Surfers and surf cartoonists, have always poked fun at ourselves.  It's what we do. Yes we are "hurtful". Hee hee.

Besides, every single Surf Artist I know is unique (crazy).

And I am including myself here. But we are all, eccentric, emotional, sensitive, spiritual, creative, loving and basically open minded individuals, who are constantly seeing surf in both our creative minds, and in our day to day reality.

We eat, sleep, drink, and draw, surfing.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Sharks in New England and that was followed by the annual Shark Week on DISCOVERY. And while it is all very exciting stuff to read and watch, the fact remains that there has still only been one fatality since 1936. ONE...yes some guy from Denver got bit in July on the Cape but still only one person has lost their life since.

However, several people have died from the West Nile Virus that is apparently in the area. Hello? Shouldn't we be more concerned about those damn mosquitoes than Great White Sharks? I am.

In fact, every time the Mosquito truck rolls down my road spraying the snot out of those flying pests, I run out into the street with my fists pumping cheering him on. I love DEET!

Hell if I could, I'd eat DEET. I want to bathe in DEET. I hate mosquito's that much. When in doubt spray the DEET. On your food, in your drinks, in your hair. Use it 24-7...Ok, so I am a little over the top here. But you have to admit. More people are dying from Mosquito bites than Shark attacks.

Let's focus our energy on the deadly flying pest. The Mosquito.

Speaking of surf artists. Dwight Hamsley passed away earlier this year. Dwight was a surfer and a surf artist. He spent the last half of his life in a wheelchair. But not before creating some wonderful works of art. There is a paddle for Dwight on Sunday August 26th, 2012 at 9AM at Jenness Beach in Rye. His brother Doug is organizing the paddle.

[Fourth photo] The painting on this poster Dwight painted for me. I have it hanging in our home. I also plan on being there for Dwight and then I am headed right back to the MOLLY at 10th Street in Hampton.

It's hard to be everywhere at once. But I plan on being at both events.

Now for Some Of My Weekly Global Observances:

My heart broke this week when I heard of more Americans killed by their so called fellow warriors in Afghanistan. Turns out this is a whole new tactic for the Taliban. Infiltrating the US Forces, getting on their good side, and then murdering them in cold blood.

I can see how some say we should just get out of there, and level that freaking wasteland. So disgusting. Terrorism is real and is a constant threat to our men and women day in and day out.

Speaking of Terrorism. Mr Wiki Leaks himself, Mr "I am so Full of Myself I can't stand it Assange," is being protected by the Ecuador embassy. Can someone please put a stop to this bonehead? I mean. I am personally sick of seeing him and his wanna be Andy Warhol look. Get over yourself dude. Nobody outside a few radical losers gives a rats [expletive] about what you know.