FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — Matt Long’s art has always had the feel of the ocean, but it wasn’t until he began creating custom-made surfboards that he called himself a surf artist — or an artist, for that matter.
“I’ve always been into art as a hobby,” he said.
But toward the end of 2011, he was selected as the only East Coast artist to have his work featured as part of the Board Art Benefit for SurfAid. The traveling surfboard exhibit is a collaboration between 15 artists and SurfAid International, an organization that provides humanitarian efforts to people living in isolated regions.
In January, he flew to Solana Beach, Calif., for the gallery opening event and as part of it, created one surfboard with the other artists involved, each style coming together to make a complete picture on the smooth surface.
The boards are all up for auction and some have already been auctioned off, though Long’s has not. Artists whose boards were sold were asked to create new ones as the show moved forward.
The next stop, the rustic Driftwood Salon art gallery in San Francisco, will include surfboards by the original 15 artists as well as surf artists from the Bay Area, as the show evolves. Long will be in San Francisco on June 9 for the show.
Growing up, Long spent his summers in Cape May, N.J., where he learned to surf. He studied art at Shepherd University, receiving a BFA in graphic design, and has worked as a graphic artist while continuing to paint and draw in his spare time.
About seven years ago, he took a job as a screenprinter and apparel designer at Flying Fish Studio, which he described as “the happiest place in the world.” And everyone at the New Jersey-based screenprinting studio surfed.
“When I wasn’t at work, I was in the water,” he said.
The nearby Wild Ocean Surf Shop once contacted his boss at Flying Fish and said if Long could print 50 shirts by the end of the day, he’d give him a discount on a surfboard.
“I knocked them out,” Long said.
This meant no more borrowing and no more renting. It meant what was once a surfing hobby became a passion; and what once was doodles of ocean waves and sunsets would soon become a style of art Long would embrace.
Surf art.
After school and the last summer break season in Cape May, Long returned to his hometown, Frederick, and took a job with Bechtel as part of its in-house design department, where he works still.
“But I continued to return to Cape May and surf,” he said, “and I continued to stay creative on the side.”
He painted, did illustrations, murals and charity work.
On a few occasions, he painted a piece and sold it, donating the proceeds to a charity organization, such as Hope of Life International.
He participated in the “Addiction and Art” exhibit in Frederick, creating the piece “Rise Up,” based on the Ben Harper lyrics, for a friend struggling with addiction.
He also began putting his work on surf art websites, and he was invited to participate in the Board Art Benefit through a surf art social networking site.
“They thought it’d be good to have an East Coast presence,” he said.
Though he’d painted a few surfboards, this was the biggest project to date. All he had to do was find someone willing to donate a surfboard for him to cover with art.
Brian Heritage of Heritage Surfboards in Sea Isle City, N.J., donated the board, Long got busy on its design, and he shipped the finished piece to California in January and flew out for the show on Jan. 21.
The other artists — illustrators, animators and airbrush artists — were from the West Coast. “These are already unique characters, plus they’re surfers. It was a really diverse group of people.”
Long described surf art as “a style and a lifestyle influence. It’s bright, poppy, vibrant and earthy. … My buddy calls it controlled chaos.”
Surf art tends to include natural open-air, open-sea elements, like the sun and clear skies, and exudes a free-flowing style.
“I do a lot of sunrays,” Long said.
