This painting was done in 1996 in my garage in San Clemente.

It was inspired by the over-and-under water  paintings in Wyland Galleries.

My paintings always get named after they are finished.

When I was putting the last bit of color on this one, my girlfriend at the time, Maria, looked at it and said, “Let’s call it WHY-LAND“.

Before I came to California, I lived on the North Shore of Oahu painting surfboards

I was flat broke and it was hard living there because not many people were friendly to me.  It can be lonely on the North Shore.

I spent a lot time waiting for the bus after painting surfboards all day at Barnfield’s.  The bus stop was right in front of Wyland Galleries, so I would wander in to in to check out all of the cool art.  Wyland himself was there every so often and he was always very nice to me even though I was always covered in paint and mud.  I’ve never forgotten that.

A few years later I moved to San Clemente.  After my art exploded onto Lost surfboards with Matt Biolis, he asked if I could to do some tee shirt designs for them that would match the surfboard art. Matt is very good at seeing potential in people and he must have seen it in me. I started painting on canvas with the paint pens for the first time.

This painting represents the inspiration from my days visiting Wyland Galleries and the confidence that my friend Matt had in me.  It was painted with the same markers that I used on the surfboards, a technique that I still use today.

Now, I see Wyland every once and a while and we talk about art and Business.  I think it was this painting that put me on his radar. I have no idea if he remembers me as that kid in his Gallery,  or if he realizes that his simple kindness and beautiful art inspired a kid to get to where he was going.

This painting is one of the few I’ve kept for myself and it hangs in my son’s bedroom.

Life is Good – Drew