One of the more amazing aspects of “the industry” is how many different doors there are to get in. Artist Drew Brophy is a classic example. As he tells Surf Expo’s Sean O’Brien, sometimes it’s just a matter of sticking around and doing your thing no matter what everyone else has to say about it.
I was trying to find someone who would let me use paint pens on surfboard for years. Kelly Richards from Perfection Surfboards let me do some, but he hated them. He was like: “Drew, these are the ugliest surfboards I’ve ever seen!” Then when I was in Hawaii I rode for Town & Country and I showed Craig Sugihara and the rest of the crew there my ideas and they weren’t into either. I got the same feedback from the guys at Local Motion and it seemed like everyone else on the North Shore. I was blown away, I was like “Wow, nobody’s going to let me do this.” . . . Matt [Biolos] was actually the last guy I wanted to talk to. He really had nothing going on at the time. They weren’t even on the map. But I needed an outlet to do the art and I wanted to meet him. That day I walked in there I was more or less looking to do something fun. I was making more money working at Stewart than I had in my whole life. Working with Matt was more of a release; it was just fun.
And to think, now Brophy is designing shirts for tradeshows. . . Click the link for the rest of the story.
[Link: Surf Expo]
