Huntington Beach museum dedicated to surfing features local artists in holiday show

Monica Turney and her husband, Skip Wells, didn’t come to Thursday night’s holiday art show at the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum to buy anything.

The Huntington Beach residents were happy enough to be reunited with local artist Ricky Blake.

Blake had done a painting of Patriot Point, just north of Goldenwest Street on Pacific Coast Highway, some 15 years ago. The piece looks south, toward the Huntington Beach Pier.

Turney snatched it up back then at a Pier Plaza art fair.

Artist Ricky Blake poses for a photo next to one of his pieces on display Thursday during the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum’s holiday art show.

(Eric Licas)

“For some reason, that spot always has been my favorite,” Turney said, adding that Blake’s work was her first original painting she had purchased.

Blake recalled the painting was still wet.

“I had just finished it,” he said. “She bought it, and I didn’t get a good picture of it. It’s nice to see her again. It’s kind of like having a kid — you never see it again and you’re like, ‘Oh, I love that.’”

Francisco Gutierrez, of the Long Beach Creative Group Gallery, leans down to inspect “T.A. Tailtap,” a mixed media piece by artist Jose Cerda, at the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum’s holiday art show.

(Eric Licas)

Pieces from Blake were among those featured. Ron Croce, an artist, illustrator and designer based in both Torrance and Hawaii, also had paintings made of oil and an opaque water-based paint called gouache.

“Firsts” depicts Dale Velzy, who opened the first known surf shop in Manhattan Beach in 1950, as well as an image of the first production-line Volkswagen van.

Croce said that surf artists invented a new way of illustrating things, starting with John Severson of Surfer Magazine in the early 1960s.

Colleen Gnos’s piece, “The Embrace,” featuring a woman held by someone wearing an antique diving suit painted onto a surfboard, was among the work on display at the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum’s holiday art show Thursday.

(Eric Licas)

“The glassy wave, the tube, people on boards, this is our invention,” Croce said.

The show also featured new works from other artists, including Damian Fulton, who grew up in Fountain Valley and Irvine, and Huntington Beach local Douglas Cross.

“We’re trying to give them a place to show their art,” said Blake, curator of the Surf Art Corner in the museum. “This is really one of the only places where you can see surf art.

“The whole surf art genre is pretty amazing. There’s really good artists, but they’re not really connected with the real art world, like in L.A. and stuff. It’s kind of separated, so I like to think of this as one of the best places you can see surf art.”

Huntington Beach resident Gina Webber looks through small prints on sale at the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum’s holiday art show.

(Eric Licas)

Blake noted this might be the last art show at the International Surfing Museum’s current location. An effort is underway to move the museum to the nearby Main Street Library.

The topic is slated to come before the City Council for study on Dec. 16, said Glenn Brumage, who is on the International Surfing Museum board of directors.

As for Turney and Wells? They didn’t walk away from the exhibition empty-handed, after all. Wells purchased “Full Bert,” an acrylic skateboarding piece by artist Jose Cerda, for $200.

Artist Joshua Ben Paskowitz’s painting, “Nathan Fletcher at Teahupo’o,” was among the pieces on display at the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum’s holiday art show.

(Eric Licas)