my inspiration
Growing up in Chicago, I arrived on the island with no knowledge or experience in the world of surfing. I had the incredible privilege of meeting an amazing human who took me under his wing and taught me how to surf. Matt became not only a close friend but also a mentor and the godfather of our oldest son, who was born on the island.
The illustrations in the book were inspired by our lifestyle and experiences while living in Micronesia, and reflect the eclectic education I received in surf culture; derived from my time spent with Matt and the numerous surfers who visited during our time there, as well as from watching classic surf movies and reading through dozens of old editions of Surfer’s Journal magazines. Many of the illustrations in the book are based on some of my favorite photographs taken during our time on the island, as well as from Matt’s photo archive of his past surf trips.
In the 9 years since I’ve started, I had several spurts of productivity. Often I made the conscious decision to set the project aside, only to return to it years later. Because this project spanned so many years, both during and after the time we lived in Micronesia, it unknowingly became a commemoration of sorts of our time there.
Photo Gallery
While the pictures in the previous section more clearly inspired many of the book’s illustrations, the spirit of the entire book was shaped by our lifestyle and experiences while living there. Sharing pictures was the best way we found to connect our friends and family – who were 6,000 miles away at the time – to our experiences, so it felt appropriate to share some of our favorites with you here.
Everything truly felt special, and we wanted to capture it all. It also kind of felt like we were collecting proof that what we were experiencing was real. Despite ending up with an enormous number of pictures, it still felt like so much was left out.
