Bio/Artist Statement

Surf Art master, Nathan Paul Gibbs was born in Washington State on the Kitsap Peninsula, and raised from 13 on, in North East Florida. Since 1999 he lives and works on his art career in South Orange County and abroad. Nathan Paul has created surf art work in Fiji, Bora Bora, Moorea, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Self taught, he is influenced by Pollock, Van Gough, Cezanne, and others. He takes his paintings to a deeper level that invokes participation from the viewer with a visual, emotional, and cognitive experience. His work has exhibited in Florida, Washington, South America and the Southern California Area and has clients from all over the world.

Artist Statement

Surf Art, Defines his Art

There are many ways that Nathan Paul portrays a subject, he uses muted themes, political sarcasm, and disguised messages, developed through the application of painting, chemical, and textual techniques. Through the use of acrylic on panel he loosely applies the paint trying only to control the content leaving the nature-created waves, of wood grain often exposed. The found object sculptures he creates openly reinvents the energy of ocean waves and the way they move, form and break. Nathan Paul takes an optimistic point of view trying to imagine surf everywhere and paying respect to the idea that wood gave us surfing. “Using an alternate idea or view was always a gift of mine, Sometimes".

Other Artistic Endeavors

In addition Nathan Paul wrote and illustrated the acclaimed environmental conscious story and art book, The Betrayal of Man.

Nathan has just been awarded the 2007 1st Annual Earth Day "GAIA" Environmental Award for his constant efforts in providing philanthropic support to water related charities. The award was given for the Literature Division.

Nathan also collects cast off pieces of wood, driftwood, old chairs, anything that os worn with character. He then tries to give it a new life. "It is not like I am recycling, that would be changing the form of the wood, I am re-birthing. I am in a way reincarnating the pieces into new and thought provoking assemblages. Sometimes when I am looking through pieces of wood in the old ghost towns of Death Valley, or combing the beaches of central California, I imagine the wood talking to me, saying 'pick me, pick me! I can do this for you', like they are wanting a second chance feeling as though they failed somehow in not being a good rocking chair, or coastal tree."

While it may seem odd, and even a little bit strange, it allows Nathan to begin the creative process at the resource gathering point. Most artists do not begin the process until they reach the studio with the canvas or board in front of them.

Artist Highlights

• ArtWanted.com Gallery:    Art/Drawing Misc.