2021 Surf Art Calendar
October
“The Capitan”
By: Aubrey Falk
STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE
From the artist: I grew up in the very tiny seaside community of La Conchita, just south of Santa Barbara. I was incredibly blessed have Rincon Point in view from my bedroom window, so surfing has been a lifelong love affair. My passion for surfing was so much that when I couldn't be in the water (which was basically just at night) I started painting pictures of the waves. The "Capitan" is definitely one of my favorite spots on the planet and all I can say is that it is somewhere on the California coast ;) Now I am a mother of two strong girls, ages 4 and 8 and they take up most of my time and focus. But it’s been such a gift to help nurture their own connection to the ocean and making art as well.
PERSONAL CONNECTION
I originally met Aubrey in 2006 on a surf trip to the Southern region of Mexico near Huatulco and Salina Cruz, where she was a deck hand / Surf Guide on the Royal Pelagic, a 128’ Luxury Surf Charter that had just started running tours of the area through Quiksilver Travel to the now famous right point breaks of the region. My good friend John Marx from the William Morris Agency was invited through his friend Dana Mesenbrink at Quiksilver to be a guest on the boat to work out the kinks before offering the travel service to the general public and I was fortunate to be included on this once in a lifetime trip. It was incredible to be able to explore the coast of Southern Mexico by boat before any real media attention had exposed how good the waves could get and to go to places where cars couldn’t. The trip entailed surfing empty waves the entire time and with Aubrey being one of the only female surfers on the boat, I think she surprised everyone when she would paddle out and surf better than most of the male guests. It turns out she was a former professional surfer from Santa Barbara who was also spending time in the region working with Surfers Without Borders and signed on to help on the boat.
Fast forward to New Year’s Day 2020, where I was camping at Ocean Mesa in Santa Barbara with a group of college friends from Cal Poly SLO. That morning I went to get coffee at the El Cap Canyon Café and took a picture of a painting in the dining area of a perfect wave that I thought would be great for the Surf Art Calendar, sent it to my dad, and didn’t think much about it. Then later in the year, while scrolling through my photo album I saw the image again and did a little more research…. And of course, it turned out to be Aubrey our deck hand from the Mexico trip! Seeing that it was her, I knew I had to reach out to see if she’d be involved in this year’s calendar which she gratefully agreed to.
What I like about her painting is the color of the trees on the bluff and the sheer perfection of the wave. You can see through her art the connection she has with surfing and her love and appreciation for the natural environment.Please visit her website to see more of this great work! www.aubreyrosefalk.com or IG: @aubreyroseart
