Artist Bio
“I grew up in and around Ventura, CA where I learned to surf and began my art career as a chronic wave doodler. A couple of years after high school I started making wave paintings for all my friends and slowly began to develop my style. An unbelievable amount of help came from my friend and shaper Wayne Okamoto of Oak Foils surfboards who was always ready to swap paintings or logos for amazing boards! I began working at Trader Joe’s in Ventura as the store artist and convinced them that they needed a panoramic mural of Ventura depicting the pier, waves, sunset, hills, etc.
“This led to two more murals; Trader Joe’s in Camarillo, and in east Santa Barbara. I am especially proud of the Santa Barbara mural because It depicts the native Chumash culture and Rainbow Bridge legend. It was also great free advertising for me and I suddenly found myself a full time muralist. I found this life to be both rewarding and stressful but it allowed me the opportunity to put myself through college earning a BA in studio art at Cal State Channel Islands in Camarillo, CA. It was the art history and art from other cultures that I was exposed to which I felt was immeasurably rewarding to my perspective.
“My great masterpiece to date has to be inside of the rotunda at Ventura’s Pacific View Mall which is a 360 degree, 5,000 sq. foot mural depicting the underwater view of sunset in a kelp forest just as the lip of a large wave is about to break the glassy surface.
“I recently moved to the Bay Area and am finding both the art climate and the peaks at Ocean Beach to be at the same time unbelievably challenging and exhilarating! I feel as a surfer incredibly blessed with a constant source of inspiration in the ocean and believe we should all try to promote in whatever way we can an awareness to the rest of the masses that the ocean is a vital key to a healthy planet and not a dump!”
-Chris
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Chris Charney
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Topher:
Love your website and your work! Can’t believe how prolific you are…way to go!!! We’re your biggest fans.
Love,
Tim & Georgie
hey dood, hope all is well brother.
merry xmas!
wayne
Your work is amazing.
Thank you so much!!! The Truck is the first thing kids see when they come to camp.
Once a big white empty canvass, now a beautiful mural signifying the heart and soul of what we do here! Thank you so much!