Kohler Arts Dispatch

looking E. over Sheboygan Reef, a geological oddity along Lake Michigan’s shores A gentle westerly breeze rolls tiny breakers over Sheboygan Reef, a rare protrusion of limestone bedrock extending to Niagra Falls, as I walk along the lakefront bike path before an afternoon of meetings with Kohler Arts Center. I’ll be here for the week, […]

Kohler Arts Center Residency

Sheboygan, Wisconsin Ene and I (wowhaus) have been invited to be artists in residence at the Kohler Arts Center Connecting Communities program over the coming year. We plan to realize a project with focus on human-powered transportation and have been researching the city’s rich past and progressive plans for modeling the potential for a ‘green’ […]

ASR Dispatch: Sustainability the New Cool?

Young skateboarders showing off their tricks on the floor of the ASR trade show The buzz in the ASR seminar rooms hints that skateboarding is suffering from no longer being as cool as it was a few years ago. Its hipness seems to have peaked when skater shoes crossed-over and saturated the mainstream market. Also, […]

Dispatch from the ASR in San Diego

early longboard by John Hughes Not surprisingly, I found simpatico with the deans of the old school of skate and surf at the ASR. Carson and Dale Smith of Skate Designs Skateboards staged an exhibition of classic racing boards as a backdrop to their line of contemporary cruisers. I was especially drawn to a vintage […]

Old School Market Research

I’m taking a deep breath before I fly down to San Diego to dive into a couple of days of market research at the ASR (Action Sports Retailer) Conference. I will be scoping out the viability of my Deep Deck TM, an innovative, solid wood interpretation of the classic homemade, old school longboards of yore. […]

Windsor Longboard Lives

My first Windsor Longboard experimental deck is a head-turner. My friends at Quinn Brothers Board Shop in Sebastopol, CA took to the ‘uber old school’ spirit and helped me rock the deck with super wide trucks and generic wheels; note the ‘rasta’ bolt heads, the board’s only fanfare. After some road testing I plan to […]

Windsor Longboard Shapes Up

My prototype Windsor Longboard is nearing completion.  I shaped the outer contours with my favorite Italian-made, mini spokeshaves. I have a set of three but use the one pictured above for almost everything- its rockered base allows for the most delicate control. Over the weekend I plan to mount trucks and wheels and test its […]