print size: 64 × 48 x 1.5 inches

color:4 color serigraph - protected with a krylon clear matte finish

material:1/2 x 4-ft x 8-ft douglas fir sanded plywood sheathing

tools:speedball - screen printing Ink and behr acrylic paint

date created: jan 2025

note:
The beauty of hand-pulled screen printing comes from its imperfections and variations, making each print a one-of-a-kind creation.

Every morning, I kick off my day with a 1.5-mile walk around our neighborhood in Palm Springs, CA. Lately, I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with photographing the local palm trees that seem to pop up everywhere along my route. After some deep “tree research,” I discovered that there’s a whole variety of palm species in the area. The one that really caught my eye is the Silver Bismarck Palm, which, as the name suggests, is a dazzling silver version of the classic palm tree. Looking at these photos took me on a nostalgic trip back to the 70s and 80s when I was a kid on the East Coast (and later in Guam), devouring surf magazines and daydreaming about Ocean Pacific and Lightning Bolt ads. There was just something about those ads—bold, graphic, and full of that carefree surf culture vibe.

Inspired by all of this, I decided to create a serigraph based on the palm trees and those retro surf ads. I used the wood grain from the plywood to mimic the groovy, curvy lines that were a hallmark of those classic ads, and pulled my color palette straight from the same bold hues. And here’s the kicker: I painted these colors a full week before the LA-Palisades fires started. Talk about cosmic timing! Sometimes the universe has a funny way of aligning things—like, I’m just out here photographing palm trees, and bam, it becomes art, color choices, and all. The magic really is in the details... and the universe’s sense of humor!