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Article: Geoff McFetridge

Geoff McFetridge

Geoff McFetridge

When Creativity & Board Sports Merge Together

 
This sneak-peak story from The California Issue features an amazing artist, skater and surfer – Geoff McFetridge.  
The Canadian father of two currently resides in Los Angeles, California, the place where everything came together at the right time, and where he found his new home. 
By continuously learning and pursuing his art, Geoff found himself connecting with friends within the same creative field, which led him to collaborating on captivating projects, including working on the Beastie Boys’ magazine or designing inspiring graphics for the brand Girl Skateboards. 
The magical combo between creativity and boards has its origins in graphically designing skiis and snowboards in the early stages of his artistic career. 

 

Geoff’s Journey

Art and design have always been his main field of interest. Having completed arts at the local university, he decided to follow his passion and discover California. He grabbed his sketchbook and skateboard and continued his studies at Cal Uni – and never left since then. 
The love for the Californian sun started to emerge during road trips with friends, and as he shared:

Geoff McFetridge_TheAAA_story


We have a strong feeling that this is true.  
The board sports community is a space where the network you create can change your life in a second, and Geoff is the living proof of that. 
Skateboarding in California allowed him to connect with fellow riders, such as Andy Jenkins, and to soon create a close circle of friends, which included Rick Howard and Spike Jonze – the founders of Girl Skateboards, along with Mike Caroll and Megan Baltimore. Theses friendships ended up being a catalyst that launched Geoff’s career in graphic design. Even though a working position wasn’t available for him at that moment, he was introduced to the editor of the Grand Royal magazine – the magazine ran by the Beastie Boys. The rest is history... 

 

Geoff McFetridge_TheAAA_The California Issue

 

His board sports journey started with skateboarding, but Geoff was curious to try new modalities, and that’s when he started surfing Californian waves. As we all know, an action sports passionate is likely to sometimes switch boards throughout his/her life. 
Geoff’s travel destinations include the inspiring European surf spot Biarritz, in France. A yearly trip to Biarritz was a tradition among his group of friends, but the Californian waves have his heart. 
Ultimately, Geoff became recognized by his art while working for Grand Royal and designing for Girl Skateboards, and soon started to collaborate with brands such as Vans and Apple.  
He creates a truthful parallelism between art and skateboarding or surfing – it is the creative and momentary decision that produces the art piece and the maneuvers that ultimately embody the artist and the surfer.
The sport is also a form of creative expression, he states, where each paint brush and each movement are uniquely ephemeral.  

 

Geoff’s Philosophy:

As Geoff states: “(…) what I can say is that art fuels everything”. 

 

Geoff’s Inspiration: 

Humans are the theme that stimulates Geoff’s work the most.  
 
The key-message to this story reveals the underlying connection between art and surfing or skateboarding, where creativity is the foundation of everything we do. In the ocean or on concrete ground, we are all the artists of our own canvas. 
 
Read the full story on The California Issue and get to know more California-based pioneers, artists and action sports enthusiasts! 

 

Photo credits by Red Bull Media House

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