Blog : Joe Curren

One more shot of Gerry with his hand planer.

In early April I was lucky enough to be snowboarding Mt. Bachelor when the best snow of year arrived. While I was there I took these portraits of Bend resident and dedicated snowboarder Gerry Lopez at his shaping bay. He’s such a nice guy. He showed me his Clark Foam blanks, of which he probably has the largest stock pile left. Gerry’s surfing, positive attitude and dedication to healthy living has always been a big inspiration for me. I also find it very interesting that he moved from Hawaii to Central Oregon and started a new life. He’s seen so many changes in surfing, but instead of becoming jaded with crowded lineups he realized there are new places and experiences left to discover. I boarded a couple runs with him. He rips!

Fiber print in walnut frame, custom made for legendary body surfer Mark Cunningham. Dan Malloy and I met this man during a trip to Taiwan in September, 2005. He lost his arms in a car accident but was still an avid body surfer. After he put his swim fins on with his teeth, he and Dan rode a few waves together. I don’t know if he rode a surf board before the accident, but you could tell he loved to body surf because after every wave he would let out a really loud hoot.

In the latest issue (May) of Surfer Magazine there is an article on a trip I took in January to frozen northern Japan. The beach was covered in snow and the ocean was 32 degrees, but we rode some fun right point breaks in one of the most scenic parts of the country. The photos in the article were taken by Brian Nevins. Here are a few photos I took. I will be putting together more words and a gallery with more photos for my portfolio website soon.