Rake-y Masters

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I had been out on a windy, rainy, grey and overcast day to do an interior shoot. Naturally the interior had to have a 'sunny, summery feel'.  Presumably that was the reason it was commissioned in mid December then. Plus it was incredibly urgent, needed immediate post-processing and sending to the client immediately after that, if not sooner.

A-Frames
 So much, so normal. But I knew there was a decent swell running which, if the correct bit of shelter from a difficult wind could be tracked down, would undoubtedly turn up some decent looking waves. With only a brief window of opportunity due to the shortness of the days at this time of year, looking was all I had time to do.

Empty, but no time to surf it
The First Law of Surfing being what it is, I presently came across several sheltered spots which were firing.

Solo pilot

Having driven around looking at all the places I couldn't surf, I ended up in St Ives with just enough daylight left to make the interior look, er, summery, and got ready to shoot back to base and start editing as the light started to fade.

Then at Porthmeor, I saw the tall, familiar form of artist Tony Plant carving a low tide design into the sand with his rake, moving smoothly in his bare feet, like the veritable Cornish Rake-y Master that he is.

Lines in the sea, lines on the beach
 Normally not one to disturb an artist at his work, I thought maybe a quick chat about work being the curse of the surfing class was in order. Slowly, keeping one eye on some decent lines cleaning up as the wind swung offshore, I cautiously approached the Master at his work and said Hello.

T for Tony
The figure turned round, and behold, the Master had changed his face! And his accent! Amazing what you can do with a rake, I thought.  'Hi, I'm Jim' said Tony.

Jim!
 'You're not Tony!' I said. 'No, I'm Jim', said Jim. And indeed he was.  Jim Denevan out of Santa Cruz, to be exact, sporting a slow Californian drawl, a sunny disposition and a personal rake. Which, it turns out, he is  also a Master of. Take my word for it or check out the scale of the shapes on his website and make your own mind up.

Jim Denevan
A well regarded artist internationally, he was running a workshop for the Tate Gallery and had taken time out to get some sand between his toes.  It was a pleasure to meet him, see his work and have a chat. Being a surfer, he was as happy to talk about the waves as art, while denying his inadvertent impersonation of the Cornish Rake-y Master could be an international incident.

Keep an eye on our Cornish Beaches, you never know when you might see international art that will exist for just one tide.

Check out Tony's designs in this collaborative video and song with Ruarri Joseph

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