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Meet Veerle Helsen a travel and architecture journalist whos passionate about surf, photography, food and design.
And today Veerle is inviting us on ananything but ordinaryjourney through her new book Surf & Art.
Surf & Art is the worlds first book on contemporary surf artists.
The book launch is scheduled for the 24th of May, in Veerles apartment, in Ostend, Belgium.
Take your passion and make it happen.
Its what I did in 2018 and Ive never been happier.
Its like the pieces of my ridiculous complicated puzzle finally found each other.
And of course there were tears.
But salt adds flavor, Veerle shared her thoughts after a year on Instagram.
I used to have a fixed position as a journalist for a prestigious news magazine in Belgium.
When I was 35 I took a surf sabbatical in a camper.
And architectural gems, since Im a design journalist.
When the book came out, I quit my job and ever since Ive been freelancing.
I write about travel, surf and architecture/design for several magazines, explained in the interview forBored PandaVeerle.
I bought something small from her and this was my first piece of surf art.
Its a woman graciously longboarding in a pink sea.
I think this was 7 years ago and I still have it in my house.
Ever since I have been collecting from surf artists.
I dont think anyone has ever done it before.
Most books about surf art focus on photography, shared Helsen.
This book is a tribute to surf artists worldwide.
To how they capture theessence of surfingand translate it to canvas, paper or digital spaces, she added.
I interviewed every artist and asked them who cannot be missing in a book about surf art.
And thats how the list kept growing.
In the end we had way too many names, I could have easily filled a second book.
I just chose the ones that I like and I think this is the visual glue in the book.
Graphic design is done by Antwerp based agencyMAFF, who also did my other books.
We won a prestigiousHenry Van de Velde Awardfor Surf & Stay, in the category graphic design.
Surf & Art has the same dreamy, musing vibe.
It takes a loooooooooot of time.
This was really the best moment!
This is something Ive been working on for over year.
I really really love the cover, artwork by Jonty Storey in Wales.
I didnt know him actually, his name was a tip I got from Fabian Lavater.
Thats a wonderful thing about this book; the artists kind of made the selection themselves, added Veerle.
Johny had a chance to showcase 4 of his artworks.
The 1st one is called Surfbless (a woman on a longboard with an abstract wave).
I often find myself in a place where theres no human trace, free from noise and visual clutter.
Its a peaceful feeling, a silence that goes through the veins and makes me feel good.
The 3rd one is Jared (a surfer making a hangfive in black and white with orange sun).
Also, my favorite color pallet is just sepia, so I wanted to show it to the world.
And the last work is called Freedom (a small surfer in a big blue background).
For me freedom is about the feeling of freedom (No way?!
A huuuge live installation, where even the moon is collaborating in it.
This is how I created Escamoso.For me, he represented the lifestyle of Caparica.
He became an artistic fusion between fishermen and the local surfers.
Important to add that he is not a sardine, but a carapau fish, explained Cezar.
