surf art 100

Severson left as hungry as when he arrived, selling exactly one piece for a measly $35.

Half a century later, he returned to Laguna for two shows at the Surf Gallery on Coast Highway. This time, hundreds turned out for the opening receptions. Sushi and wine were served. Eager buyers snapped up scores of Severson's oils and watercolors, some costing thousands of dollars.

Severson's art had clearly arrived. So had the genre he pioneered.

During the last decade, a growing number of artists with roots in Southern California have found that surfing is their muse. What was once a hobby for surfers with a knack for painting has been building in popularity, fueled by affluent aficionados of the sport and an industry grown rich on the fat of the sand.

Collections of surf art have been making the rounds of museums across the country. Galleries dedicated to the genre are opening, and original paintings that were once ignored by collectors now command as much as $75,000.

"Surf art in the 1970s and 1980s was really slow business," said Gordon T. McClelland, a Santa Ana art dealer, collector and historian. "In 1990, things started to take off. It's gone from six or seven people painting with any consistency to more than 60 people today, probably more."

Surf artists run the gamut of styles. They work in oils, watercolor and ink. Some print images using hand-carved wood blocks. Others create mixed-media works.

At its best, surf art conveys the "stoke" of the sport, the physical and mental euphoria that comes from a well-ridden wave.

Its practitioners connect with nature, capture coastal landmarks threatened by development and reflect romanticized rituals such as waxing boards or walking on endless, remote beaches.

"Every surf artist is trying to express ineffable qualities," said Scott Hulet, an editor at the Surfer's Journal who regularly writes reviews about the genre. "There's van art, Woody art and perfectly airbrushed waves. Then you can go up the sophistication ladder as far as you want to climb."

Although European and American artists have been capturing surf scenes for more than a century, it was Severson, the founder of Surfer Magazine in San Juan Capistrano, who popularized the genre.