I grew up in South Florida where I began surfing by the age of 12. As I got older, I spent a lot of time driving up the coast to find better surf. Florida, as you may know, can be quite flat for long periods of time, so we have to travel to keep ourselves satisfied. Which is exactly what I did. I started to travel to a lot of the locations I dreamed of growing up. At some point, I started to get into photography and video as well, and even made a series of surf videos back in the VHS days that were sold globally.
I had a couple of friends who were into painting waves, and I owned some of their paintings for my walls. I guess that was when I realized it was time to give it a go myself. My first few paintings were given away as gifts to friends and family. It took some good years of painting before I ever considered trying to sell any of them. I’ve been using mostly acrylic paints but have dabbled with oils in the past. More recently, I’ve incorporated some airbrush work into some of my paintings to mix up the look quite a bit. It’s quite fulfilling to finish a painting and step back and take it all in from a distance knowing I created it with my own hands.
I eventually moved my way up to Central Florida close to Sebastian Inlet, which is where I spent so many years driving on a regular basis anyway. Ironically, a few years after moving there, they changed the shape of the jetty and it hasn’t broken the same ever since.
For the past few years, I’ve been attending local art shows and select gallery events, finding my way into a few magazines and even the cover of some smaller local mags. Lately, I’ve been using Instagram which allows me to connect with fans, photographers and fellow artists from around the world – some of whom I have collaborated with to paint their photos.
This past year, I have been making the move down to Costa Rica which has been a second home to me for years now. Finding inspiration down there is easy as Central America gets waves almost every day. Between the beaches, landscapes and sunsets, there is always new subject matter to be inspired by.
I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my life and also stoked to get down to painting and doing custom art for new clients in my new surroundings.
Thank you for taking the time to read and check out my work. You can check out more of my recent and past paintings at www.artbymartycalabrese.com, on Facebook and Instagram @artbymartycalabrese.
