How This Artist Finds the Same Flow State in Both Surfing and Painting | The Inertia

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$Sundays (gettin\' high on...) : I painted this around 2008. It\'s long gone now, in a house somewhere in Byron Shire. When I first moved to Byron from Cronulla in the summer of 05/06, I used to hang out with a spiritual community called New Earth Tribe. Each Sunday about 80 of us would gather with our drums and instruments and praise God for a couple hours. I\'d always leave high as a kite, in a daze.$

Sundays (gettin' high on...) : I painted this around 2008. It's long gone now, in a house somewhere in Byron Shire. When I first moved to Byron from Cronulla in the summer of 05/06, I used to hang out with a spiritual community called New Earth Tribe. Each Sunday about 80 of us would gather with our drums and instruments and praise God for a couple hours. I'd always leave high as a kite, in a daze.

$\"Sundays\" in detail. Click right for the next image.$

"Sundays" in detail. Click right for the next image.

$Spiritus: Here we see Waterbird in his typical enviro of colorful and otherworldly happenings heading to or from his favorite zone. The sled under his arm I called Spiritus because I love that word and it is through surfing and my surfing boards that I access the NoMindState space. It\'s a totally spiritual experience.$

Spiritus: Here we see Waterbird in his typical enviro of colorful and otherworldly happenings heading to or from his favorite zone. The sled under his arm I called Spiritus because I love that word and it is through surfing and my surfing boards that I access the NoMindState space. It's a totally spiritual experience.

$\"Spiritus\" in detail. Click right for the next image.$

"Spiritus" in detail. Click right for the next image.

$Suck suck suck: This one I did after i\'d been to Bali one season and I surfed the outside corner at Uluwatu, probably around 10 feet. I paddled onto this one wave that I thought would be a fairly easy entry and it just kept suck, suck, sucking!! I eventually air-dropped and connected about half way down the face which ripped the inside fin out of my board and resulted in my bottom turn attempt to be a full slide out. I got nailed right in the boil zone.$

Suck suck suck: This one I did after i'd been to Bali one season and I surfed the outside corner at Uluwatu, probably around 10 feet. I paddled onto this one wave that I thought would be a fairly easy entry and it just kept suck, suck, sucking!! I eventually air-dropped and connected about half way down the face which ripped the inside fin out of my board and resulted in my bottom turn attempt to be a full slide out. I got nailed right in the boil zone.

$\"Suck Suck Suck\" in detail. Click right for the next image.$

"Suck Suck Suck" in detail. Click right for the next image.

$Seakrets: A commission I did for a family in Lennox Head. It\'s one of my favorite paintings because it captures all that I love on one canvas, including cloudsurfing and also the colors are just fully high vibing.$

Seakrets: A commission I did for a family in Lennox Head. It's one of my favorite paintings because it captures all that I love on one canvas, including cloudsurfing and also the colors are just fully high vibing.

$\"Seakrets\" in detail. Click right for the next image.$

"Seakrets" in detail. Click right for the next image.

$Cosmollogy: Each painting of mine has a kind of subconscious story that unfolds as I work. This one kind of disappeared for a couple years whilst I got busy with other stuff, like the birth of my 3rd son, Noah. I\'d started it mid 2014 and didn\'t finish it till almost 3 years later in Feb 2017, just in time for the Byron Bay Surf Festival art show. This painting is the last in the Waterbird series, which I\'ve been producing for around 12 years. I made a decision not to sell it as it\'s my all time fave and I want to keep it for the family to enjoy through the generations.$

Cosmollogy: Each painting of mine has a kind of subconscious story that unfolds as I work. This one kind of disappeared for a couple years whilst I got busy with other stuff, like the birth of my 3rd son, Noah. I'd started it mid 2014 and didn't finish it till almost 3 years later in Feb 2017, just in time for the Byron Bay Surf Festival art show. This painting is the last in the Waterbird series, which I've been producing for around 12 years. I made a decision not to sell it as it's my all time fave and I want to keep it for the family to enjoy through the generations.

$\"Cosmology\" in detail.$

"Cosmology" in detail.

This gallery is part of our #CreativeLines series, featuring talented artists whose inspiration comes from a love for the ocean. Byron Bay artist and Founder of the Byron Bay Surf Festival, James McMillan, has taken over our Instagram account to share some of his favorite creations and the awesome stories behind them. Here’s what James has to say about the creative vibes he finds in both painting and surfing, called NoMindState:

“The paintings I do are a particular combination of images and colors organized in a spontaneous yet specific manner. I generally don’t represent reality in my work; if I wanted to do that I would take a photo. I started painting around ’92, and then this current style of painting emerged around 2002 when I was writing my surf book ‘Blue Yonder’. At the time, I was hanging out a fair bit with @andrewkidman, @andydavisdesigns, and Derek Hynd. I got inspired and created art in between writing stories and taking photos. I like the space I get in whilst painting and it happens with surfing, too… I call it the NoMindState.”

Note: You can find more artist takeovers from our #CreativeLinesSeries on The Inertia’s Instagram. And you can find more of James’ work on Instagram here and online here.

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