Atom Groom - Web Designer, Graphic Designer, Front End Developer from Northwest Indiana
Triggers
Ever have something trigger old memories? Maybe it’s a smell, a sound, or for me today, something visual. Today, I remembered growing up skateboarding. I remembered the late nights skating with my friends, getting into trouble, and stinking horribly when I got home of sweat. I remembered what skateboarding did for me and how it’s truly affected (in a very positive way), who I am today, and how I arrived at now.
When you’re a skater, you’re typically into a “brand” or a certain company, maybe even a few. I was always very much into DC (before your neighbors rock’d dc’s) , Alien Workshop, Habitat – just to name a few. No particular reason other than I liked the brand and their team, they appealed to me. The one that I remember most and was always particularly fond of was Alien Workshop.
Now that years have passed and I really don’t skate at all anymore, most know me as a graphic / web designer. In that respect, I’ve always had those memories of “graphics” embeded into my brain. In fact, they probably have influenced some of my graphics and artwork at one point. Some of my favorite artwork on decks and t-shirts was created by an artist named Don Pendleton, his website named Elephont. If you’re interested check out this interview.
It’s pretty rare these days that the artists who created a lot of skateboard art, still have their own artwork available. Let alone still get down with a brush and some paint. Don still gets down like that, and it’s not easy getting some of his artwork either. When I first got in touch with Don via email, he had nothing left to sell “sold-out”. This was my first attempt at buying a piece, but still sold out. This week, I awoke to an email from Don “i’ve got art for sale”.
Today, I received my personal, one of a kind Don Pendleton artwork. Maybe a bit of a cheesy story for some, but then again, when you were passionate about one thing (skateboarding) and give it up for a new passion (design), having something like this means more to me than most.
