It's rare to witness a traumatic event unfold into the catalyst for a new birth, new opportunity and positive beginnings. When Brett Connellan was attacked by a shark four years ago, it left our community in utter shock. Since then Brett has transformed and grown into a warrior for positivity. Pyrophytic is a short documentary by Sam Tollhurst chronicling Brett's recovery and where he's at now. This episode of Happiness and Crap is a little scoop inside the making of the documentary and how it came about.

Oh winter.

There is nothing like winter on the south coast of Australia. Big southerly swells march up the Tasman from the Antarctic. The ocean comes to life, marine life, wind, storms and waves. The air is different, something more than just a chill, there’s more depth. The lighting is different. There’s a sense of urgency that doesn’t come with the warmer months. Maybe it’s to make the most of this short energetic season.

Joel Trist has been doing just that. Here’s a few shots from a couple rolls of film he’s been shooting over the past few weeks. Follow the film enthusiast @j_trist

Welcome to our first Art-cast, where we'll be diving into drawing, painting, illustration and more. Hopefully breaking down techniques and detailing ways to get your creative brain humming.

Episode one we tackle drawing with pencils and loosen up with a bit of hip hop and doodling. Open wide, come inside... hit play, it's Happiness and Crap art-cast time.

Luke Okay

Just a quick banger to discuss the news coming out of the WSL that the tour is changing. What will surfing look like in 2021? Will we be going to the Superbowl of surfing?

High Line Surf Podcast goes semi tech and launches a video component for the pod so now you can get the High Line ramblings via YouTube if that’s your thang.

We dive into industry doom and gloom, what we think the World Surf League tour might look like, the re-rise of the video part and basically a bunch more unfounded nonsensical speculation from the world of surf.

Subscribe to the Local Artist Division YouTube page to keep up to date with some new projects we have in the works, or find us on the Apple Podcast app.

Ahhh crap! We kick off season 2 of the Happiness and Crap podcast. We have a new intro, some new vibes and hopefully a lot more episodes to come this year.

This ep we sit down with Kyle Graham and talk coffee, running and mental health. Kyle has started a new gig with local north coast roasters Blackboard Coffee. (Check out their vid to the left of the page or hit the links below to find out more).

We keep the vibe fun and tackle the issue of change with a positive outlook and a brew in hand.

Click the Happiness and Crap tab above to get to the podcast and listen or download, or find us on the apple podcast app at Happiness and Crap and hit subscribe! :)

www.blackboardcoffee.com.au

@blackboardcoffee

This trip has been on the agenda since last October. A week in Bali, a group of good dudes, a filmer, a photographer and a bunch of DP Surfboard models to test in pristine conditions. Sounds like a surefire way to get content, right?

Well that’s not always the case… There are a lot of moving parts that go into planning one of these trips; booking time off work, making sure everything’s still ticking over in the factory, building all of the boards, and rebuilding 2 of the boards that broke only a few days before departure.

Not the most ideal of circumstances but a week out from the trip, as Sam was packing his protein powder, Darcy was painting his nails and Eddy was changing his instagram location to Bali, Indonesia. The swell forecast threw us a big old goose egg… One of the most consistent places in the world for surf and it was showing no signs of life.

There’s 2 things you can do in a situation like this; You can cancel the whole trip and throw away all of that planning, or you can stick to your guns and hope that surf forecasting isn’t as accurate as it claims to be. We picked the latter. And unfortunately this forecast was bang on.

That isn’t to say that it was all bad news. We still found waves. It just took a lot of driving to satisfy our criteria of above knee high in size. And with that came a good time in itself.

When you plan a trip away with 9 guys who are all different and who haven’t spent a lot of time together you’re always running the risk of a few clashes. While some car rides were filled with a bit of competitive banter, others were a barrage of shitty puns (which for some was something to Dreaddy Hamaty). Through all of this, it was pretty simple to see that DP had in fact assembled a decent group of downright honest lads. Ones that made the forecast, and the travel, and the oncoming threat of the coronavirus a more than bearable experience.

I think you can sense that vibe as it shows in the film. It was a sick trip to be a part of and looking back on the clip it reinforces that a week away with the Honest Boys was fun as hell. I hope everyone who watches it feels the same way. And with that being said, please enjoy.

BC

Film by Sam Tolhurst || Photos by Scott Ruzzene

Rightio, how we all holding up, holed up in our shacks fearing for our lives amidst this zombie apocalypse like scenario?

The High Line podcast crew thought it’d be a fine time to post up a bunch of surf clips that have come out this year (2020) and do a deep dive into what we’re thinking will be in the running for clip of the year come years end. Or worlds end. Either ither. Who knows what the fucks going to happen.

Have a gander and send us your vote in the comments section or if you have any other clips you’ve got a full on froth for let us know. Then keep an eye out for our up-coming Clip of the year podcast.

Peace legends!

Luke

The 3 High Line wizards are at it again.

2019 is done and dusted which means we roll into season number 2 for the High Line surf podcast. We procrastinate on the world of surf from the shake up at the WSL to the surf industry doom and gloom.

Who’s going to come out alive, who won’t survive and who will thrive in the year that is 2020? Hit the link or the tab above and download your second favourite surf pod.

http://www.localartistdivision.com/highline

Oh man. Have you ever heard someone describe themselves as a broken piece of glass? That’s how broken we all felt at the end of our journey. Busted up shadows of our former selves.

Where do we start on this one? So Nicko our good friend somehow discovered the Oxfam Trailwalker challenge to raise funds for kids in impoverished nations and managed to rope Brett, Joel and I in to join him on this 100km walk. We accepted.

These are photos from the saga. There’s also a two part podcast on Happiness and Crap. One from the night before the walk and the other a week later. Click the tab above or jump on the Apple podcast app and hit subscribe.

We made it to the next stop and even have a bonus event to get excited about! Episode 2 of High Line and we get stuck into the Bali Corona Protected and also the Red Bull Cape Fear contest.

Two absolute banger surf contests are going to be going head to head on Monday 13th May.

Where will your eyes be? Hifi epic battles in the warm Indonesian fun park waves of Keramas or the all out carnage and truly unpredictable excitement of the icey cold monster slabs of Shipsterns Bluff? What an unprecedented dilemma… It’s lucky I have two screens for the old work station. Unlucky for work as none will be done come 5pm Monday afternoon.

Anyways, we discuss our picks, what the waves are doing and the introduction of Coconut Willie watch. It’s a big one so jump in, via the High Line tab above or the Apple podcast app.

Brett, Nick and Luke

Welcome to High Line, our surf podcast. Our first episode we hit power drive and dive head first into the WSL's world tour stop #2 Bells Beach and break down the action in both the guys and the girls competition, not to mention the carnage in the last 2 days.

Welcome to Happiness and Crap! This is a podcast about creatives, the weird and wonderful people that do things differently, take risks, get their hands dirty and draw their own unique lines through life.

This episode is an introduction into your hosts, Brett Connellan and Luke Okay.

Who are Brett Connellan and Luke Okay? Where do we come from and what have we done with our lives?

Find out by hitting play

We pulled into a service station in the what felt like the middle of nowhere on the road to Swansea. It was around noon on a fucking hot day with no-one else around except a lone truckie putting diesel into a massive excavator. There was a flag of the Eureka Stockade slightly limping in the breeze. Got the feeling that the owner of the service station flew that flag not because he was big on the labour union movement but because he had mis-interpreted the cloth as some sort of subtle bigoted power symbol.

Its always interesting to stand back and observe the reactions our crew of bedraggled skaters acquire. We seem to have a way of stirring the deepest recesses of good Christian folk.  These reactions are either one or the other, a shock-disgusted face clenching as if we have offended someone’s deepest soul or its scooter mums surprised by our generosity. It was definitely the former on the face of the servo owner. We piled into that shop desperate for refreshments after sweltering at the “warm-up spot” that was painted black, had no shade and no source of clean running water.

But maybe I’m getting old because I’ll admit even though I’ve known this mob since before they were all pre-pubescent punks scabbing durries at the park their appearance did grab your attention. First there was Ray Macken wearing all denim with a red tennis sun-visor, he had even detailed his denim attire with little posca drawn motifs.  My favourite artwork on his double denim gallery was the cigarette poking out of his fly (smoking of course). Next was Brayden Jarrold rocking a beautiful blonde mullet and some lovely little, well above the knees Lucas Puig shorts. Mitch Lee was as usual half naked, by which I mean the top half. Its not like he was walking around like Winnie the Pooh or some other perverted cartoon character. Adam Harris was his usual happy-drab self, wearing his famous Canadian deer hunting camo pants. And lastly Pete Dalmer was lurking around the edge of the pack. Earlier that day we had come across an old drunk who was explaining to us the best way to cook pork when he stopped mid-sentence, pointed at Pete and said “look at this guy with the Bin Laden beard, he’s ready to rip”.

Rad.one Pt. 4 starring one of LA' Division's OG. The multi-talented Trait takes us around some of his home slices of concrete, with a glimpse into his artistic side. Rad.one is dotted with Trait's art in the background as the boys skate by it or skate on it. Trait's as real as they come, mentoring in the art and skate worlds and we love how he infuses the two.

@radstick for more epic productions.

@trait_

Rad.Stick teams up with our friends at 5c Supply with a clip that sees a few of our local legends on a tear.

Rad.Stick aka Adam is really upping the anti with his video productions, hitting higher and higher strides with every creation. "Past and Present" is a continuation of that trajectory for the young buck, we hope you enjoy.

Rad.one Pt. 3 starring the talented youngblood Kieran Woolley. Kids a beast. Press play and be blown away.

@radstick for the epic production.

Lately... well maybe not evenly lately, yeah actually for a good long while I've found myself fascinated with the people that have the courage to throw in the towel on their 9-5 jobs and say "fuck it, i'm going to create my own business". There's something that I think we all find alluring about owning our own thing and creating goods and services with our own special touch.

Black Moon is one of those businesses. A business that thinks about the textures of their product , the details of their supply chain and how and where their materials are sourced. Every little intricacy is labored over by their creator.

Here's my chat with Black Moon creator Amy Gould.

Luke Okay

www.blackmoon.co

@blackmoon_accessories

Last week kicked off the first week of Aus Music Month here in Australia. A week kicked off by Australian radio station Triple J, celebrating all the great music being produced locally by Aussie bands and artists. The first Friday of Aus Music Month, is a day praised as Aus Music T-shirt day, where you pull out your favorite band tee and show your support and admiration to the great bands that call the land down-under home...

The best part about band tees is the awesome art that parallels the music and tells the visual story of that band. Our crew are also some talented motherfuckers and deserve some accolades for their awesome creativity! So here's a bunch of tees from our homies that were being sported last Friday.

Peace!

@Radstick has dropped another full clip from his seminal skate vid Rad.One. Part 2 features Brian East, it's a quicky but it's full of gold. No need to say more. Press play sonnnn!

Fuck yeah homies! It's almost the end of the year and we got gifts for you and the crew. 25% off all our apparel and accessories. All purchases also come with a sticker pack.

Not only that, we have Crew Packs for $65!

Only on for the next month, so click the STORE tab above, get at it, support local artists and enjoy.

RadStick is now releasing part one from his epic skate movie Rad.one. Rad.one has been available for a couple of months for purchase on his vimeo account (check the link below). If you haven't sussed it out yet here is the firs installment to get you hyped! Part one features local skate legends Bam Manorom And Jarryd Rees in their full section.

Get at it and get rad.

@radstick

vimeo/radstick

Rad.Stick produces another banger production for the Soup series. I'll just shut up and you just click play.

@radstick

We got sticker packs! Locked and stocked on the web store.

5 Dollareedos and you'll receive a sticker sheet of 13 individual LA' stickers delivered to your door, for you to slap wherever you damn well please. Peow peow peow!

Click the link below and start slapping!

https://la-division.myshopify.com/products/4-sticker-pack

Rad.Stick puts the wrap on the southern hemi winter with the second installment of Soup. Adding a little bit of spice and hype for the cats that are about to start the northern hemi season.

Enjoy Soup.

@radstick

^^^ Click the link for more gold from our homie

A little session from the weekend during a decent run of swell on the south coast. Filmed by Joel Trist and starring Nick Clifford and Brett Connellan, jump into the weirdness.

@brettconnellan

@nick_cliffordd

@j_trist

EP 3 + 4 sees our burger boys heading down the coast making a pit stop to check out a Red Bull rail jam at Bear mountain before hitting the shores of San Diego, to jump in the ocean and slide some of Diego's finest concrete.

@radstick

When you go on your friends vimeo account and find a video series from 2 years ago titled Dreaming of a Cheese Burger, you kinda don't ask questions and dive straight into that sucker.

This 10 part series from Radstick chronicles the life and times of Adzy and his good mate Robby as they lived and toured across the Americas, living it up and hussling for cheesies.

Here's part 1 and 2 to get you going...

Follow the ever progressing and entrenching visuals of Adzy "RadStick" below

@radstick

Caaaaaaake. Who doesn't love cake... If you don't, you can leave. Did anyone else grow up in the ninety's and their mum baked crazy cakes for their birthdays, like in the shape of cartoon characters or a soccer ball or something cool that related to you? My mum did. She's still a lord on the baked goods. Maybe its that kind of nostalgia that got me tweaked when i saw my friend Sarah start baking these masterpieces, so I had to ask her about them and figure out if this baking thing is like skateboarding... ehhh you'll see. Enjoy!

Follow Rah's moniker GRIN AND BEAR CO and her edible creations by clicking the link below

@grinandbear.co

Just before the Odd Folks premiere of "Foreign Affair" on Saturday night featuring RadStick's deadly camera work, you should check out this short he's put together from this seasons sessions in Aus.

Soup is a single serving banger from Adam aka RadStick.

If you're down to check out "Foreign Affair" in Jindy on Saturday night, get on down to The Banjo Patterson Inn anytime after dark.

@radstick

This time last week we were diving into the Pacific Ocean at Port Douglas, washing away a weeks worth of dust, grime, blood, sweat and tears, after cleaning up one of Australia's most marine debris affected beaches. Chilli Beach in Cape York.

As apart of Clean Coast Collective's Trash Tribe expedition, hosted by Tangaroa Blue.

In just under seven kilometers of beach we hauled an astounding 7tonnes of crap off the sandy shores of what should be a tropical paradise. Eliminating it's chances of heading back out to sea to cause harm to the oceans inhabitants and ending up into the food chain, where it's likely to end up in the worlds most dominant predator... Us.

Everything from plastic bottles, to large ghost nets, cigarette lighters, platic toys and tiny micro plastic pieces were found and catalogued into a data system that will be used to find sources, educate and inform policies.

- Luke Okay interview's two of the Trash Tribe's youngest creative thinkers, Libby and Jemma to get their views on the plastic ocean problem.

Photo's by Jemma Scott, Matt Townsend, Luke Okay and Clean Coast Collective.

www.cleancoastcollective.org

www.tangaroablue.org

@cleancoastcollective

@tangaroablue

@jemmascott__

@libbydoughty

Local artist and all round good guy, Jerry has been crafting some smooth shots from behind the lens lately.

It hasn't been all that long since Jerr took up photography but the kids got a good eye, is swift at putting together a composition and his latest batch of shots are really delving into Australian landscapes and capturing that feeling of sweet sweet serenity that Darryl Kerrigan optimized in The Castle.

Check out more of Jerry's work

@keepj

As this weekend starts and the smell of another swell kicks in, we look back to last weekend. Last weekend was big and mental. Winter ground swells lashing the coast with clean conditions. Bretty C and young Azza stepped up to the plate and took on some south coast bombs, with J Trist behind the lens.

Azza has been nominated for wave of the weekend on Coastal Watch, with Azza and Joel in the running to take home a drone each.

Watch the clip and sling a like for Azza and his nuggety barrell over at Coastal Watch by hitting the link below.

http://www.coastalwatch.com/videos/21847/1-was-this-the-wave-of-the-week-end

Our dear friend Lee Mc has been smashing it for a while now and creating graphics for the likes of the Dune Rats, DZ Deathrays and brands like Mambo. This week Lee's graphics have been turned to life with the release of the Dunie's new single 6 pack, teaming up with Vorn Hunt and the lads from the band. The result is epic and we're pumped to see Lee's work take on another dimension.

So a big congrats to all the legends involved!

Enjoy homies xx

@leemcconnell

@dunerats

@vornography69

Fuck. RAD.one has been available for download for the last 12 hours, we copped it as soon as it went up and we've watched it 3 times today.

Adam Harris aka @radstick has bled black and blue for these 24 minutes of bangers. And it shows. Adam is fast becoming a boss behind the lens, with crew requesting his skills and grit on jobs for snow and skate, traveling far and wide to capture shots and shape his craft. RAD.one has been Adam's passion project for the last little bit, filmed in and around his hometown with a local cast of shredders.

It's now available for streaming or download via the Radstick vimeo channel. Jump on and support our homie.

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/radone/223877261

Here it is. We had a bunch of awesome entries from usual suspects, to new friends and some up and comers.

The two that we absolutely couldn't go past were Scott Nagy and Rob Birchall. Scotty delivered two incredible hyper-surreal paintings and Rob behind the lens dropped two dark and brooding photographs.

So there it is, jump on the links below to check out more of their awesome work and boys hang tight by the mail box, your LA' crew packs will be making their route this week.

Don't forget you can purchase your own Crew Pack or any of our other goods from our Store, hit the STORE tab above and start bag raiding.

@scottnagyartist

@robbirchallmedia

Rad One is the third full length Skateboarding feature by long time La' Division affiliate, Adam Harris. Choosing not to complete the trilogy of the Jim Barrie films, this production takes a different turn from the raw gritty homie style flicks Adam has previously made (Jim Barrie 1 and 2).

This film delves a bit more into the characters and lifestyles of the featured riders away from the skateboard. But this is no soppy skateboard documentary there is a hell of a lot of hard hitting, nail biting gnarlitude of shred you'd expect from guys like Ray Macken, Stevie Adams, Keiren Woolley, Jarryd Rees, Mitch Lee and Brian East. There's also some old bastard named Kane Horspool.

Adam Harris has been developing his film skills over the years both on the streets chasing urethane but also on the slopes chasing snowboarders all over the world. It has definitely broadened Adam's understanding of what is possible.

Here's some photos of the people involved in this production.

                                                                               -Kane Horspool.

Premiering Saturday June 24, 6pm

At Moving Mountains Gallery - 193 Crown St Mall, Wollongong

www.movingmountainsgallery.com

RADSTICK

Hey HEY, we are open for business. We've opened up the roller door and it's not closing. We're like a 7/11 but 24/7 and with goods that aren't going to give you diabetes.And to celebrate our freshly stocked store of goodness we're going to give away a Crew Pack, consisting of - A Longsleeve tee + waterbottle + 2 patches. All you have to do is tag us at #ladivisioncrew on instagram with a photo/drawing/illustration/artwork/video/or anything you've created recently and we'll pick a winner on Saturday July 1st.

Hit the store tab or the link below to enter the carhold of goodness

LA' STORE HERE

Enjoy and thank you, come again.

We jump headlong into the rumble ring with Ben Brown and Kentaro Yoshida ahead of their dual art show Rumble.

Opening Wednesday May 31, 6pm

GoodSpace - 115 Regent St, Chippendale, Sydney City

Photos by Rob Birchall - @robbirchallmedia

@mentalben

@kentaro_yoshida

Welcome to a new segment brought about by O.G Trait.

Every week Trait slings out 8 questions to one of the Local Artist Division crew and they reply with 8 pics and 8 answers. That simple. While you get a brief insight into the wildly talented people that make up our humble artist collective and not to mention some radical inspiration.

Enjoy week 1 with Irene Feleo and be sure to check out her website and gram below!

www.irenefeleo.com

@irenefeleo

A visual Journey into Jealousy. Living life vicariously as Nick and Brett gallivant around Europe with their ladies... Though if there were two kids that deserved a vacay it'd probably be these two. Enjoy eggs.

The final installment of the Bad Acid weird chats.

Check out this killer little teaser clip by Billy Zammit too!

If you're in Sydney tonight head on over to the Alpha Gallery in Newtown, crack a beer with the boys, buy some art and get sucked into the vortex.

Alpha Gallery, 226 Union St, Newtown

6pm onwards

The Trip Continues as Luke Okay pinballs around between the matrix and never never land with the Bad Acid boys.

Tomorrow night at Alpha Gallery Sydney

226 Union st, Newtwon

Our dear friend Radstick has been busy. Real busy. He's been stepping up his game and has been landing jobs for exotic snowboard vids and all kinds of craziness.

We're pumped he's producing his own jam too, launching a new teaser for his "Rad.One" skate vid to be released in June this year. Stay peeled. Check out this teaser!

More of Adzy's bangers here

RADSTICK VIMEO

RADSTICK INSTAGRAM

Luke Okay stumbles into a rabbit hole of a group chat with the 5 acid trippers that are sharing the Bad Acid group show, opening this Friday night at Alpha Gallery in Sydney.

Here's Pt. 1 of 3

Luke = blue || Acid crew = grey

Check their grams on the links below for more info and art and stay tuned tomorrow for the next installment of tripping down the rabbit hole.

Lee Mc

Mike Watt

Lé Grizz

Sindy Sinn

Alex lehours

I get a quick phone call on Thursday afternoon as I'm getting ready to go back to work on Monday...

DP: Keen to come to Fiji and shoot for the weekend JT?

JT: What, this weekend?!

DP: Yeah, we're flying out early tomorrow morning

DP: Friday til Monday

JT: Whattt... (laughs)

JT: Let me check a few things, but consider me in!

So there it was...jumping on an early flight after hearing there was going to be a few lines popping up at Cloudbreak over the weekend.

Little did I realise there would be some of the best waves I'd ever seen...

Here's a little clip and some shots from last weekend's trip!

JT

It's super rare we feature something that our crew isn't somehow involved in, but this series by Selina Miles was far too good not to.

The Wanderers is a six part adventure featuring six artists that call Australia home. Each episode features an individual artist, taking them to remote and unexpected towns around Oz. The artists dive deep into the town's history and the people that make the town unique, firing up inspiration and references for the artists to draw upon while they create large scale artworks which are gifted to the town.

The series is beautifully shot and directed by Selina Miles and features street art heavy weights GUIDO VAN HELTEN, ELLIOTT ROUTLEDGE, GEORGIA HILL, DABS MYLA, AMOK ISLAND and RONE.

Jump on ABC iVeiw and emerse yourself in the art of wandering. Link below.

http://iview.abc.net.au/collection/wanderers

Luke Okay caught up with LA' OG and all round good guy, Trait via the old text O'gram ahead of his solo exhibition at the new Moving Mountains gallery this coming Thursday.

Opening Night - Thursday 20th April, 6pm

Moving Mountain Gallery - 193 Crown St, Crown Street Mall,  Wollongong

Check the links below for more info and art from Trait

www.trait-cross.tumblr.com

@trait_

www.movingmountainsgallery.com

@movingmountainsgallery

We've been working consistently to put together a few core products that we're proud of and that showcase our creative lifestyles whether it be in concrete jungles or the natural world.

Jump into the store via the bold link below, support local artists and join our crew.

Local Artist Division Store

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Photo's by Joel Trist, Troy Langendoen, Jerred Keep, Chris Holmes, and Justin Wynn

Art by Grizzle, Brent Smith, Luke Okay, and Adrian Repeti

Click the names above to dive into their instagram profiles and see more of their work.

If you haven't seen or heard of Space Bat Killer by now, you should probably push that giant boulder off your house. Sean Bernhardt aka Space Bat Killer is one hard working mother fucker, with his creepy dark tropical illustrative steeze. It's rare a day goes by where he hasn't pumped out an artwork or illustration and having caught the eye of the global surf and skate communities he's created amazing designs with his prolific style for a bunch of big and small brands around the globe, not to mention his own label Evil Paradise.

This is a sweet little mini profile on our homie from New Jersey produced by Mike O'loughlin, detailing how and what makes Sean, Sean. Enjoy.

@space_bat_killer

@evilparadise

www.evilparadiseco.bigcartel.com/products

If there was ever a dude you'd want as your best mate it'd be this guy. Nick Clifford is one of the LA' crew's originals and is one of the best blokes you'll ever come across, humble, down to earth and loyal, loyal in the way that he's going to have your back through thick and thin and he's going to work damn hard to get you out of whatever hard spot you might find yourself in. Most people would like to think they have this quality for their crew but when push comes to shove, it can be a damn hard task to keep that persistence burning at 100%. Nick does that.

Not to mention he has oodles of style when he jumps on a board.

That's why we love Nick. Kudos to you good buddy, kudos.

Photos Joel Trist.

A photo essay of a session last weekend at Jones beach by Joel Trist.

Starring:

Brett Connellan

Nick Clifford

Steve Mcgregor

Willem Hartgerink

Its not the places you go and things you do, but the people you meet along the way. The Aussie Traveller's last post was all about mingling with the locals and the tips and benefits that come with spending just a little of your time with the people that call your travel destination home.

Recently Brigid and I arrived back in Aus from the land of the rising sun and one of the stand alone moments of the trip was meeting two young legends Takê and Tucker. Two Japanese entrepreneurs that set up shop as an organic and vegetarian cafe/restaurant in Furano, (a relatively small ski town on Japan's north island, Hokkaido). Unlike Australia, vegetarianism and organic foods are really unheard of in Japan, so to open an eatery specialising in those two things is a massive punt, and we had no idea what we were in for before we rocked up.

Peering in through falling snow and flapping Himalayan prayer flags as we walked into the courtyard we could see a big smile from behind a green velour hat and a friendly wave that beckoned us into the kitschy DIY tree house. We sat down in the cosy wooden den, marveling at Takê and Tucker's craftsmanship. Tables, chairs, frames, shelves, the bar, everything that made Navo cafe house was hand crafted with a set of artist's hands, their hands. We immediately got talking on food and drink suggestions, and before long we were three quarters through our amazing vegetairan izakaya meal and talking snow sports, youth culture, art and how Tucker had lived in Australia for a while and decided that riding his bicycle from Cairns to Sydney would be the best way to see the country.

Talks of what mountains we'd be riding ensued and when Takê found out we weren't having much luck getting a back country guide as a result of a bad weather window he picked up the phone and dialed up every one of his mates in the business... turns out we were shit out of luck but the effort and gesture were more than enough to put a smile on our faces and through laughs and a bunch of high fives we became friends and said Sayōnara.

Brigid and I didn't really let our bad luck of not getting a guide stop us and the next day hiked around Mt Asahi-dake, an active volcano and had a blast creating our own trails.

Stay tuned for more to come in the next chapter of Travelogue Japan.

Words - Luke Okay

Photos - Brigid Moloney and Luke Okay

www.navo-net.com

The Woolley boys Kieren and Daniel have been killing it all summer. Both are progressing so fast and they've been racking up the results from Bondi Bowl to the recent Globe Bowl Riot in Melbourne.

So this weeks Gong Life weekly update features a handful of picks by Mark Woolley of their summer shredding.

Yo Guy's!

This week we are back with an AMAZING hike we did in Montenegro, which we both agree is one of our favourite countries we visited in Europe! We have so much info on this AMAZING country and so many cool places we went to but this post is on one particular thing we did and it was one of the highlight's of our WHOLE trip!

Hiking To The Gate Of Wishes

Deep In the canyon of the Mrtvica river, you will find The Gate Of Wishes.

This is our story and Experience of Hiking to the Gate Of Wishes!

After spending a few days exploring the breathtaking Durmitor National Park with thousands of other visitors we were ready to go off the beaten track. We researched hikes to do in the mountains of Montenegro and came across one that looked like it could not be missed. We put the address into our GPS ‘Larry’ and set off on a day filled with adventure and mishaps.

We drove down the windy mountainous range in our old boy Carlos and took in the magnificent views of the Tara canyon which is also a must do while your there. 

Before we knew it Larry was directing us off the main road and down a narrow dirt track (this was a regular occurrence usually leading us a stray). The road was filled with potholes and a steep decline leading to an old rickety bridge, we were sure it would not hold Carlos’s weight thank god it did and we are still here to tell the story! :) 

After the bridge the road lead us to a field with a a sign “Private Property, must pay to park”. With no one around we didn't really know if we were in the right place, though we sore some red markings on the ground so we started following them until it really became unclear of which way to go next. We walked around in circles for about half and hour and almost gave up. Then suddenly from out of know where we were met by who we would come to know as ‘Vesko’, he locked the gate to the field with Carlos inside and off we went.

He was an interesting character, missing his front teeth, wore no shirt and shorts with binoculars hanging around his neck. His english vocabulary consisted of ‘Australia’ and ‘Orange’. Having seen the sign “Don’t go alone to canyon, go with guide” we assumed he was a guide leading us to the hike, instead he lead us up a bush track past his many animals to a decaying house that looked like a scene from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

This is where we were sure we would be murdered as Vesko insisted we follow him into the house. No phone reception, the van locked in and alarm bells going off in our heads (Hannah was actually crying and about to run) .

Vesko returned with some freshly squeezed orange juice which in our state we did not take as we thought it may be drugged. At this point we both asked him if we could leave and repeatedly asked " Where is the gate of wishes "  After dissecting his broken english we worked out that he was a guide.... He also handed us a piece of paper with his phone number and when we returned we were to call him so he would unlock the van and accept his payment of €5.

We finally started the hike Vesko in front, though after about 20 minutes he told us " this is where I stop you go alone from here and it should take you about 2 hours each way follow the red markings " 

So we set off into the unknown following our red markers, crossing rivers, scaling cliffs, hiking through farms and under apple trees every corner was something more amazing then the last.

Six hours later, a cliff fall, one broken phone, bruises and Chris’s pride, we met back up with Vekso. He gave us high fives, hugs and sent us on our way…Turns out he was actually a really nice guy and didn’t want to kill us after all. ;) 

The whole hike we literally saw 4 other people apart from ourselves and Vesko it was amazing to just be out in the wild not actually knowing where we were going but getting to the Gate Of Wishes was amazing and it was so worth it!

We would highly recommend this hike to anyone who travels's to Europe and especially if your in Montenegro put it on the top of your list!

That's all from us this week guy's!

Until next time legend's!

C & H

This weeks selection of photos all come from Wollongong photographer Matt Lee (@peace_ave). These are just a handful of crisp black and white images Matt has dropped on his Instagram account this week.

Jarryd Rees - Pole Jam

Nicolas Rojas - Frontside grind into the hip.

Patrick McKinnon - Nosegrind.

Steve Abercombie - Ollie the bike.

Matt Ball - 50-50.

Views are changing on the day that is...

Anyway, we won't get into the history that makes it what it is.

We recently went on a short trip over to some of WA's finest spots, and of course the odd winery and brewery.

If you haven't been over, it's definitely one we recommend!

There's something about waiting for film to get developed from a trip, that makes it so much more worthwhile than shooting on digital.

Here's a few I got on the XPAN...

JT

@j_trist

It's coming up to a year since we put on the Broken Dreams exhibition for Take 3 For The Sea and our conversation we started back then about Take 3's important message of conservation is still super relevant and still needs to be echoed into the future.

With the news of party goers celebrating NYE in Sydney this year and completely trashing beaches and leaving tonnes of rubbish to make its way into the ocean and into the stomachs of our wildlife, we need to keep the conversation going and make sure we're Taking 3 (or a lot more) every time we visit the outdoors.

Conversely we also need to slow down our consumption of single use plastics and other daily items that can be easily traded for items we don't throw away. Things like re-usable drink bottles, keep cups for coffees and re-usable shopping bags.

Our friends at Tidal magazine covered our Broken Dreams show and put together this awesome piece in their latest issue a little while back, featuring interviews with Tim Silverwood from Take 3 and our Kentaro Yoshida and Luke Okay.

Photos courtesy of Angus Kennedy from ASK Design for Clean Coast Collective and our homie Gerard Grizzle

www.tidalmagazine.bigcartel.com

@tidalmagazine

www.take3.org

@take3forthesea

www.askdesign.it/

www.cleancoastcollective.org

@cleancoastcollective

Yo Guy's Chris & Hannah here!

Getting back to Aus after a 1 year stint in Europe, Luke got in contact with us and brought up the idea of doing a weekly post of the Adventures we got up to while we were over there. So every week we are going to put up post of a different country or experience we had, as well as some tips, guides and photo's of things we wish we knew before heading over there for that long!

We thought we would start with Vanlife In Europe!

Life in a rolling home means the adventures are endless, you can wake up listening to the waves crashing on the shores of Spain and fall asleep that night surrounded by the mountains of the French Alps. How could anything compete with that? The ability to travel as far and wide as you wish while spending very little money. Sounded perfect to us.

Vanlife is the simple life, you will have only the necessities and it isn’t for everyone. If you have a free spirit, love an adventure and don’t mind weeing in the wild, vanlife in Europe in our opinion is the best way to travel. You also have so much freedom with where you can go and what you can do if you love a place you can stay as long as you want and if you dont you can move on to the next!

Another great thing is you do not need a big budget! We know, We know for Aussies, Europe is usually a VERY expensive trip. And yes getting the van set up is pricey, but for us staying in hostels (from €20 a night per person in peak summer!) and catching public transport was just not foreseeable for a 6 month trip to 17 countries. We decided to think outside the box, buying a cheap van and trying our luck at it getting us all around Europe seemed like the best idea. With endless free camping spots in Portugal, Spain and France, we spent very little money on accommodation in 3 months we spent €14 to be exact staying in a camping spot near Valencia in Spain.

Something that we didn’t expect was that if you do it with your partner it can progress your relationship more than you can ever imagine. Living in a confined space and spending day in day out together builds a different kind of love and respect, you will truly know each other inside out, the good the bad and the ugly!

Have a killer w/e legend's! Get out and explore, we will be back next week with our first European Adventure post!

Much Love C & H

@the_aussietravellers

Has there ever been a person that's married rock n roll so harmoniously with art and illustration? ....

You might answer Yes. But fuck we'll be damned if Sindy Sinn's name wasn't mighty high on that list.

The rock n roll lifestyle that courses through Sindy's veins is the life blood that spills through his work, from band posters, to t-shirts to Harley Davidson motorbike helmets, everything he does is stylised in his unique way, keeping his signature style consistent from small intricate designs to large scale wall pieces. Did I mention he's one of the nicest, lovable guys in the game, behind his big beard, tattoos and biker look you'll find a guy that's always up for sharing his time, knowledge and a hug.

Support a local artist and give bearded guys a hug.

www.sindysinn.com.au

@sindysinn

The best images of the week as picked by @gong_life.

Lennon Strachen - backside blaster over the hip t Fairy Meadow at sunset. Photo Ryan Grant.

Pat Mckinnon - Fakie 360 flip over the pine. Photo Matt Lee.

Ray Macken - Curved 50-50 on a high rail with a sloping run up and a tree to navigate. Photo Kane Horspool.

Dani Campbell - Frontside flip where most can only carve on The Barry Ramp at Fairy Meadow. Photo Mat West.

Troy Langendoen captures life's most mundane and sedate moments, the moments that drip dry like paint in everyday suburbia during the week. The mall carpark or the dreary bust stop down the road on the way home from work, moments that pass people by without a thought, to boring or too hidden in the monotony of the everyday.

Contrast that ability to frame the mid-week monotony in pure effervescence with the intermediate splicing of youth culture in the bright lights and pure fire blur of the weekend. Fast gigs, fast parties, fast kids in an haze, fitting in as much creative destruction before the monotony of Monday kicks in again.

If you've bought any of our goods you'll notice Troy's photos are also the main feature on our swing tags. To notice more of Troy's work jump on the links below ;)

www.troydiary.tumblr.com

@troylangendoen

The mind of Brent Smith is a weird and wonderful trip - His art will take you there in an hyper-speed blur of colour, skulls, fruit and plants.

The talented and long term fiend of LA' Division is one of those creative people that is multi-skilled in a bunch of disciplines... Cans, brushes, pens, mouse - as an artist or designer, the freelance warrior delivers massive murals, t-shirt designs, poster artwork and comic illustrations like a boss and is little wonder why his client list includes the likes of Red Bull, Westfield, Globe Skateboards, Mambo, Universal Music and No Cure Magazine to name a few.

If you dig Biffy's work, click our store button and make a purchase on his "Broken Dreams" long sleeve tee or check out more of his work at:

www.brentsmith.com.au

@biffybrentano

Ditch the plastic single use bottles, save resources and the environment from choking and get your hands on our light weight, BPA free, LA’ Division x @mizulife_ausnz water bottle. Designed by our homie Teem - @adrian_l_repeti

Every bottle we sell we'll donate $5 to Waves For Water - An initiative to provide clean water and water filters for those in need around the world.

Jump on the link below to our store to get your mits on your own.

http://la-division.myshopify.com/products/la-division-x-mizu-m8-stainless-steel-bottle

www.wavesforwater.org

The saying goes "when many hands come together, it makes for light work" or something along those lines. This collaborative project sees two sets of hands come together in Trait and Ryan Grant from Steel City skate. Trait's masterful aerosol work of finely crafted hands around a skatepark and Ryan Grant's handy work behind the camera framing local legends doing their dance on a fingertip's edge, provides another perspective of what skateboarding is. It's more than trickery and it's definitely not destructive. Having these hands hold and frame skateboarders lines and manoeuvres begins to show skateboarding as it's own art form.

To follow this project as it continues to evolve jump on the linked names below

@trait_

@steelcity2519

@kieransmiley

What a year it's been for young blood Kieran Woolley.

The kid is unstoppable, landing sponsors left right and centre, laying down constant webclips, winning and making massive leaps in competition, skating in exhibits all over the country and not to mention getting invited to compete and train in the U.S.

Keep your eye out for big things from this pint size humble human. 2017 is shaping up to be huge and we couldn't be prouder.

Hit play and enjoy

We're pretty pumped when we see people and brands producing goods that are of creative nature, but when those goods are also kind on nature and helping solve unwanted waste issues too, then you know you're onto something amazing.

This is Veiga.

With a lust for innovative design and passion for contributing to solutions that could substitute current materials used across most industries, Veiga has set out to develop a product that would compliment and reflect the lifestyle of the thoughtful individual.

Eyewear that is not only sustainable but super stylish, with sunglass and optical options.

Today Veiga launch their bespoke collection. Offering carefully selected materials and giving the choice to you, the customer to design your own product combinations.

In addition to the Bespoke Collection laugh Veiga are offering a 15% discount for all online orders between Dec 22 and Jan 22. Just use the code "15%Bespoke" at checkout.

Hit the link below to discover Veiga

www.veigaeyewear.com

Our boy Radstick fires up the old cam corder again and heads down south with the grub crew to draw some lines and make a meal of Nowra skatepark. Big ups to Boardworld for the feature.

Featuring: Ray Macken, Bam Manorom, Brayden Jarrod, Nathan Laidlaw, Steve Adam and Ben Laxton.

Film and Edit: Adam Harris aka RadStick

A bit of a taking back Sunday skate clip of none other than Mr Trait. Aka The Godfather.

Edit and Film from our homie Radstick

instagram.com/radstick/

We've got two new patches. Our "Explicit patch" and our "Burner patch", which both come with adhesive backing, making it supppper easy for you to apply to your jackets, hats, tees, whatever you damn well please. All for the meazly price of $10 per patch.

Peow peow.

If you'd like to purchase one or a bunch, email luke@localartistdivision.com with your name and address and we'll send you some payment details.

Hit play on a new skate series presented by Boardworld

Grubs: Part 1, Kiama skatepark

As summer begins to creep its way over the horizon, the warm afternoon skatepark sessions start to kick in for another year. Boardworld is proud to present 'Grubs', a new skate series based upon the positive vibes and summer sessions at some of Australia's finest skateparks, featuring some of the country's best underground talent. 

Part one sees the crew tackle Kiama Skatepark, located just south of Wollongong on the NSW coast, home of RadStick and LA' Division you'll notice a bunch of awesome backdrops painted by LA's O.G

Feel the warm breeze and get a little psych to go shred your local.

Featuring: Bam Manorom, Haven Alderding, Mitch Lee, Ray Macken and Steve Adam. 

Film/Edit: Adam Harris

We caught up with Kentaro Yoshida ahead of his exhibition "Solo" opening this Wednesday night (14th of Septemeber), at Good Space Gallery in Chippendale, Sydney.

Grey = Kentaro Yoshida || Blue = Luke Okay

Photos thanks to Rumimatsuzawa

We've got a bunch of cool art inspired stickers from our homies. If you'd like to get a random selection of awesome, jump on the link to our store, make a purchase and we'll get postman Pat to your door with a sweet little pack for just 6 bones (including postage).

LA' STORE - STICKERS

A couple of weeks back our youngest fiend, young Kieran Woolley found himself competing on one of the biggest stages in the world for skateboarding at the Vans Pro Skate - Park Series coinciding with the US Open of Surf at Huntington Beach California. 

The opportunity was huge and Kieran did us all proud by bagging a 13th in the Under 16's division. Now lost in the American dream Kieran is traveling through the states on a teenage rampage, to not only skate all the gnarliest spots he can find but to grow and become bigger, better, badder and hungrier.

We can't wait for the young whipper snipper to come back and spill the beans on what looks like an epic trip.

Jump on the link to Kieran's instagram to follow his wild adventures...

@kieransmiley

Saturday night was wild. When you see a packed out auditorium, prizes and donations from every business in the area, surfboards from nearly every professional surfer on the planet, signed guitars from Australia's best bands including Parkway Drive, AC/DC and Jimmy Barnes, loads of signed footy jerseys from all the NRL teams, you know the whole community has felt the impact of Brett Connellan's life in someway.

The kid is an all round legend and since being attacked by a shark on March 30 at a home beach in our small coastal town of Kiama, a large chunk of the world has taken notice of what an inspirational human he is and how with true grit, determination and a positive outlook on life, overcoming adversity is a given. Since losing three quarters of his thigh and taking several other wounds from the shark, Brett has stayed calm and focused on his goals of getting back in the water astonishing everyone with his progress.

On Saturday night we packed out The Shellharbour Club with close to 600 people, all willing to pass on their love and good vibes to help Brett progress through his journey of extensive rehabilitation. 

A massive thank you is in order to everyone who came, anyone that has donated goods or their time or passed on their best wishes. To the entire surf community and to the crew that made it all happen. You know who you are, you know words won't express the gratitude we feel for all your hard work and help.

Big Love - The LA' Division crew

We've got some new tees, hats and waterbottles!

Modeled by none other than Mr Brett.

Jump on the link below and make your purchase ;)

http://la-division.myshopify.com/collections/all

Claire Foxton is a creative boss.

It doesn't matter the size, scale or volume of a project. Claire will crush it and put her brand of creative genius to hand and brighten the audiences day.

Project Crown is an initiative brought to you by the good folks at Verb Syndicate in conjunction with Crown Street Mall, enhancing and giving life to the public space in the Wollongong Mall.

Check that palette and steeze. Killer work from one of our long term favourites.

Team DP had a little team trip down the coast a few months back and scored some fun waves.
 Max Zappas went along and made a banging little clip of the boys flaring on Dylan Perese's handcrafted sleds. Top Notch, enjoy.

Our homie Lee Mc recently got to create some art for buddies and aussie punks, The Dune Rats for the release of their new song "Bullshit". We're pretty pumped on the song, the film clip, Lee's typography and the Duneys for being all round legends.

Enter Through the fog and past the hang over. Kentaro Yoshida opens up on art, his process and we get a look into the making of his piece on the Aus Open of Surf art wall.

This little edit of Bretto doing his thing is magic. The kid has a magnitude of style and talent. We want him back in the water one day soon, but we know it's going to be a hard slog for the kid and his family and friends. So our Jones Beach Boardriders crew are putting together a fundraiser night on the June 25 to help Brett get the treatment and rehab he needs. Up for grabs on the night will be signed surfboards from pro surfers such as Kelly Slater and Stef Gilmore, prize packs from Billabong, art from our crew and other amazing artists and much much more.

You can come along to the event by purchasing either a general admission ticket or rally your troops and get a premium table ticket. If you can't make it there are also "spirit tickets" for a helpful donation.

Jump on the link and join us in helping out our boy.

www.surfersforbretto.com

The No Cure x Converse collabs keep coming, with Bafcat stepping into the camera's view. A brief encounter into the awesome mind of the Baffy cat... guy

A sweet little videographed insight into the mind and environment of creative genius Kentaro Yoshida.
 

Well crew, we are so well and truly overwhelmed with the support this last week for our boy Brett. And so is he.

We are on a good path to reaching goals for Brett's recovery, but this recovery is going to be extensive so we need to do all we can. We're very stok-ed with the campaign to gain attention funds and smiles. Bretty's positivity is high and is beyond inspirational.

Our campaign of getting $10,000 for Justin to get tattooed has been successful. We smashed that goal, with numerous articles in the media and Justin even committing to a nervous radio interview. Justin will be in the tattoo chair today feeling the buzzy burning feeling for his good friend Brett.

We've had shout outs from some of the biggest names in surfing and even Aussie rockers the Dune Rats. We're still waiting for a Kendrick Lamar shout out though...

Thank you all for the support from the bottom of our hearts, keep it coming legends!

We all know social media can be a useful tool at times, sometimes even down right powerful. We also know that all you caring and wonderful people want to do more than just double tap a picture to show your support for our boy Brett...

That's why we're creating a campaign you can be involved in, that can hopefully; A) gain us a lot of attention and; B) raise Brett and his family enough funds to cover the costs of Brett's medical bills.

And more importantly put a smile on the young bucks face.

We're going to have two social media drives for you to be apart of and all you have to do is tag and share.

We have Justin Wynn putting his hand up to get the "Brett Simpson" style drawing tattooed on his ribs if 2 people donate $5000, or if a business donates $10,000, or 10 pro surfers donate $1000.

(At the moment we have an offer of $5000 from Darren Longbottom! Can we get someone else to step up to the plate!?)

Another fun game we have is try and get celebrities to shout out our fund raising campaign for Brett. Aim big, no mountain is too high. Brett's favorite artist of all time is Kendrick Lamar, he has even given his sausage dog the honor of being named Kendrick, he also loves the simpsons and obviously loves surfing. All you have to do is tag, share or repost our pics from either @surfersforbretto or @la_division asking for your chosen celebrities support. There is no rules on how you get the celebrity to give the shout out, whether you contact them via email, phone, in person or simply tagging them on a social media post.

Lets do this! Big love everyone.

For international transfers to the Brett Connellan Trust:

Account name: Brett Connellan Trust BSB: 012709 Account number: 298964661 Swift Code: ANZBAU3M

Everybody has seen and heard the news about our rider, director and all round good guy Brett Connellan being attacked by a shark while surfing at one of our home breaks in Kiama.

Bretty went into surgery today, an 8 or 9 hour surgery, on his birthday (of all days). Reports from the doctors are the surgery went well. But it's the outcome that we all need stay positive for and send out our super happy, shaka vibes for.

Brett has been a large part of LA' Division from day one, close to ten years ago. Being a young grommy from our home town of kiama, with his salty, surfer mop of a hair do, he was always chomping at the bit to not only ride for us, but be involved and get his hands dirty. His best friend Nick Clifford was exactly the same. They kept pestering us and before we knew it they were our best friends and had slowly but surely interweaved their lives into the fabric of LA' Division. Then proceeded to running it better than we could... and we thought we were taking them on to mentor them. Boy were we wrong.

We also want to give a MASSIVE shout out to our other director, brother, photographer, teacher and now hero for saving young Bretty's life. Joel Trist. Our words can't describe how thankful we are for you and what you achieved on Wednesday night.

Brett has a long way to go with his recovery and rehab, but we will be with him every step of the way. If you'd like to help our boy out, please feel free to donate to the account below.

Thank you all so much for your support!

Account name: Brett Connellan Trust BSB: 012709 Account number: 298964661

Mitchy K has been a good friend of the LA' crew since the beginning, coming from the same home town and sharing waves with a bunch of the crew. It's been a while since we've seen the young goofy footer but it was apparent from a young age that Mitch had a penchant for big barrels, so when the cyclone swell hit Mitchy hit the road with a ski and some boys in tow and found a slab to do his business.

When BROKEN DREAMS was littered with an array of incredible surfer/artist combo's how do you set yourself apart from the crowd?

You could use the brightest colours possible, you could add lights and streamers to your board or you could be like Siobhãn and opt for the good ol' fashioned late entrance to make your presence known. Her piece on world junior champion Isabella Nichols' pre loved raft arrived 2 hours into the show and it was well worth the wait.

Matching Isabella and Siobhan with their fierce femininity and wild talents was an easy fix as both young ladies are on top of their game and are a match that we'll most likely see more to come from in the future.

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Jump on the Broken Dreams tab and place a bid to help Take 3 For The Sea and their educational programs for ocean conservation

SILENT AUCTION

Broken Dreams truely and wholey took over our reality as we emerged ourselves in the dream state of creating an exhibition that would best highlight the disastrous effects that our daily waste is having on marine environments and creatures.

Our artists teamed with some of the best surfers in the world to create artworks out of their once beloved crafts.

The night was a great success exhibiting the surfboard artworks at one end of Wild Things Gallery and at the other we teamed with Clean Coast Collective to tell a broader part of the story, showing off their amazing photographs from a trip to far North Queensland dubbed "the trash tribe trip". A trip where their crew removed tonnes upon tonnes of trash that had been dumped on the coastline by the East Australian Current, originating from trash dumped on our beaches all over the Aussie coast and neighbouring countries.

The Take 3 message was received loud and clear, and spread far and wide by our artists and the professional surfers, but to help echo the initiative into schools, surf clubs and community groups we'd love for you to become an owner of one of these amazing original artworks.

CLICK the silent auction link and place a bid on the board of your dreams... >>>> SILENT AUCTION <<<<

All photos credited to the multi-talented Grizzle

Mitch Crews is a hardworking, stylish cat. Humble and awesome. We teamed Mitch together with our artist William Nghiem as the both share similar qualities and aesthetics in their practice. They both draw clean lines, have great styles and know how and when to flair. They're not scared of the hard yards and are prepared to put their nose to the grind stone to constantly better themselves.

It's evident that William like Mitch has a knack for hard work with an emphasis on style. We love this match up and the work William has created on Mitch's board.

Jump on the Broken Dreams tab and place a bid to help Take 3 For The Sea and their educational programs for ocean conservation

Loving the art and want to own a surfboard that once belonged to one of the best surfers in the world?

click the SILENT AUCTION button on the Broken Dreams tab above ^^^ and place a bid. Profits will go to Take 3 For The Sea and their educational programs, teaching kids and communities the importance of keeping our beaches and waterways pollutant free!

Part of the trash pollution problem is the constant making of things without care and without thought.

Too many of our daily items are constantly pumped out of factories chasing profits for companies that want to repeat the cycle of mindless consumerism, sucking up resources and cutting into our environment.

Part of the Broken Dreams exhibition is to showcase solutions to waste products.

By up-cycling trashed items like broken surfboards or old pieces of wood from buildings and bridges, these two local start up brands are creating beautifully sculpted, handmade items that are made with an abundance of care and thought, leaving you with a timeless piece that will last well and truely beyond fashion cycles.

VEIGA EYEWEAR + ECTO HANDPLANES proud supporters of Broken Dreams and Take 3 For The Sea

@veiga_eyewear

@ectohandplanes

Dion is the modern day free surfer. He has paved a pretty unique path in the surf world, being pretty much the first guy to have a surf website with constant video edits, he was one of the first pro surfers to have his own brand and when we randomly reached out to Dion via social media he jumped at the chance to be apart of the show and give back to the Take 3 initiative. Good guy.

Check out Dion's latest clip.

Dion has been teamed up with Sydney based street and contemporary artist APESEVEN. Apeseven's piece painted on Dion's broken board is titled "The Burden".

Bids for "The Burden" can be made by clicking the link below to our silent auction...

www.BrokenDreamsSilentAuction.com

The Broken Dreams long sleeve tee as designed by Brent "Biffy Boi" Smith will be on sale at the show on Friday night. Bring a pineapple down for exchange so you can look all dreamy like our buddy Sheli.

$50

Hand printed by Aisle Six Industries

Model: Sheli B

Photography by Joel Trist

We were pretty chuffed when Skulk got involved with the LA' crew, and again we're chuffed to have him apart of Broken Dreams painting Harley Ingleby's busted sled.

Skulk is a Sydney based artist that applies his unique style and creative genius to giant walls and canvases alike. There's no differentiating between different mediums which is unique for someone with his style of surreal expressive line work, free flowing form and characters. There's a real mix of traditional abstract art, some Picasso influence mixed with new school street art techniques.

This is SKULK. enjoy.

www.iamskulk.com

@iamskulk