sandalista

Profile:

Jaime Noia
I am a surfer/artist originally from Orange County, CA. I grew up surfing mainly Huntington Beach and Newport. After High School I moved to River Jetties in Newport Beach and began my surfing/art lifestyle there. My interest in surf art began with legendary (yet underground) surfer/shaper/artist Al Dove. Al worked with Lightning Bolt and Ben Aipa in the 70’s and is a master freehand airbrusher. I remember when I saw Al’s portfolio I was just blown away; cars, boats, helicopters, canvas’ and walls airbrushed to photorealistic proportions. Al got me going with the airbrush and I took a one semester class at the local community college and started from there. I stuck with airbrushing for a couple years until all the setup, maintenance and cleanup wore me out. I stopped painting at that point for several years. In the early 2000’s I met my friend Robb Havassy. I had just gotten into painting a little bit again and Robb urged me to continue to pursue it. From there I started to try to work with oils but they just didn’t click for me so I struggled with them for about a year and just gave up. Two years later I returned to the brush and found that my ideal medium is acrylic. That was in 2005 and when a friend told me about myspace and a free place to show my art I was hooked. I began to receive acknowledgement for my art and create a fan base. I can’t begin to explain the push that the internet support gives me with my art. I thrive off the support and the fact that people like my art and it’s bold colors. Now some 7 years later I have had my work published in magazines, books, newspapers, surf videos, etc.. I have done shows in the U.S.A., Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama. I currently reside 9 months out of the year in Panama mainly on the Caribbean side where the surf tends to be heavier and the vibe definitely Caribbean