Life Is an Art
It’s been a long time since I saw Deconstructing Harry, but there is a line from it that has always stuck with me. It is spoken to Woody Allen by Billy Crystal, his best friend/rival in the film. It goes something to the effect of, “You’ve devoted your life to creating art, but I create art in my life.” I always felt attracted to that idea of approaching life as an artistic endeavor.
During a recent exploration of Haleiwa with friends, we came across what looked from a distance to be a surfboard yardsale. Since I’m in the market for a new board, I hijacked the agenda and herded the group in that direction. It was no yardsale. It turned out to be the residence/gallery/performance space of the Ron Artis family. The Artis family is kind of like the Jackson family without the dark, twisted ambition: eleven musical children who play in the family band for whoever happens to wander into their studio. At the helm of the family is Ron Artis, who makes his money from various artistic pursuits such as painting murals on submarines and turning the busted surfboards of professional surfers into works of art, many of which are on display in his front yard.
Talk about creating art in life. And for the record, the band rocks.
An Outsider's Insider Guide to Hawaii 
cool surfboards.
cool artwork
We met a guy on the bus who told us to stop into this studio. We had no idea what it was but I can tell you that now & again we get to experience something special and then we are never again the same. That’s what happened to me last week when we sat before Ron and his beautiful family who played 3 or 4 songs. (Thank you to the guy on the bus!) And, thank you Ron Artis for sharing your beautiful family with those of us lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. We were so honored. ~ Susan & Gene
P.S. We never made it to the beach that day.