a magazine for surfing females.
#18. APRIL ISSUE Welcome to April’s edition of The Slideshow magazine. The clocks have changed here in the UK. This makes most of us, very, HAPPY. Post work sliding sessions aplenty from now on. What joy. It’s just nice having more hours of daylight. Here are some stories to get you all stoked for the month ahead... Gemma, Editor.
Illustration by Gemma Chalmers.
HANDPLANE HOEDOWN // DAISY’S DIVERS / BEACH CLEAN / ON SURF SCIENCE & OTHER STOKE / ENJOY...
HANDPLANE Arriving on a clifftop in St.Agnes on a chilly, blustery day to be greeted by a big canvas tent, some excitable happy faces, and a warming cup of tea. This was the start of a handplane shaping day with James Otter, of Otter Surfboards, and hosted at the Finisterre workshop. The winning prize of a competition, 6 lucky winners came to shape some beautiful handplanes under the expert tutelage of Mr. Otter himself. A fun and interesting bunch of winners came from Pembrokeshire, the New Forest, and Donegal, as well as a few Cornish folk and Tom Kay, founder of Finisterre. James had brought some fantastic bits of wood to get our hands on – the off cuts of the wooden surfboards he makes – strips of western red cedar, with stylish stringers of walnut and poplar. There were 7 rectangles of wood waiting for us to begin our masterpieces. Templates were chosen and outlines pencilled. Then came the weapons! We used no power tools, only muscle power, and the first tool was a Japanese pull saw. These are excellent tools for cutting out the handplanes, they cut easily through the soft cedar, but are mightily sharp, so gently work their way through the wood. We all worked excitedly but carefully with
Photo: Ellie Woodward.
HOEDOWN
James always on hand to answer questions and give demonstrations. Outline ready, we began the more intricate task of shaping the rails. James gave us all a bit of theory on rails, and we got the surforms and sandpaper out. Gently shaving the corners off to create a smooth curved edge, but leaving the bottom rails nice and sharp, the handplanes began to look really stylish. A lot of sanding later, everyone was affectionately fondling their new creations, worrying about minor lumps and bumps, but all totally happy with the overall look and feel. James gave us a bottle of tung oil to rub into our freshly made handplanes to protect them in the sea, and we all left with an awesome new toy in our quivers. What a brilliant day. So stoked to have won the opportunity to spend the day creating something that will bring a lot of joy in the waves, and with somebody who is so knowledgeable and passionate about wooden wave craft. Super excited to go and slide some waves! Massive thanks to James Otter for his materials, tools, and expertise, to Tom Kay from Finisterre for running an epic competition and hosting the day. Great folk, great day. Ellie Woodward, Cornwall, UK.
www.ottersurfboards.co.uk www.finisterreuk.com
Photos: Ellie Woodward.
HANDPLANE HOEDOWN
HANDPLANE HOEDOWN
The beautiful finished product. Nice one Ellie - looking forward to
Photo: Ellie Woodward.
a Slidehow handplane expression session asap...
Daisy’s Divers
Illustration by Daisy Campbell. 2014.
Illustrator Daisy Campbell shares some of her distinctive work with us and gives us an insight to her ocean inspired work and her mysterious lady diver series. Her latest piece, a bicycle-riding diving girl, destination unknown, board under arm and off to have a sliding adventure, has been produced especially for this issue of The Slidieshow magazine. And for that we feel very priviledged. Find ‘Daisy Campbell Illustration’ on Facebook.
Daisy’s Divers
The Diver collection came about, after I was commissioned to do some t-shirt designs for a business, down in Newquay, Cornwall. I’ve always struggled to draw faces. so I had already drawn the ladies body and was stuck with what to do next. I stumbled upon an image of a diver in a magazine and instantly new that a Diver helmet would make the image! The Diver Collection was born in summer 2013, and the response to these pieces, was incredible! I really had no idea when making them, that they would have this following..they were just fun to do! More recently I’ve been working in just pencil, practicing tone and enjoying the process. But most of my work is using fine liner pens, and posca pens to add the colour. It’s great to keep pushing your work in new directions, that way it keeps it fresh. My influences have come from many avenues. My love of nature comes from growing up in the countryside, long walks and making dens in the woods. Appreciation of art and visuals came from my artistic family, capturing life through the lens, visiting art galleries and travelling, opened my eyes to a really wonderful creative world. But the biggest, most profound influence, has been having my daughter, Amelie. As without her, this opportunity wouldn’t exist!
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Illustration by Daisy Campbell.
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BEACH CLEAN
I headed to one of our local beaches on Sunday to join in with the ‘Big Spring Beach Clean’. One of many going on all over the country last weekend. I’ve never done one before and thought it would be good to get involved. We turned up and chatted to a few others on the beach armed with bin bags, and looked at some of the things they had been finding. It struck me that most of what they were finding were excessive amounts of microplastics. Items worn down into small pieces and that resemble rocks and pebbles themselves. At first you struggle to see them, but, very soon you realise, it’s everywhere. After the UK’s winter storms, our coast has had a bumper crop of litter washing up on its beaches. We decided to wander down the beach and round the corner at Porthtowan. Between 2 of us, we filled the 4 bin bags we had. We could have carried on but it was about all we could carry back. It was good to see maybe 8 others joining in that morning, but to be honest I had expected to see many more. I am under no illusion that I made a huge difference on Sunday morning. But I have to say it felt satisfying to remove 4 bin bags of rubbish that would otherwise get taken back out with the next tide, eventually ending up being broken down and causing the possible death of many sea creatures. That afternoon we arrived at Watergate Bay near Newquay and trotted down to the beach with our boards for a surf. Stepping down onto the sand I walked straight through a huge colourful swathe of plastic and rubbish along the high tide mark. It made me sigh. In this modern world we live in, it seems like an impossible task to rid our seas of this mess. But we can chip away at it. You don’t have to wait for a specially organised day, you can head to the beach with a bin bag and a pair of gloves whenever you like. But if you do want to get involved with an organised clean, check out the SAS website for one near you. http://www.sas.org.uk/events/ Words & photo: Gemma Chalmers.
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SURF SCIENCE & other stoke
The Slideshow caught up with two girls, Brogan Fielden and Demi Rossouw, who are currently in their second year of the Surf Science and Technology degree course at Plymouth University. They are part of the last year group to do this degree in full at the university, which offers modules on surf history and culture, marine conservation, design and production, sports physiology, event management, and oceanography. We thought it would be good to see what the course is all about and find out about their surfing life.
Photo courtesy of Demi Rossouw.
Why did you choose to do surf science Has this course/being in Plymouth at Plymouth University? helped your surfing? Brogan: I didn’t know what course to do at university, and wanted to do something to do with sport, or possibly sports nutrition, so found this course and came to Plymouth for an open day. I liked the look of the place and the course looked fun! Demi: I was really unsure of what to do, but looking at the brochure it seemed like something I’d want to do, something I would enjoy, and not spend my whole time working. I’d be doing something I enjoyed at the same time as getting a degree.
D+B: Definitely! B: It helps as well that the guys on our course surf, and they are good surfers, and a lot of our friends now surf, so we want to try to get to a level that they’re at, so we can surf with them. D: Everyone is always keen, and there are always people to go with which is cool. B: There is the surf society too, so there is always a group to go with.
Have you competed with the surf club How long have you been surfing for & then? did you surf before doing this course? D: Yeah we did once. B: Not really. D: Not really, I always wanted to. Only since I started at Plymouth, so a year and a half. B: Yeah same, but I used to come down with my family from Hampshire when I was really young, but it got too far to keep coming and never really did it again until I came to uni.
B: I wasn’t ready for it, but it was a good experience! It made us surf more as well. D: Yeah we surfed every day for nearly 2 months! It was just a bit of fun, no pressure.
How have you found the surf science degree? Are you glad you’ve done it & was it more than you expected it to be?
Are you sad to know that you are the last year doing the Surf Science degree at Plymouth?
B: It’s a lot more academic than I expected it to be – all the oceanography, sports science, and the materials and manufacturing… I was expecting that to be awful, and I love it!
D+B: Definitely
SS: Oh great! Did you get to shape a surfboard or anything?
D: The course has changed me, and given me a lot more self-confidence.
D: You can get the opportunity to do so, but that module was all about all the construction side of things rather than actually shaping a surfboard.
And what has been your favourite part of the course? B: The practical side, getting out on the water. D: Yeah, being able to get qualifications and stuff like powerboating. B: But it’s hard through the winter period! Materials and manufacturing, that’s been one of my highlights.
B: It’s not just the academic study you get out of it; it builds a lot of confidence as a person and in the water.
B: I feel like I’ve become a lot more ballsy! D: Especially being around people who like the same things and the stuff you get to do, and the people you meet from doing this course. B: I never really surfed before being here and now I surf, skate, wakeboard and they all have that edge to them. D: And Plymouth is such a good place to do all of these activities.
Some people dub it as a “Mickey Mouse” course. Is it? D: No way!
Photos: Allister George.
B: No, come and sit in one of the oceanography lectures and see the amount of maths involved! D: It’s got a bit of everything in it, it’s so varied – it’s not just about surfing.
What does surfing mean to you? D: A chance to go and not think about anything, just get in the water and have fun. B: Yeah, like if you have things on your mind, it’s such a release. Just sitting out in the water is so relaxing. D: Even if you have a bad surf, it’s still a good surf if you know what I mean. B: And its fun, just being with people too, messing around, having fun.
Where is your favourite place to surf? B: I love Whitsands D: Or Newquay Bay – Towan when it’s low tide B: Recently though, Bantham, it’s been so much fun, messing around on foamies.
Best wave or session ever? D: Taiwan, Christmas Day! B: Christmas Day was epic, that was amazing! That was the best day! D: Yeah and it was the whole day, it wasn’t a specific wave, just every wave. B: Every wave we were riding the face of the wave and it’s the first time I’ve felt properly confident on a board, and feeling like “Yeah I can surf!”
Favourite board? D+B: SWELLBOARDS!!! SS: Yes! D: Love them, always have a good session B: And you can go out there looking like a kook and there is no pressure!
Sunny, hot and mediocre surf or sunny, cold, wetsuited and perfect waves?
D: Perfect waves B: Yeah perfect waves. Unless you were on holiday, I’d need some sun! SS: Local break or road trip? D+B: Road trip!
Dawnie or sunset session? B: Oooooh…. D: Sunset B: Yeah, sunset
The Slideshow has had the pleasure of surfing with these two on a few occasions, and we are seriously impressed with their skills after a year and a half of surfing. They are the happiest people in the lineup, and can be heard constantly giggling and having serious amounts of fun. You can’t help but smile along with them. They have been seriously bitten by the surfing bug, and living in an area so rich in surf, water and board sports, they continue to improve and gain confidence. We should all take a leaf out of their book – surfing is about fun, friends, and good times! Interview by Ellie Woodward.
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SURF SCIENCE & other stoke
Photo courtesy of Demi Rossouw.
“Stoke”
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