Drawing lines
Tom Threinen
SEASON 1 - EPISODE 5
Watch the video and learn how Tom rediscovered surfing through his art and by riding a surfmat.
“When I got back to the ocean, I discovered there was a surfmat waiting for me.”
— Tom Threinen
I met Tom for the first time in 2014 during a visit to Las Vegas with my good friend Dirk Brandts. Tom invited us both for dinner at his home. We talked about surfing, mat riding and Tom showed us some of his beautiful artwork. I was blown away by his incredible drawing skills and thought:
"I'd love to create a video story about him."
Shortly after this trip, the idea of filming surfmat riders around the world was born, and Tom was immediately high on my list of interesting people for the project. What I didn't know that I would have to wait five years to see him again and film him.
What I didn't know was that I would have to wait five years to see him again and film him. And I also didn't know that I would have little more than 24 hours to get all the material that I needed for the video. Luckily, the swell aligned and the waves provided the canvas for Tom's unique story.
“I caught a wave, shot straight down like a rocket ship. And by the time the wave caught up with me, I got tumbled. But man, what a feeling!”
— Tom Threinen
“I drew the logo and I did some cartoons, for Surfing Magazine, to advertise the Fresh Fish Surfboard Company. And within a couple of months, I got a call from the editor of the magazine, who said, “You know, we liked your cartoons.” So I went to work for Surfing Magazine.”
— Tom Threinen
Artist and illustrator of surf culture
As a young man, Tom studied fine arts. And because he loved surfing so much, he kept drawing surf-related cartoons and logos for the Fresh Fish Surfboard Company. Soon others became aware of his talent, and Surfing Magazine soon offered him a job as an illustrator.
Don Redondo co-creator
Tom thought he had left the ocean for good when he moved to Nevada to start a money-making career. But at some point, he started thinking about surfing again and began drawing waves. Around the same time, Tom reconnected with writer Drew Kampion, and together they revived the cartoon character, Don Redondo, for the British surfing magazine "The Surfers Path". Although Tom's surfing cartoon career ended with the demise of the surfing magazine business after the economic crash, he still keeps drawing and painting ocean-related artwork. You can check out his art here.
“To make the mat perform, everything's really subtle and really intuitive. The whole goal is to go fast and go fast down the line, down a long wall.”
— Tom Threinen
“There's nothing like catching an ocean wave and sliding down this wall of water, even a two-foot wave. You’re just glide flying across the water.”
— Tom Threinen
“There is mystery involved in riding the thing, as much as there’s mystery involved in making a picture, and that is what I wanna do.”
— Tom Threinen