Carol Soo Lum

A Time For Sentiment

2009

New York City Abstract Expressionist Between Abstraction, Calligraphy & Graffiti Vivian Muller presents an homage to Greek and Roman mythology, ...

This is not one of McMackin's widely available reproductions. This is the actual oil painting of the Canadian Snowboarder. Arrives framed. One cannot appreciate this beautiful painting on a computer screen. In real life, it is fantastic. Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic Games. Snowboarding was developed in the United States, inspired by skateboarding, sledding, surfing, and skiing. It became popular around the world, and was introduced as a Winter Olympic Sport at Nagano in 1991 and featured in the Winter Paralympics at Sochi in 2014.2 As of 2015, its popularity (as measured by equipment sales) in the United States peaked in 2007 and has been in a decline since. The first snowboards were developed in 1965 when Sherman Poppen, an engineer in Muskegon, Michigan, invented a toy for his daughters by fastening two skis together and attaching a rope to one end so he would have some control as they stood on the board and glided downhill. Dubbed the "snurfer" (combining snow and surfer) by his wife Nancy, the toy proved so popular among his daughters' friends that Poppen licensed the idea to a manufacturer, Brunswick Corporation, that sold about a million snurfers over the next decade.5 And, in 1966 alone, over half a million snurfers were sold. Modern snowboarding was pioneered by Tom Sims and Jake Burton Carpenter, who both contributed significant innovations and started influential companies. In February 1968, Poppen organized the first snurfing competition at a Michigan ski resort that attracted enthusiasts from all over the country.7 One of those early pioneers was Tom Sims, a devotee of skateboarding (a sport born in the 1950s when kids attached roller skate wheels to small boards that they steered by shifting their weight). In the 1960s, as an eighth grader in Haddonfield, New Jersey, Sims crafted a snowboard in his school shop class by gluing carpet to the top of a piece of wood and attaching aluminum sheeting to the bottom.8 He produced commercial snowboards in the mid-70s.9 Others experimented with board-on-snow configurations at this time, including Welsh skateboard enthusiasts Jon Roberts and Pete Matthews developed their own snowboards to use at their local dry ski slope. Also during this same period, in 1977, Jake Burton Carpenter, a Vermont native who had enjoyed snurfing since the age of 14, impressed the crowd at a Michigan snurfing competition with bindings he had designed to secure his feet to the board. That same year, he founded Burton Snowboards in Londonderry, Vermont.12 The "snowboards" were made of wooden planks that were flexible and had water ski foot traps. Very few people picked up snowboarding because the price of the board was considered too high at $38 and were not allowed on many ski hills, but eventually Burton would become the biggest snowboarding company in the business.13 Burton's early designs for boards with bindings became the dominant features in snowboarding. The first competitions to offer prize money were the National Snurfing Championship, held at Muskegon State Park in Muskegon, Michigan.14 In 1979, Jake Burton Carpenter came from Vermont to compete with a snowboard of his own design. There were protests about Jake entering with a non-snurfer board. Paul Graves, and others, advocated that Jake be allowed to race. A "modified" "Open" division was created and won by Jake as the sole entrant. That race was considered the first competition for snowboards and is the start of what became competitive snowboarding. Ken Kampenga, John Asmussen and Jim Trim placed first, second and third respectively in the Standard competition with best two combined times of 24.71, 25.02 and 25.41; and Jake Carpenter won prize money as the sole entrant in the "open" division with a time of 26.35.15 In 1980 the event moved to Pando Winter Sports Park near Grand Rapids, Michigan because of a lack of snow that year at the original venue. In the early 1980s, Aleksey Ostatnigrosh and Alexei Melnikov, two Snurfers from the Soviet Union, patented design changes to the Snurfer to allow jumping by attaching a bungee cord, a single footed binding to the Snurfer tail, and a two-foot binding design for improved control. As snowboarding became more popular in the 1970s and 1980s, pioneers such as Dimitrije Milovich (founder of Winterstick out of Salt Lake City, UT), Jake Burton Carpenter (founder of Burton Snowboards from Londonderry, Vermont), Tom Sims (founder of Sims Snowboards), David Kemper (founder of Kemper Snowboards) and Mike Olson...

Sweet and Sour by Mark Schiff We guarantee that you will love this painting. If not, you can return it for a complete refund, no questions asked. This beautiful painting by famed ...

One cannot appreciate this painting on a computer screen; in real life, it is absolutely amazing. Because you cannot appreciate it on a computer screen, our gallery has a unique pol...

Abstract painting. Acrylic paint and ink on archival paper. In white frame.

Artist: Charles Burk– American (1947-) Title: Doorway, old Building Year: unknown Medium: Watercolor on watercolor paper Size: 10 x 15 inches. Framed size: 19 x 23.5 inches Signatu...

In this work, the artist explores the mechanics of how we store and structure personal experiences. Instead of organic petals, we see a system of concentric circles reminiscent of tr...

Rendered in a sophisticated and elegant palette, Elise's visionary landscape paintings interweave botanical elements with organic abstraction. With a background in graphic design an...