Blue Hawaii Gallery

"Tiny Bubbles" @ the Blue Hawaii Gallery

2011-12-15T12:29:00.000-08:00

The Blue Hawaii Gallery in Kalihi had the priveleage of showcasing the artwork of Russ Pope on Friday Dec.9th 2011. Russ was double timing it between working with Vans on the North Shore for the Triple Crown as well as putting together artwork for his "Tiny Bubbles" show. Everything came together right down to the wire and the show was a major success in terms of goodtimes, good people, good music by Lionel Deguzman, Casey Liu, and Dyson Ramones, and the amazing art of Russ Pope. Big mahalos goes out to Vans, Stance, Monster Children, and everyone who came out and enjoyed the evening with us!

Back In Town Artshow @ Greenroom Hawaii

2011-08-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

Friday August 19th the Greenroom Hawaii in Waikiki hosted the "Back In Town" Artshow featuring the art of Andy Davis, Tyler Warren, and Jeff Canham. The show was put together by the owner of the Greenroom Hawaii Jun Yoshimura as well as the members of his amazing staff. They did an exceptional job with curating the show and entertaining the patrons on hand. The event was live on youstream for everyone to see. I highly recommend if you are in the Waikiki area to stop by the Greenroom Gallery and check out the show. They also have the tees from the event if you want to pick up a gift or maybe one for yourself. Mahalos to Jun, Val, and Yohei for the hospitality and goodtimes.

"Back In Town" Artshow @ Green Room Gallery

2011-08-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

Blue Hawaii Surf is very honored to be a part of "Back in Town" along with the Greenroom Gallery. I highly recommend stopping in and checking this show out. Tyler Warren is one of the most creative surfboard shapers as well as artist. You may know Andy Davis from his former clothing brand Ando and Friends. It's going to be goodtimes for sure so be there!

Anthony Zerga Interview

2011-06-20T13:40:00.000-07:00

Tony Zerga is one of the good examples of the many talents we have here in Hawaii that fly below the radar. I met Tony back in November 2010 when he stopped in our newly opened shop at Pearlridge with his daughter to check it out. I noticed Tony had a pretty expensive looking camera with him. Being that I know nothing about cameras but like to shoot photos I proceeded to ask him about his camera and what subjects he liked to shoot. He mentioned that he liked to shoot in macro and mostly liked shooting nature subjects. After talking story for a little while turns out we have alot of the same interest (skateboarding, music, art, Hawaii, etc.) and knew some of the same people. I was thinking that it would be pretty cool to showcase some of Tony's photography in the gallery area we have incorporated into the shop.

The Blue Hawaii Gallery originated in our Kalihi location and when we opened our Pearlridge location I thought it would be great to take the same concept from Kalihi and incorporate it into the design of the Pearlridge shop. This would be a great opportunity for us to showcase the works of local artist and photographers and allow our patrons of all ages and demographics to enjoy.

Tony is our first photographer to participate in our showcase at the Blue Hawaii Gallery Pearlridge as well as our first interview. I hope you guys enjoy and when you get a chance stop in and check out is work!

BHG: So Tony how have you been lately?

TZ: Im alive and kickin’! Life is good as it could be. Got my wife, little girl and family. What more could I ask for?

BH: Give me a little background history on yourself (where you from, what HS did you grad form/college?)

TZ: Born in Washington DC. Came to Hawaii when i was about 5 years old. Being hapa I blended right in. Raised in Waipio Gentry and went to Pearl City High School and UH. Recently just bought a place in Mililani Mauka.

BH: Did you grow up skateboarding and if so who did you skate with?

TZ: LOL, yeah grew up skateboarding. Worship Rodney Mullen/Caballero still to this day. I appreciate skateboarding but cant imagine pushing around anymore. Old bones don't mend kindly. Main guys I came up with skating were George DeMetropolis and Mike Nelson.

BH: What about surfing?

TZ:Bodysurfer since i was a wee gromit till this day. You could readily find me in South Shore waters on a regular. I try to get out every now and then when baby permits.

BH: Any other hobbies?

TZ: Metal detecting(I know, its and old man hobby)!

BH: What bands/musicians are you into right now?

TZ: Still love my oldies but goodies. I found myself listening to The Strokes, Bravery & Bloc Party.

BH: Which musician/band would you say your photography draws a similarity to?

TZ: Not sure why but I think De La Soul would fit this question. Whenever I would go out and shoot I would listen to them.

BH: So how did you get into photography?

TZ: I have alway appreciated art and the concepts behind art. Problem was that sucked at painting, drawing, etc. The only format for me to express my appreciation for art was with photography.

BH: What was your first camera?

TZ: In high school i used the Minolta Maxxum SLR and an old Poloroid. To this day I still use Minolta lenses that are over 20 years old.

BH: Who’s photography inspired you the most or had some type of influence on you?

TZ: That’s a hard one. So many great photographers out in the world, most of which I don't know their names. I always check out Flickr and see thing that are just simply amazing.

BH: Why do you like shooting in macro?

TZ: I love little details. I love to find beauty in places most people would never think of. For instance, the macro of the spiders face. Some may find this hideous but other find it beautifully fascinating. Also, I find that this type of photography has a weird knack of bringing on emotional responses. Macro photography opens up a beautiful world that most of us never get the opportunity to see. This type of photography really forces you to settle down and pay attention. It can be very calming on the mind.

BH: I noticed you really like shooting nature especially flowers, why is that?

TZ: Yeah, that is a good question. Nothing about my personality really says “Flowers” yet I find myself shooting them all the time. I think the biggest factor is that it stress free. It does not require me to run around franticly unlike wedding and photo journalism.

BH: Do you shoot anything else?

TZ: I recently started to work with nature panoramic which i am enjoying tremendously. I think on my website this will be an area I concentrate on. Since I got my daughter and two pups, i also do portraits and pet portraits.

BH: So you’re married and have a beautiful daughter. How long have you been married for? How old is your daughter?

TZ: Yes! I am happily married to my beautiful wife and have a beautiful baby girl. We are coming up on 4 years now. So blessed to have two wonderful girls in my life.

BH: What does your wife think about your photography?

TZ: She has been a huge supporter of my work. Never once have I ever heard a negative from her.

BH: So what types of different cameras do you have?

TZ: I currently cameras are the Sony A900 full frame SLR, Sony A700 DSLR, Sony A55 SLT, Canon S90 and Fuji X100 Rangefinder. My lens line up mostly consists of Zeiss and Sony G lenses. Think my next venture into cameras in medium format.

BH: What is it that you would like to accomplish with your photography in the future?

TZ: As cheesy as it sound, a huge goal of mine is to get some of my work published in a major publication. My photography is still a progressive thing. To this day I still don't understand about 80% of techniques used.

BH: So I met you while you were cruising through Blue Hawaii was that your first time in the shop?

TZ: Nah, I have been an avid shopper for years.

BH: What brought you in?

TZ: Seen the local art being displayed and wanted to check it out. Plus I need new gear so Blue Hawaii was one of my first destinations.

BH: What do you like that Blue Hawaii carries (brands, product)?

TZ: The Hundreds, Diamond, and Vans. One really cool thing I saw was the Carley Simon portrait skateboard (Girl Skateboard) on display which I never seen anywhere else.

BH: Have you ever been to any of the art shows that we’ve had at the Blue Hawaii Kalihi Gallery?

TZ: I have never had the opportunity to check the gallery out yet but now that I know I will head that way. Would be awesome if I could get some work up one day.

BH: So do you sell your art or is it just purely for display?

TZ: Initially my work was for myself and family. I never really intended to sell my work. However, recently I have been contacted by private clients/companies to do work for them. So guess my work is now for sale although I want to really keep the productions limited.

BH: Anybody you would like to thank, mention, give props to?

TZ: My patient wife and daughter. My poor little girl has probably had about 50,000 pictures taken of her. She knows that it makes daddy happy.

BH: Do you have a website?

TZ: Yes!! AnthonyZergaPhotography.com

30 Seconds to Ewa Beach

2011-05-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

Braxton is back! Today he stopped by the shop to chop it up and to share the latest in his life adventures. Brax has been apart of the fam ever since he was going to Campbell High School in Ewa Beach. Not only was he one of the first members of the Eighty Four Skate team along with Beranardo Bernard, Chase York, and Nathan Nahina but he was also a friendly face that greeted our customers over at the old Waikele shop. From there Brax life took him on an unbelievable journey around the world literally. As musical director for 30 TSM being on the road has become a way of life. Always grounded and family oriented he always manages to find time to come back home to Ewa Beach to relax and get motivated. While he was kickin it at the shop Michele and he picked up the camera and had some fun goofing off. Welcome back Brax!

BJ Penn @ Blue Hawaii Surf Ala Moana 2007

2011-05-22T16:39:00.001-07:00

BJ Penn @ Blue Hawaii Surf Waikele 2007

2011-05-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

Why you might ask am I posting BJ Penn up from back in 2007 here on the Gallery page. Well long before all the other shops were having signings with BJ Penn, RVCA x Blue Hawaii were bringing together BJ and his loyal fans together. Some times there may have been only 12 people in attendance for a signing, but BJ would always be there and happily so. Then the Matt Hughes vs BJ Penn 2 fight took place and the rest was history. Now whenever BJ does a signing there's hundreds and hundreds of people lining up to meet this Hawaiian hero. I have never seen an iconic figure so humble and always appreciative of the fans that he has. BJ is truly an artisan when it comes to his craft of MMA and an inspiration to the people of Hawaii.

Tony Zerga

2011-05-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day from Blue Hawaii Surf and Tony Zerga.

This upcoming week Blue Hawaii Gallery will be doing a feature on photographer Tony Zerga. Stay tuned for more.

Russ Pope @ Blue Hawaii Surf Pearlridge

2010-12-09T22:39:00.000-08:00

I met Russ Pope this past fall while in San Diego. Russ has worked with many of the skate companies through the years as art director, artist, etc. Russ is now the art director over at Vans but he still works with companies like Brixton and Captain Fin contributing design work and direction. Russ also skates and gets out on his old vintage single fin log when there's surf. While we were chatting it up in SD I threw out there the invite that if he were ever in Hawaii to stop by and if possible do an installation for us. Fastforward to late November and I get a text from Russ saying that he'd be in Hawaii in a couple days for the Triple Crown and that he was down to come in and paint. Stoked! While Ancell and Kelcey were in the middle of wrapping up their pieces, Russ popped in and was stoked to see his old friends already there painting. This was so rad to have all 3 of these guys at our new location contributing to our new gallery. Thanks to Russ, Liam, and Vans for gifting us with this amazing piece that we are proudly displaying in our store front window display!

Russ had mentioned that he sketched this out while on the plane ride to Hawaii.

Throwing in elements of Vans signature checkboard into his artwork.

.....and here it is! A Russ Pope original in the window of our Blue Hawaii Surf Pearlridge location.

RVCA ANP @ Blue Hawaii Surf Ala Moana

2010-12-09T22:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas came a littler early at Blue Hawaii Surf Ala Moana. Kevin Ancell and Kelcey Brooks from the RVCA ANP stopped by on Saturday to leave us with a gift in the form of 2 amazing paintings done on the spot. I wasn't able to make it due to another event we had going on but I sure wish I could've been. Ancell painted a tribute to late A.I. which resembled a similar piece he had just done on Makua Rothman's Waimea board. Kelcey created what looked to be a creature of some sort on acid! Not sure if that's exactly what is but nonetheless it was nothing short of amazing! Thanks again boys for stopping by and gifting us with such fine pieces of art.

RVCA ANP @ Blue Hawaii Surf Pearlridge

2010-12-09T21:36:00.000-08:00

Got a call from Phil on Saturday around 6 o'clock saying that Kevin Ancell and Kelcey Brooks were wrapping up an installation at our Ala Moana location. I was like "what"! I had no idea they were at Ala Mo and being that Ancell is one of my all time favs I was stoked yet bummed to not have been there. He assured me not to worry because they would be at our Pearlridge shop at 9am on Sunday. I was thinking to myself nah this is not gonna go down because artist wake up late and go to bed late. To my surprise I got the call at 8:45am on Sunday morning saying that they were on their way! I was stoked to see Kelcey again and even more psyched to meet Ancell for the first time! Rounding out the possee was Punker Pat, Phil, Keegan, and Hoyt. Much appreciation to the RVCA fam for taking the time out to come pay us a visit at both of our locations. Our Pearlridge location is less than a month old and we've already hosted some of the most talented artist and skateboarders on the planet. Having the RVCA fam is always a pleasure. Especially being that we have a dedicated gallery wall for artist to display their work and allow us to share it with you our Blue Hawaii ohana!

(left to right) Keegan, Punker Pat, Hoyt, Kelcey Brooks, Phil, and Kevin Ancell

RVCA ANP "Supports Local"

.....and look who it is on the right! Russ Pope stopped in to check things out and to catch up with long time friends Ancell and Kelcey. How rad is this!

"Not everyone is on vacation" featured artist Ben Horton (June 13, 2009)

2009-08-31T01:57:00.000-07:00

"Not everyone is on Vacation" featured the artwork of Ben Horton. Thanks to RVCA's Artist Network Program and Ben himself for allowing us the opportunity to display his artwork in our gallery. Ben also designed a pretty rad tee specifically for Blue Hawaii. If you follow skateboarding then you already know that he also is the owner of Slave Skateboards.

"Viernes" (May 1, 2009)

2009-08-31T00:34:00.000-07:00

"Viernes" was held on First Friday @ Eighty Four Kalihi. This was a group show amongst friends (Ryan Chun, Red, Shannon O'Connell, and Jumbo Karakuchi).

Artwork by Jumbo Karakuchi

Artwork by Red

Artwork by Ryan Chun

Artwork by Shannon O'Connell

"A Night of Tiki" featuring Shannon O'Connell (April 17,2009)

2009-08-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

"A Different Star" Artshow featuring the art of Jumbo Karakuchi

2009-04-14T13:29:00.000-07:00

"Stay Gold" Artshow

2009-04-14T12:41:00.000-07:00

Kelsey Brooks in Kalihi

2008-12-27T16:44:00.000-08:00

RVCA Fam @ Blue Hawaii Kalihi (Punker Pat, Kelsey Brooks, PM Tenore, and Grant). P.M. once again gracing us with the presence of one of the RVCA fam as well as contributors to the ANP collective....Mr. Kelsey Brooks(second from the left). Kelsey's work can be seen on numerous RVCA pieces and around the RVCA compound. I've even seen his work on some Vans recently. Anyways what's even more impressive is that Kelsey's a S.D. native who likes to surf! That's what we're all about here in Hawaii right? And that's why so many people come from all around the world to Hawaii for.....surf.....sun...and fun!!!!

Vans Triple Crown of Surfing poster in our bathroom/dressing room!
Kelsey's rendition of the official Triple Crown of Surfing 2008 poster

Kelsey's humble autograph. Very low key but very how do you say........

Tino Olsen Artshow @ Blue Hawaii Kalihi

2008-11-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

Blue Hawaii Kalihi featuring artwork by Ryan Chun

2008-11-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

RVCA x BJ x Kalihi

2008-06-11T18:59:00.000-07:00

On Saturday June 7th BJ Penn and the RVCA family paid us a visit here in Kalihi. It was insane! By the time BJ got to the shop at around 7pm there was over 100 eager fans waiting to get a chance to meet their hero. Did I say hero? Yes I did, BJ is a hero to us local folks here. He's become an Icon as well as an ambassador for the people here in Hawaii. BJ's humbleness and willingness to take the time out of his busy schedule to thank his fans represents the kind of person that he is. Pat Tenore and Punker Pat also made their presence felt in Kalihi. If you don't know these two fellows then you better start doing some research. Put it this way if it weren't for them none of this would be possible! A good time was had by all, hope everyone got their fill of dogs, burgers, Red Bull, Smart Water, and Vitawater! You know how we do it over here at Blue Hawaii, take care of da kamaaina! Thanks again to all that came to Kalihi hope to see you
guys at our next BBQ! Chee-Hoo!

Ron, Matty, Jason, and Alex
Big Kev manning the grill! Thanks eh brah!
Ewa Beach in da house! Jordan, Karl, and Devin. (Check Dev out ready to open up a can of you know what!)
BJ's loyal fans patiently awaiting his arrival! Thanks folks for hanging in there.
John Veneri and the KHON 2 News finally getting their chance to talk with BJ.

Punker Pat and Hoyt. How's the Scrap and Destroy tee! Sick!

Julie, Marley, and Mills. This guy is ol' skool Blue Hawaii crew! Ask him to see his "guns" if you ever see him.

BJ posting up for the evening, or at least for a couple hours anyway. I hope BJ trained for the grueling 100 rounds of fans waiting their turn to have a chance to get their shot at him!
Phil, Hoyt, and Pat. These guys are amazing, without them none of this would have been possible. Thanks Pat for overcoming your fear of flying to make it out for our event. Pat's got stories for days, and Jiu Jitsu moves for days. My arm was sore the next day from all his submission demonstrations!

Bev and Christy. Christy is ol'skool Blue Hawaii crew also, she was with us from the beginning. This girl can cook let me tell ya. Her and LP will be leaving in July to Washington. I'm going to miss watching all the UFC fights at their house as well as Christy insanely ono home cooking. I'm sure one day I'll find myself on their couch over there in Washington watching UFC and stuffing my face!

Cheyne and Arnold. Waikele represent!!!!
LP and Kai. LP the coolest dad ever. He was there from the early days of punk rock music and skateboarding. He has witnessed it all first hand and is passing it all on to his kids. Still skating and listening to punk rock music at 50! Really gives me something to look forwards to when I'm 50 in 30 years!
Jessie. Your favorite new Billabong merchandiser! Holla.

New skool skins with Papa Skin showing them how to be proper. Dyson, Chun, Tony, and Tara.
Pat, Chad, Rob, Brian, me, and Pat. APB in da house! Chad and Rob are rad, they're always down to show support whenever we have events. Hands down these guys own the raddest skate shop around and I'm not just talking in Hawaii. Rob is also well versed in Jiu Jitsu and has transitioned his the skills that he had as a pro skateboarder into his new found love for MMA. Silent but deadly, don't even mess around!
Karl and me. Karl was responsible for keeping order that night. He was our official security/salesperson/beer drinker that night. Karl....you did a fine job! Mahalo

Miguel, Malia, and Devin. You talk about talent, watch out! When Miguel has got the rock he can drop a triple double on you at anytime! Skateboarder, hoopster, football player, punk rocker and a comedian. Malia, what can I say "stay away" from my hula dancer or else. Devin future pro surfer and that ain't no lie. Don't even think of trying to sponsor this young buck if your're another shop, he's property of Blue Hawaii Surf!
and finally......Shaka from the Blue Hawaii and RVCA family!

Big Mahalos to BJ Penn, Pat Tenore, Phil Pendleton, and Hoyt for taking the time out to visit us here in Kalihi! Aloha

L.P. in the House!

2008-05-14T19:42:00.001-07:00

My Mexican brother from another mother showed up today at Kalihi with a bag of stories about this and that with a few laughs to boot!

Blue Hawaii Kalihi featuring Chris Pastras

2008-04-20T17:49:00.001-07:00

This Saturday here at Kalihi was going pretty mellow for the most part. That was until Dyson and Pastras did a surprise drop in. This was going to be Pastras's last day in Hawaii so he wanted to leave us with a little momento. The wall has quite a bit of texture but nonetheless Dune was able to work with it and the end result was great. Thanks Dune, Dyson, Tara, and Marsh for stopping by and entertaining me. "Shaka's and Alohas"