54
OJAI MAGAZINE | SUMMER 2021
Jeff Lancaster’s surfing paintings convey the stoke of surfing. If you’re not familiar with the term stoke, according to surfd.com, it is “a sense of exuberance felt by surfers during and after an excellent surf session; stoke can be experienced before a session, based purely upon anticipation of how good the waves will be.” It’s the “before” and “after” that Ojai artist Lancaster tries to capture in his paintings, not the ride itself. Lancaster said he “felt stoke was something that hadn’t been explored — the experience of preparation, anticipation,
elation, camaraderie and the journey.“ “It’s the community around surfing. I learned from my elders and peers about caring for your equipment, respect in the water and developing your own style.” Lancaster understands both sides of stoke. He’s been surfing since age 9, and at age 70 continues to get in as many sessions as he can. “I still can’t get a full night’s sleep before I surf, even at my age,” he said. Despite his many travels to beautiful places and tropical surfing meccas (Sumatra, Fiji, Maldives, the local
“climbs” in Hawaii) Lancaster’s paintings have a darkness to them. His Instagram handle is @arts_noir, meaning “dark art,” or “night art.” “I avoid the typical bright sunny day and rainbows,” Lancaster said. “Some of my paintings come from surfing’s shadowy side.” When he was growing up, Lancaster said surfers were considered rebels, and that’s not the case now. Lancaster, who grew up in Palos Verdes, said he remembers “always drawing,” and his mom, an artist herself, encouraged him to pursue art as a career, so he attended the California
