Journey — The Back Story

Both art and skateboarding have positively influenced my life in immense ways. As the son of an artist, I have experienced first-hand the struggle that artists face to make ends meet (including my mom who is a printmaker), and a similar struggle that skateboarding faces to be recognized, taken seriously and appreciated in a world where major league sports are front and center. I started Art on Deck with the primary goal to help showcase my mom's art on a meaningful medium- the skateboard deck. I did some research and found other brands and artists were doing the same kind...

As the child of an artist, I was fortunate to be exposed to the visual arts and art galleries from very early on.  My mother, Gloria Kagawa, is a printmaker and her art would often be shown in exhibits around Southern Ontario, especially in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.   The most memorable and enjoyable times I shared with my brothers and family, were the art-openings I got to attend where my mom was either the main artist or part of a group show.   The art-openings often occurred in the evenings, and if it was a higher end gallery there would be plenty...

It was right around 1990, just graduating from elementary school when I first got into skateboarding.  I had a few friends in the city who I would hang out with after school at the library.  My first complete skateboard was a freebie, given to me by a friend – a department store Variflex skateboard with extremely heavy trucks, fat wheels and bearings that sounded like they had sand in them every time you rolled, but it was still a slight step up from the Dominion Street board my brother was riding.  My friends in grade 8 were lucky to have...