Summer time, at least here at West of Noble headquarters, spells a shift in focus. And by 'shift in focus' I mean a downright abandonment of business as usual, nose to the grindstone woodworking. That, of course, is how things actually get done; long hours in the studio cutting and planing and scraping. But Summer in Los Angeles is too damn hot, the nearby Pacific too cool and inviting. South swells start lighting up all the points and reefs around Malibu, arrival times at the shop get later and later as morning surf sessions grow longer.
Design week having come and gone, less thought is devoted to prototype development as attention turns to strictly creative endeavors; wood cut prints, chambered wood surfboards, sculpture. Forms and objects dreamt up durning busier seasons are finally given life.
Late sunsets are accompanied by late evenings in the shop plying away at a wood block or balsa fish with all the windows flung open and breezes finally cooling off the concrete building.
There are of course still commissions-the rent has to be paid-but these are dispensed with hastily and as soon as is possible it's back to the workbench by the windows, cold Mexican beer nearby.
