Check Out Matthew Allen’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Allen.

Hi Matthew, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
The summer before my senior year of high school, I had a seizure while surfing in Hawaii. At that point surfing was my identity and was wholly consuming in my life. The experience solidified a newfound faith and gave me determination, an identity outside of surfing, and direction. I was told I would never surf again and I lost my driver’s license. With an excess of free time, I began exploring the arts through drawing and music. I found that I was talented in these areas and spent most of my free time either drawing or playing guitar. About a year after the accident, I regained my driver’s license and began surfing again, using an inflatable airplane lifejacket for protection incase I had another seizure. I continued to develop my artistic skills in college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and while there I started a t-shirt company called The Ryde with a friend from school.

After graduation, the t-shirt business was growing and I moved to Laguna Beach to be closer to the action. While there, I landed a job as the assistant art director for Surfer Magazine, and a few years later I took over as Art Director. For nearly five years, I worked at Surfer during the day and ran the creative side of the clothing business at night until I finally had had enough and I left Surfer. We sold The Ryde to Swell.com and took jobs there running our clothing business. A few years later, our company was bought by Billabong and I learned how to design cut-and-sew clothing for The Ryde while on the job. Eventually, the down economy got the better of Billabong and amidst their financial struggles, I was let go and The Ryde was shut down. After that chapter ended, I began working as a freelance illustrator, using my portfolio of work from The Ryde as a jumping off point. I’ve now been working freelance for around seven years. I still do quite a bit of illustration work but have also recently been freelance art directing for Thalia Surf. I sell my own art online and at galleries and pop up events. I have shown my work in California, Hawaii, Australia and Japan.

I have ongoing gallery representation at the Greenroom Galleries in Hawaii and Japan. The biggest thing that has allowed me to be successful in my pursuit of a career in the arts is being prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves. That has held true throughout my artistic journey. On the last day of class in junior college, my future business partner saw me working on designs that I was creating for a surf company that I had reached out to. He liked what I was doing and hired me for a project that he was working on. I did extra work in college as well as worked on t-shirt artful The Ryde and my portfolio of work landed me the job at Surfer. The art I created for The Ryde is what started my art career and also landed me illustration jobs with companies like Converse, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Ford, and many more.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve had some struggles. Coming straight out of school and onto the team at Surfer was rough. I worked slowly and didn’t know the computer programs as well as I thought I did. It was also a challenge learning to work with a creative team rather than just on my own. Over the years, I grew and adapted, and looking back I am proud of the work that I created at Surfer.

Early on with The Ryde I ran into problems with the cliquish nature of the surf industry art scene. I suppose I was a bit of an outsider and they saw me as a threat to their tribe rather than someone with something to offer to the overall scene. I had to learn that despite good intentions, sometimes you have no control over how people choose to see and treat you.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work in a variety of mediums and pursue my creative urges wherever they lead. Over the years, I have explored pen and ink illustration, watercolors, block-printing, India ink mixed media, photography and more. Most of the original art pieces that I have created over the last few years have been hand-carved block prints on fabric cut from vintage sails, sail bags and other fabrics.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Living a balanced life. Creating work, I am proud of while spending plenty of time in nature and with my family.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.matthewallenart.com
• Instagram: mattallen_art

Image Credits
Ryan O’Donovan Lauren Beitel