“Lakeside Living”….a term I’ve had to listen to since May of this year, but never got a chance to experience for myself. Rumors of raging parties, bonfires, and incredible times up at Todd Williamson’s summer place on the lake have become legend. This past weekend I finally got a chance to witness the chaos first hand and we put a final (massive) nail on the end of the summer.

I’ve never heard of the game of Louisville Crusher before, but 3 days later I’m still sore. Here’s Ryan Hall’s turn to bat…

So what is it that I’m up to these days? Well, with just a little over a month to go before the hills begin opening you can probably imagine that I’m building boards like there’s no tomorrow.

The video premiers are rocking…the mountains are getting dusted (except for today where we are getting some freakishly warm weather here in Calgary) and we’re just pumped for what is going to be the best season ever. We have some big plans here at Clyde….some could say huge plans. The bottom line is that if you are reading this then you have an appreciation for small independent and locally made brands just like us.

…last week we announced a promotion for our seasonal opening for our factory showroom. The deal is that if you purchase a board any day this week until 5pm Saturday, September 19th, you will be entered in a draw to win a free custom graphic board of your choice.

Yesterday someone asked me how many boards I could possible sell in my showroom this week to which I answered “exactly”. Meaning that your chances are extremely good. If that wasn’t good enough, we will be giving away a Where’s Ryan board at tonight’s premier of Shine On at the Uptown Theatre. Good luck!

Friday, September 18th @ 8:30pm
SHINE ON by Sandbox @ The UpTown Theatre

Sunday, September 20th @ 7pm
NEVERLAND by Absinthe @ The Plaza Theatre

To celebrate our third season of the Clyde Factory Showroom (which opens to the public Wednesday September 15th at Noon), we will be giving away a custom graphic board! Ok, so here’s how it’s gonna work…anyone who buys a board between now and 5pm on Saturday, September 18th, 2009 will be entered to win. You design the art, you pick the size and flex. Keep it as a second board, hang it on the wall so you can admire all its glory, or (if you’re a fool) give it to a boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse….the choice is yours.

So another season is officially here, because this week marks the opening of our Calgary factory showroom. Until the new year our hours of operation are Noon till 6pm Wednesday through Friday and Noon till 5pm on Saturdays. So if you live in or around Calgary, come check out the new 2010 gear and come see how boards are made.

Ok, so for all of the Calgary residents out there, here’s the schedule that I know of so far (and I’m sure I’ll be adding to this):

September 14th – Burton Vid (don’t know what it’s called and I’m not going to bother looking it up).
Location: Plaza Theatre

September 18th – “Shine On” the new Sandbox vid. I can’t wait to check this one out cuz it features Clyde riders Dwayne Wiebe, Ryan Hall and Kael Hill.
Location – Uptown Theatre

September 20th – “Neverland” by Absinthe Films
Location – Plaza Theatre

October 24th – Double feature of the new Brother’s Factory flick and Alterna’s new flick “Electro”.
Clyde is putting on this premier so be sure to check it out. These two also feature Clyde riders Kael Hill and Craig Beaulieu. Tons of prizes and a raging afterparty after the show TBA.
Location – Plaza Theatre

I’ve never seen this done before, so I thought I would share.

Zimtstern “Leaves” from Pleasure Snowboard Magazin on Vimeo.

Today I am giving you a little behind the scenes look at the artists involved in designing the Clyde Snowboards graphics. I met Mark about 2 years ago in Calgary and right away he impressed me with his art as well as his positive attitude towards snowboarding. He always wants to ride and he always wants to draw. Mark’s one of those guys that loves what he does so much that he draws on his lunch breaks at his 9 to 5 job (where he is graphic designer), then he draws again when he gets home and is always pumped to show me what he’s come up with.

I fired him some questions the other day so that you guys can get to know what went into the Where’s Ryan board graphic that he designed…

Age? If you cut me open and count my rings you’d find 31 but I like to pretend I’m still 18.

Boards designed this season: Where’s Ryan? & the Ride The Lightning.
Art for Where’s Ryan: Basically I had to freestyle draw each character on illustration board….the graphic had to be drawn life size due to its detail. The ink work was done in 2 pieces, then flat bed scanned…spliced together in photoshop and coloured with my Wacom tablet. I went through a handful of pens and a lot of red stripes. I must give my friend Ryan Hall credit for the concept…when he pitched it to me, my other friends said don’t do it, that’s crazy. But look at it now, it’s on a board. I think working with the rider is important if he’s not stoked on the design he’s not gonna really rock it proud. I drew his deck but we worked together many nights adding ideas as we went.

You can find my art on this site www.artschoolapparel.com and also check out my skateboard company www.artschoolskateboards.com

People I’d like to thank:
There’s a lot of people that have really supported me in the last couple years and I’ll try and keep it simple. Firstly I’d like to thank my girlfriend because she puts up with me being a workaholic. Also I’d like to thank SBC media for their unending support over the years. I’d also like to thank Jason Broz for the ability showcase my work season after season, and thank you for having the sweetest last name ever. All my friends in Calgary and anyone that has basically shown me love over the last couple years, you all know who you are. Lastly my family, they didn’t disown me when I told them I was going to art school and they’ve supported me since.

It’s official, Dwayne Wiebe is on the Clyde Snowboards team and we couldn’t be more pumped. It’s not a surprise to many who have seen him rocking our decks at SuperPark this Spring as well as at Camp of Champions this Summer. Since he usually sessions with the Clyde riders Ryan Hall, Mike Dunlop, Kael Hill and Greg Almond, Dwayne was always a missing part of the team and we couldn’t be more stoked to have him. Watch for some amazing footage in the up-coming flick “Shine On” from Sandbox.

Dwayne also rides for IS Design, iFound, RBA, Nike, Grenade, and The Source.