Creative Corner: Caitlin peck

NAME:    CAITLIN PECK

LOCATION:  OCEAN CITY, NJ

CRAFT:  DEGREE IN FINE ARTS, GRAPHIC DESIGNER, CLOTHING DESIGNER, PHOTOGRAPHER, SEASIDE LOVER, FULL TIME MAMA

Q. How did you come to know 7th Street Surf Shop?

  I've been in the surf industry for about 20 years. I was a buyer for a shop and came to know the 7th street crew through attending trade shows. I had eventually owned the shop I helped manage and ran that for 4-5 years, but the economy and industry had changed immensely at the time so we moved on and closed the doors. From there I approached Jaime from 7th Street to see if they needed any extra help or were hiring, I was hired that day and I've been with the company ever since. I'm going on 12 years now with 7th Street and it's like a second family. A shop full of genuine souls that I'm lucky to be around.  

Q. Describe an Ocean City Summer in three words. 

  SUNKISSED SALTY FREEDOM

Q. What sparks your creativity? Who/what have been some of your inspirations over the years?

 So many things! The ocean and island life being one thing and my main source. My family and my 2 little humans who see the world so openly. Our community and the talented artists among us. I'm a huge fan of artists like Andy Davis, Thomas Campbell, Julie Goldstein, and Margaret Kilgallen to name a few. I see beauty in smiles and art in flotsam. I find joy in the smallest of creatures and encouragement in the sounds of the sea.

Q. Tell us a little bit about the launch of your new line. 

   Salty Soul is an ongoing vision that has been named and recreated so many times throughout my life. As I grow in life my visions grow and change too. At 7th street there is so much inspiration and motivation and belief in each other that it makes you strive to do and be better. I've designed simple graphics for our 7th street shop apparel and have always dreamed of having a clothing line of my own and this was a great place to start. Salty Soul is for the dreamers, sea dwellers, freedom fighters, ocean lovers, adventure seekers, water people. Made with the softest materials and simple designs to take your mind to an ocean dreamland of sorts. Salty Soul for the people who need to breathe in the salt air.

Q. Any advice for the next generation of artists & creatives?

  Don't be afraid to fail. You will and that's okay. Learn and grow from your failures and don't ever be afraid of judgement. You can't please everyone, but as long as you are happy within that is a great place to start. Keep striving and keep pushing forward, put your work out there even when you are nervous to. The world needs it and life is too short to put it off. Believe in yourself and surround yourself with good honest people that want the best for you and see the good you have to offer this world. Art is a beautiful part of life and your one little doodle, painting or craft could make someone's day, it can inspire and in return inspire you more and that is a truly wonderful thing. 

For more of Caitlin’s amazing work click here!

Creative Corner: Aaron “Bogy” Bogushefsky

Name: Aaron “Bogy” Bogushefsky

Location: Ocean City, New Jersey

Craft: Artist

Q. How did you come to know 7th Street Surf Shop?

A. Started working in the shop and giving surf lessons in 2005 then started painting boards, making t-shirt designs and Larry commissioned me to paint a few things. Been hanging around ever since.

Q. Describe an Ocean City Summer in three words. 

A. Fantastic onshore chaos

Q. What sparks your creativity? Who/what have been some of your inspirations over the years?

A. Every person has God-given talents and we are to use them to the best of our abilities. I do art because it is my outlet, it's not that I sit down and say, “okay time to be creative.” It just happens all the time, it does not turn off. I see inspiration from just people watching on the boardwalk to memorizing sunsets to taking joy in the mundane, overlooked things in life. Most time the best ideas come in the late hours of the night as I am most clear headed. Eventually an idea builds up and has to come out and my artwork is the result of this process. As far as influences over the years, I find nearly everything interesting so it comes from all over but mainly the absolute love of our area with its ocean, rivers, surfing, fishing, hunting and the multitude of wildlife these things are what inspire me. 

Q. What kind of things do you look for when collaborating with fellow artists or brands?

IA. look for others who are dedicated to their craft, who are taking the time to bother about the details. I think that the overall success of many things is found in the details.

Q. Any advice for the next generation of artists & creatives?

A. Absolutely. Learn the ways of those who came before you. It is on their shoulders you and I stand. Hone your skill, be continually learning and never satisfied. Support your local businesses. 

Our new Offshore Series is now available as a hoodie and in kids sizes! CLICK HERE to prebook yours today!

Flame & Fiberglass: a Rebirth

Three years have passed since flames engulfed 7th Street Surf Shop. Once the fire died
down, only an ashen ruin remained. That, however, is neither the beginning nor the end.

The true beginning, if one can even be named, almost came five years earlier than it did.
History is set, and instead, owners Becky and Larry Friedel spent that time waiting for the
perfect location. In 1986, the first 7th Street Surf Shop opened its doors at 654 boardwalk,
overlooking Ocean City’s only surfing beach. At the time of its inception, it was a new, unknown store competing with two other surf shops that had been established since the sixties. Even so, 7th Street Surf Shop began to grow.

One year later, in 1987, a second location opened inside the Surf Mall; it would move to
its current location at 1118 boardwalk—between 11th and 12th street—three years later. That
same year, the store began giving its first surf lessons and a tradition was born. Beginning as free lessons once a week on Saturdays, they quickly evolved to what they are today. In 1994, a third location opened on Asbury Avenue as a year-round business.

Kids grew up in and around these stores—a phenomena which was only accentuated
when surf camps began in the late 2000s. Memories were made and embedded into the grain of the wood of these shops—most notably 7th and boardwalk, which served as a gatehouse for the ocean and the waves that lay beyond.

At about 8pm on May 16, 2015, that first, original location burned. Many things can and
have been said about that night. Fewer can be said with confidence and conviction. They do not talk about the confusion that surrounded the events while they were unfolding. They do not talk about the difficulty to learn anything significant when you are a thousand miles away and the only people who know anything are panicking. They do not talk about the act of trying to piece together what is going on from half-heard jumbled accounts. They do not talk about the sensation of watching memories burn around you. They do not talk about the emptiness present when standing in the husk of a place you thought you knew. These lie in the realm of the undescribed and unknowable.

Here is what is known. An outlet had a computer plugged into it in the back office of the
shop. It shorted and a fire started. The back door was open and the wind was blowing in from the ocean. All of the smoke was exiting out the back. No sign of it, not even the smell, was present in the front of the store. No one inside noticed the fire. Someone came in from the back and told the girl who was working. When the office door was opened, large flames were seen. Smoke filled the store. Everyone evacuated. No one was hurt. The fire department contained the fire to the single store—the concrete walls and lack of strong wind kept it from spreading. The fire was eventually extinguished, but not before it left its mark.

The heat caused a total loss of contents. Even the cash registers melted. Much was
completely destroyed. The little that remained was scorched, covered in ash, and reeked of smoke. The building had to be gutted.

That summer, 7th Street Surf Shop’s trademark surf lessons continued, but they were run
from the 7th Street Beach Arcade—the owner’s other business, located twenty feet north of the original location. The shop itself remained closed.

As stated at the beginning, this was not the end. As seen with the phoenix or the
lodgepole pine, fire—while destructive—can bring new life. The loss was acknowledged,
accepted, and moved past. The opportunity for improvement was seized and acted upon.

Owner Larry Friedel says, “From the ashes we rebuilt the original 7th Street Surf Shop. Same location. Same staff. But physically newer, with higher ceilings, updated interior, new decor, and easier access due to a wider open boardwalk entrance.”

On May 16, 2016, exactly one year after the incident, 7th Street Surf Shop’s original
location reopened its doors to the public. Soon after, on May 27, they held a grand opening and ribbon cutting to mark the occasion. Thus, it was reborn.

One common comment made is that the shop now feels larger inside than it did before the
fire. Technically speaking, the shop has the same dimensions as before. However, the raised ceilings and open front give off the appearance of more space.

As it stands, the new design is both pretty and feels less crowded than previously. The
store rose from the ashes to meet, or perhaps even exceed, the height it previously held.
Since reopening, this store has been open for the past two summers, and will be
open once again for summer 2018.

Written by Kira Friedel