Little NY Eyes: 2008-09-14

The true impact of growing up in skateboard culture in the 80's exposed me to a lot of extraordinary people. A true innovator that deserves respect is Natas Kaupas. I remember him making an impact somewhere between the Dogtown era, the early days of Mark Gonzales and the golden years of Santa Cruz. Natas was truly was one of skateboarding's pioneers where he was constantly inventing and pushing what you can do on a skateboard and finding creative use for the most mundane terrain. Todays pop culture has their eyes on old school Vans, Tony Hawk and Mark Gonzales but to me, Natas gets overlooked. Street culture and skateboarding today frustrates me, it doesn't recognize beyond the object. They need an education of what the mind set was back in the day. It was about pioneering, a real passion to discover and invent and seeing the world in a unique way and interpreting it. That's another topic I'll write about later but one individual that has this spirit is Natas Kaupas.

I could of swore I saw him locking up his fixie on Canal Street on Saturday. I'm kicking myself for not stepping up and asking him.

He's an influence to me. The man found creative ways to see street terrain and translating it with ways to use it on a skateboard. After a serious injury, he focused his attention to art and his natural creativity and vision was translated into a new medium. This is one thing I want to talk to him about one day. If I bump into him, I need to buy him a coffee and chat.

There's one thing I truly believe, talent is not confined to a single thing we do. Being true to how you really see the world is how reach your own potential. Step outside what you know, becaase it really doesn't matter the medium or what you do, it'll translate to all aspects of life.

Damn, I wish I talked to him.