Patrick Madden

Patrick Madden’s passion for surfing and art have been the key ingredients in his life’s work. “I started surfing around the age of 16,” he says. “My surf spots in those days spanned from Cape Hatteras down to Boca Raton.” He first connected with St. Augustine in 1975. “I camped here with my girlfriend at the time,” says Patrick. “After a few days, we got in the car and headed straight to California.” Patrick’s return to St. Augustine was only a short time later. “I took over a surfboard company at Comanche Cove in Vilano Beach,” he says. “Later, I worked at Island Surf Shop on Anastasia Boulevard.” A key player in the local arts community for more than three decades, Patrick remembers his earliest days of inspiration. “My father’s uncle had an orange grove in Holly Hill, south of Daytona. He was also a talented artist,” he says. “I would go there as a kid and be in complete awe of his passion and his work.” Working primarily in acrylic and watercolor, Patrick’s subject matter consists of landscapes and places that have inspired him. Through his paintings, he offers a glimpse of the world through his eyes. His visions of nature and travel recollections have adorned the High Tide Gallery walls for the past three years. It isn’t just what Patrick paints on canvas that distinguishes his work. Perhaps his most unique substrate is the one he has spent most of his life riding on, the surfboard. “I first started airbrushing boards,” he says. During a time of constant migration between St. Augustine and Southeast Florida, Patrick developed an affinity for shaping. “Once I started airbrushing, I realized that I wanted to have a hand in the entire package,” he says. “I shaped my first four surfboards in 1980.” Patrick eventually moved to Melbourne with a love interest he had met from Laguna Beach, California. “Those were some interesting days,” he says. “I hung out with Kelly Slater’s brother and brushed elbows with others who were up and coming in professional surfing.” Today, Patrick credits much of his legacy to his travels. “I’ve surfed in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Portugal, and Spain,” he says. “I’ve left the country more than twenty five times on surf trips.” During one of his more recent excursions, sparked by a connection on social media, Patrick travelled to France, where he shaped and sold a surfboard. “I’ve also sold three boards in Italy,” he says. Patrick’s impact here at home is felt by many, from his customers to the small businesses he works with. You can find and purchase Patrick’s work all across Florida and at local gems like the Surf Station. “Tory Strange has carried my boards for years,” he says. “It has been a great partnership.” Over the past twenty two years, Patrick has toured with his art from Atlanta to South Florida. His body of work also includes covers for publications like ‘The Restaurant Times’. Earning more than one hundred awards during his career, Patrick says, “I am grateful that the world is such a small place and that I have been able to experience and share so much of it.”