ON THE IN–SIDE

Text: Zen Yoshifuku
Images: Mark Kushimi


Many monikers describe Nat Woolley– Artist, Designer, Shaper, Surfer…But the 25-year-old man with many talents is still the very humble local boy from the small town of Waialua. The first time I met Nat was surfing at Hale‘iwa when we were only 10-years-old. I remember him and his twin brother, Shaun, just killing it in the Menehune contests alongside the likes of Fred Patacchia and Jason Shibata.

“Definitely the best memories of growing up come from the [Hale‘iwa] Surf Center, all the sleepovers and the fun things we used to be able to do there as kids,” says Nat. “There were so many of us too, and the great thing is we all still hang out to this day.”

Nat is one of the most articulate guys I know and we have great conversations. He is a pleasure to have as a close friend. This time we talked about his art, shaping, surfing and stuff about growing up here on the North Shore.

“For me, as for surfing, I’ve always surfed places that I liked to surf so I don’t see too many changes in the lineup,” says Nat. “I always steer away from crowds and try to surf my own spots, but having said that, I live across from Off-the-Wall and I end up surfing out there. I can say the scene out there is absolutely atrocious. People are out there making money. They gotta get paid and they gotta get waves to get paid and I don’t so I don’t get nuts. I find myself always going to a peak that’s less perfect, but with less people.”

Although the waves remain relatively the same, the North Shore community has changed a lot. The more Nat matures, the more he sees this evolution.



“The thing that I noticed is that a lot of the people that own the homes out here don’t even live out here,” explains Nat. “It’s mostly rich people buying it and using it for vacation rentals; maybe I just didn’t notice it when we were younger, but I know it’s getting worse. It displaces all the local people and there were families living by the beach, not just surf companies. And the other big thing would be just more ice heads around everywhere. It’s really bad in Waialua.”

The Woolleys have always been a part of the community. Nat’s mom, Nancy, runs a successful kid’s clothing boutique in Hale‘iwa called The Growing Keiki. According to Nat, the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and the pro surfer gathering during the winter is a double-edged sword because it’s such a “scene.” But he realizes that the North Shore community needs it because it helps all the stores by bringing business every year. His Dad, Mike, still rips, surfs all the time and he’s “Mr. Fixit.” That’s probably where Nat gets his talent with his hands.



Working at Eric Arakawa’s surfboard factory has been a blessing for Nat. From just running the factory’s machines, he’s come to the point where he actually shapes boards for Eric.

“I guess I started shaping boards around the same time I started drawing a lot,” says Nat. “Just making things that I wanted to ride, mostly single fins and longboards in the beginning. Then I did twins and now I can do a bunch of different stuff.”

Having Eric as a mentor has helped Nat with his craft and business. He is forever grateful for the wisdom passed down from Arakawa and praises the iconic board builder whenever possible.

“Eric is a master of his craft,” he says. “I don’t even feel like a shaper yet around him I'm just a baby as a shaper. I’m just the guy that cuts boards at Eric’s.”

Nat’s shaping goes hand in hand with his art. Both have blossomed into On The In-Side, a brand that makes t-shirts and surfboards that display his artwork. His twin brother, Shaun, started Woolley Brothers Screen Printing, the lab for everything On The In-Side.



“We’re just in Waialua, it’s just a scraggly old building stuck in a dirty old town, but one day it’s gonna be a scraggly old building in a super sick town,” Nat says of the Woolley Brothers’ headquarters, which used to be the infamous biker bar, the Sugar Shack. “It’s a sick building. People stop just to take pictures of it. If we’ve had any success its because of the building. People are drawn to the building and then end up inside and see what’s going on.”

Shaun runs the shop on a day-to-day basis and their younger brother, ‘Ehukai, helps out with the crew of workers. They have a steady flow of business, screening tees for anybody that comes through. On the shop’s down time the brothers work on their own craft– dyeing tees to get custom colors and making one-off tees with crazy screen-printing experiments. After looking at his designs it’s obvious that Nat’s artwork is really colorful and character-based.

“I’ve always just drawn eyes, so naturally it becomes faces, heads and bodies,” says Nat. “So it becomes people, animals or some kind of a character.”

One of his favorite canvases for his character-based art is a surfboard. He’s been painting on boards for a long time now and for all kinds of people. Most notably: Fred Patacchia, Kekoa Bacalso, Megan Abubo and Reef McIntosh. His artwork has made posters, videos and many pages in the surf media.

“It’s always good to shape the board and paint it and do the whole bit, but painting for all my friends feels very rewarding. Just stoking them out with good looking boards,” beams Nat. “I’m just glad they like my drawings!”

Nat has a bunch of stuff up his sleeve. One of the big things on his plate is a new surfboard project by Eric Arakawa and his group of peers called Alcomi. “It’s gonna blow people’s minds, it’s a freethinking surfboard project. People are gonna be able to come in and get exactly what they want,” Nat explains excitedly. “You would be able to copy any board that you have. You can get any board you want.” Other then that, Nat’s time is full with boards to paint and new designs to make. Every time I go to his house he has a long rack of boards waiting to be painted and blanks ready to be shaped. Through all this demand Nat stays humble, keeps a cool head and his priorities straight. “As long as I get to surf and draw it’s all good!”


ナットウーリー
ナッ トはハレイワ出身のアーティスト、サーフボードのシェイプや洋服をキャンバスに使いいろんな作品を作っている。NorthShoreで生まれ育ち今ではエ リックアラカワの工場で一緒にシェイプをしている。彼の絵はよくフッレドパターチアやケコアバカルソの板で見れる。双子の兄弟ショーンと一緒に WoolleyBrothersスクリーンプリンティングを始め、そこで自分たちのブランドOnTheInsideを作り上げている。