Chris Barela’s love for the water has been life long. Growing up at the beach and becoming a professional surfer allowed Chris to travel the world. At the peak of Chris’s surfing career he had made it into the finals at the Banzai Pipeline Masters.
Having travelled the world’s oceans, Chris retired from professional surfing but stayed connected to the worlds oceans and marine life held within. That very connection inspired him to create his first line of bronze sculptures, an amazingly life like collection of big game fish.
Barela created the brilliant finish known today as a patina and its now widely used internationally . With the success of his new bronze collection, Barela was influential in the promotion of catch and release in the sport fishing industry.
As Barela’s sculpture line grew so did the opportunities, he accepted various commissions including The Zane Grey “Tales of the Gladiator”, Ted Williams, Memorial Sculpture, Public installations such as Marlin fountains in Key West, FL. Salmon Fountain located in Medford, OR and most recently The Tim Kelly Statue that sits at the base of the Hermosa Beach Pier, Chris’s home town.
Along with the public arts commissions Chris’s private commissions are extensive including, special corporate awards, custom entry gates and dining room tables.
Barela’s passion for nature is the driving force behind his art …Chris’s talents are not limited to bronze sculptures, he excels at photography and filmmaking and recently was awarded first place in the Hawaii Ocean Film Festival for his short film on octopus.
It is with out question that Barela has become one of the worlds best sculptors/patina artist, which grants him the honor of being one of the most influential artist of today.