Costa Mesa artist helps family preserve memory of home lost in Palisades Fire

COSTA MESA, Calif. (KABC) — Chuck Trout loves collecting art that reflects his passions, especially surfing, but when the Palisades Fire tore through his home in January, all that was left were charred remains.

“We put a good fight up, but it was time to get out of there, and we lost the house and everything in the house,” he said.

It could have ended there, but from those ashes came the start of something new, sparked by a visit to a friend’s home.

“I saw this cool art that kind of looked like it was the material of a surfboard,” recalled Trout. “I love to surf and lost all of my surfboards in the fire, and this piece of art kind just kind of popped. It was colorful, it was crisp, I thought it was just kind of clean.”

That piece was the work of contemporary artist Pierce Meehan, who creates art from his Costa Mesa studio.

“It’s a blend of boat building and surf materials, what you would find in those industries when you’re manufacturing those types of products,” explained Meehan.

Inspired, Trout commissioned Meehan to create an artwork that would honor the home his family lost as they begin to rebuild.

“I just gave him those two pieces of wood, and he says, ‘What do you want me to do?’ and I said, ‘Just run with it,’” said Trout.

From the wreckage came an artwork that included charred beams from the front of Trout’s home. The colors echo his favorite surfboard, also lost in the fire.

“What a great tribute to the house, without being too heavy and emotional, just to put a piece of the remaining house as the stringer in the art,” said Trout.

It’s not just art, it’s resilience made visible in the wake of loss.

“I don’t know how to help and whatnot, so if there’s something that I can do to help preserve one family’s memory in a small way, then it feels good to just do something nice,” said Meehan.

Once Trout’s Pacific Palisades home is rebuilt, the new artwork will be hung in his office where his favorite surfboard once stood.