A childhood spent among eager skate rats in Connecticut eventually pointed Mat O'Brien in the direction of San Francisco, a melting pot for all types of skateboarders. The distinctive lines Mat draws—both on paper and while riding a skateboard—offer just a small peek at the creativity teeming inside his mind. Now living in Portland, it seems like if Mat's not steeping in some sort of creativity, he's pouring out a nice cup of it, whether it's for personal enjoyment or through Otherness, a radical little skateboard company he's got going on.