Norval Watson was born in Australia in 1957. He first hit the surf beach at Noosa Heads at six months old. An early introduction to bodysurfing in the sunny, fully frothing waves of Evans Head had him hooked on the surf for life. He began repairing and then building surfboards as a very young teenager, and later went on to work for surfboard manufacturers around Australia for the next 30 years. In 1990 he created a pop-up show of paintings in a warehouse in South Melbourne, and has exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions since then.