Archives: Surfboard Art
THE WALL – Pat Rawson and Otis Schaper, two musicians in harmony. The 11th surfboard for the 15 Surfboards/15 Shapers project was orchestrated by two musically talented individuals, Pat Rawson, renowned shaper and virtuoso piano player, and Otis Schaper, experienced laminator and lyrical song writer and guitarist. The musical talent of each was unbeknownst to me and surfaced after the board had been completed. Their surfboard building talents preceded them long before I met them. I met Pat Rawson at the 2013 Surf Expo trade show in Orlando, Florida. At the time I was looking to Hawaii for the eleventh… Continue reading
A board worth traveling for. And travel I did! 2400 miles of sleep inducing, white knuckle steering, city-side, country-side, bridges and tunnels byways, junk food munching, day and night, rain and heat, music and talk shows of all kind, or not, driving. All this for a 5’6″ custom made Spirare Surfboard. Spirare what!? Spirare, the Latin word meaning ‘to breathe’, is the creation of Kevin Cunningham. A graduate from the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, Kevin resides in Providence, Rhode Island and shapes out of a brick-stone building in the heart of one of the oldest cities in the… Continue reading
As Neil Everett, ESPN’s SportsCenter anchor, likes to say on Top Plays, “She’s a beauty that number nine”. Born in the dead of a Carolina winter, she measures in at 8’6” and has the shape of a mini nose rider. Draped in a vintage photo from the North Shore of Oahu she strikes an alluring pose. Her name, “Legends in the Dark”. Her creator has won six East Coast surfing titles and lives on the OBX of North Carolina. He’s a superb chef, preparing and presenting home cook meals to mouth-watering perfection. He’s married to a charming red-haired beauty—his cooking… Continue reading
It’s fitting to include in the 15 Boards 15 Shapers surfboard art project a surfboard made in Puerto Rico. That is where I dedicated so much time to photography and surfing, the two underlying passions this project is based on. A number of very talented shapers reside on the island, but my desire was to work with Nestor Ramirez of Pelicano Surfboards. Nestor’s reputation for quality workmanship was undeniable and, fortunately for me, he became a willing collaborator on the eighth board in the project.
Coincidence is an amazing fact of life. It happens unexpectedly and is always surprising though it’s not necessarily of any significance. Sometimes it’s just interesting. Such was the case with the origin of board #7. I’ve been waiting for a board like this one. A surfboard that’s retro but has modern characteristics such as in the nose and tail rocker, V bottom contour and light weight construction. And a black and white print that’s indicative of earlier times in photography.
He is given six photographs to choose an inlay for a surfboard from but skips over the obvious choices (waves or anything relating to surfing). Rather he chooses an image that doesn’t make sense, figuratively or literally. I knew then that I was working with an individual willing to take a chance, make a statement and stand by it! Matt Kechele is said person and the shaper of what would become the sixth surfboard in my Surfboard Art project. His ‘outside the box’ thinking assured me I’d be working with a shaper who, like the others that preceded him, would… Continue reading