Surf's Up!

It's no accident that a lot of driftwood art seems to represent life by or on the sea: boats, fish, whales, dolphins, mermaids and so on. I am no exception to this. The first thing I ever made with driftwood was a fish and then I made another one. Since then I have made giant squid, more fish, a sea turtle, a miniature shark (see last post) and some boho surf shacks.

These surf shacks are pleasing to make for being relatively simple and quick. A lot of what I make involves several stages over many days as I build up to the final form and mostly this time is waiting for glue to dry. I like to use Gorilla Glue because, although it takes a few hours to dry completely, it is very strong and things are stuck fast.

Reverse side

The surf shacks involve several similar length pieces of driftwood, painted or not, then glued together and onto a piece of wood that will have the fixing attached (I like to use brass hooks onto a length of pallet wood which is free and easy to collect almost everywhere). 

The joy for me is in the smaller details: door knobs, the surfboards, and the signs. The surfboard below came with that pattern embossed on it. I have no idea what it is but it has that Tahiti vibe. All I did was to use a bronze Sharpie to bring out the pattern that was already there. I added the seaweed last, not sure at the time if it would 'live' for very long but I have discovered that if it is collected when dry and remains in a dry room, then it is as durable as driftwood.

For the surf board in the picture below, I again used a bronze Sharpie to give it a seventies design. The wording for the Surf Shack is a silver Sharpie. The door for this one had a knot in the wood that looked like a door knob so was an obvious choice.

It's nice sometimes to have something that can be made relatively quickly (2 hours) and that I have made before. Usually, I only make one of something and then try something else because I like everything to be unique but I can still add different details to each surf shack and vary their colours, size, and the little details that can make each of them unique. 




I think they make cool gifts for surfers and beach hut owners. I am tempted to try making a fully 3D surf shack at this size (approx. 8-12 inches high), perhaps with interior fixtures and fittings, maybe with a door that opens or a roof that lifts off but that's a whole lot more work...

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