Surfboard artwork has evolved to become a popular trend in the modern world, offering a unique and vibrant touch to interior design. Beyond their traditional use in water sports, surfboards have found a new purpose as artistic statements and eye-catching accents in homes, offices, and commercial spaces. With their sleek shapes, vibrant colors, and distinctive designs, surfboards add a sense of adventure, freedom, and coastal charm to any environment. Whether displayed as wall art, repurposed as furniture, or incorporated into themed spaces, surfboard artwork brings the spirit of the ocean into the modern aesthetic, allowing individuals to express their love for surfing culture and embrace a laid-back, beach-inspired vibe.

   

 

Check out Laguna Beach wave artist Shaun Thomas’ new surfboard wall art collection. Perfect fit for the surfer enthusiast looking for artistic surfboards. Although new or used boards do look cool as surfboard wall art, these pieces in particular really pops off the wall with the contrasting colors of dark walnut stained wood and the vibrant colors of the wave art. It goes well in many coastal themed rooms and offered in various sizes from to accommodate any sized room. To learn more about sizing and pricing on this surfboard wall art, click here.

  To view Shaun Thomas’ artwork in person, come visit his coastal inspired Laguna Beach Art Gallery where you can find his modern ocean wave art and wood wave sculptures on display. Laguna Beach Art Gallery - Learn More      

Ride the Wave with Artistic Surfboards and Stunning Wall Art

by Artist Shaun Thomas

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what is a fish shaped surfboard?

 

Fish surfboards refer to the tail setup of the surfboard. There are different types of fish surfboards from hybrid fish to retro fish and more. Becoming popular back in the seventies, right around the time the surf world was transitioning from a single fin, todays fish’s can be seen with have 2, 3 or even 4 fins. Fish surfboards typically have short and wide templates, packing in more foam, which results to more buoyancy, ease of catching waves and tighter turns in the pocket. From small to large waves, the board is a blast! Capable of handling all types of conditions.

Growing up, Shaun Thomas’ often switched from riding his traditional short board, to the fish shaped board quite often. This shape reminds him of the long hot summer days as a kid playing around in the water – not a worry in the world. That’s what this wooden mini surfboard wall art represents – nothing but positive vibes.

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3,000+ Years of Surf Culture and Art: From Peru to North America

 

Surfing for Food

The Peruvian coastline has been a rich source of diverse seafood for thousands of years. While most local tribes (the pre-Columbian Moche and Chimu cultures) started fishing from the shoreline thousands of years ago, at some point, a clever fisherperson came up with the idea of building a raft that would get past the waves to a wider abundance of available seafood. The first generation of reed-woven surfing raft was born, called a Tup, according to research of native languages from that era. When Spaniards landed in the area several thousand years later, they called the rafts caballito de totora, a name still used today. The culture of fishing by surfing is first found in artistic representations from 3,000 years ago. There are ancient Peruvian clay sculptures and pottery art that depict these early surfers, with one sculpted piece using a flatter surface instead of the forward curved shape.

Polynesian Surfing Travels to Hawaii

Polynesia, which translates as “Many Islands” covers a large area of islands in the east-central area of the Pacific Ocean. In the Polynesian culture, prestige was bestowed by how well one could surf, with the clan leader being the most proficient surfer. Over the centuries, Polynesians spread out to find better places to live, including Hawaii, where the same cultural structure of best surfers received the most societal accolades. Hawaiian nobility used carved, polished redwood surfboards sized up to 25 feet, while the rest of the population used smaller sizes. Many of these surfboards weighed close to 100 pounds, which meant that surfers had to be strong enough to carry and maneuver these boards both on land and water. Fins were later added to the bottom design to assist in better directional control. Surfing in the Hawaiian culture was based on ancient principles of faith rather than necessity. Trees (redwood and Acacia koa) were carefully chosen, then carved to board specifications of the owner. The final step was to have a priest bless the board before launching into the water. For a time, surfing in Hawaii was repressed by the influx of European missionaries, but once this influence dissipated, surfing quickly returned, with visiting Americans picking up the sport and bringing it back to the United States, specifically to California.

The American Surfing Craze

In the United States, the traditional surfboard design began changing quickly, such as shortening the board down to between 6 and 10 feet. Instead of using redwood, South American balsa wood was used, creating a lighter hollowed-out board that would manage better in the water. George Freeth and Tom Blake were two instrumental designers to these early innovative changes. Wooden surfboard décor and artistic embellishments began to appear on surfboards as surfers looked for ways to establish their identity on the water. Later versions of surfboards used different materials such as Styrofoam or polyurethane foam, encased in a fiberglass coating. Advanced artistic designs and bright colors were applied to personalize boards, then covered and easily protected by the fiberglass coat. With this new ability to preserve board art, artists (surfers or not) began to expand their horizons and channels for sharing their artistic design work through board marketing and advertising venues.  

Surf’s Up: The Rise of Surfboard Artwork

A new riotous culture of surfboard art (i.e., surfboard tabletops) developed, with multiple art forms clearly influencing each other in surfboard wall art (paintings, posters), wood surfboard wall art, surfboard wall décor (carvings, sculpting), even using some of the same surfboard materials of fiberglass, resins, polymers, and more. Several famous artists who influenced surf art in the early days are Drew Brophy, Rick Griffin, and more. Magazines started publishing the latest news in surfing and art design while movies highlighted the world of surfing through story plots, usually successfully. Surfing also influenced music, starting in the late 1950s and expanding further into the next decade. Popular names of surf-inspired musicians and groups are The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Chuck Berry, Dick Dale, and many more who came later. Custom painted surfboard wall art will always continue to evolve and change over time, much like the waves that this genre of art represents. Surfing will never lose its exciting enticement of going back to the sea because there is always a new wave to experience.

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