The Wine, Wood, and Waves Series by Surfboard Artist Michael Rumsey

Introducing a New Collection of Wood Surfboards Handrafted with Old-Growth Redwood Reclaimed From Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks

Mike’s works included within the Wine, Wood, and Waves Collection are one-of-a-kind works of original fine art with a coolness factor that’s hard to beat.

The wood surfboards in this collection are not only decorative, they are also classified as functional fine art; they are meticulously built and shaped to be ride-worthy.

Each piece possesses an organic – almost visceral – appeal that cannot always be captured with words or photographs.

When placed in the right space, whether as a singular statement piece or as part of a more comprehensive collection, these pieces create interesting and meaningful focal points.

And each piece can serve as a fantastic conversation starter, as well!

A Word from The Artist on Artistic Inspiration

The inspiration behind the pieces within my Wine, Wood, and Waves Series came from my respect – reverence, really – for the redwood trees themselves.

I started working in the lumber industry when I was still in high school. And here I am – fifty years later – still enjoying the unique properties, grain patterns, natural colors, and malleability of many different lumber species.

Since I’m known for my knowledge of lumber and willingness to experiment with reclaimed material in my art, my friend, surfing buddy, and builder extraordinaire, Bob, called me when he was ready to move forward with the disposition of a load of reclaimed lumber.

At first, I wasn’t sure if this was a project I wanted to pursue. I work from my home-based studio in San Diego and I don’t have a lot of space to stack long lengths of lumber. My wife encouraged me to just go take a look. And I’m so glad I did.

Be sure to check out the surfboards handmade from a variety of lumber species not included in the Wine, Wood, and Waves Series.

surfboard artist shaping decorative wood surfboards

As a surfer and shaper, Michael Rumsey cares about the integrity of each board’s shape with respect to the correct rocker, dome, bottom contour, thickness and shape of rails, etc.

As I began working with the wood, I realized the red wine previously fermented and stored in this tank had permeated the wood – resulting in colorful staining and a unique aromatic experience. During the ripping, cutting, and sanding, I’d get an occasional whiff of red wine. And it still smelled pretty good! The natural colors I’ve seen so far have ranged from light pink to very dark plum – and everything in between including rose, violet, burgundy, burnt orange, brick red, and rich tawny.

I feel a sense of gratitude every time I work with this wood.

I’m grateful for my clients and collectors who appreciate handcrafted works of original fine art.

I’m grateful for the surfing industry experts and master shapers whose advice and support are invaluable. And for my surfing buddy, Bob, who procured the reclaimed lumber and called me.

I’m grateful for the lumbermen, the mill workers, the coopers and the vintners – who may have played a role in every one of the works in this series.

Most of all, I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with this extraordinary, straight-grain, old-growth redwood. I sincerely hope I’m honoring the life of the redwood tree with my art.

There aren’t many old-growth redwood trees remaining in forests – of those remaining, most are protected (hopefully forevermore).

And most wineries have replaced the large redwood foudres, tanks, and casks with new vessels made from oak or stainless steel. Yet, the artistry of both winemaking and woodworking have remained largely unchanged. I think that’s pretty remarkable. Especially in today’s fast-paced, digital-download, mass-produce-everything world.

I’d like to imagine that the provenance associated with each individual piece in the Wine, Wood, and Waves Collection will serve as the foreword to the story – while the rest of the story is yours to create.

Please contact me here if you have any questions or would like to discuss acquiring one of the works in this series.

Materials & Technique

Materials: Red wine permeated redwood lumber (reclaimed from dismantled wine tanks) and one or more of the following; walnut, maple, curly redwood, flame redwood, paulownia, and/or basswood. Please see the details for each individual piece within this series for the specific species used in each surfboard.

Finish: Either a hybrid clear polyurethane finish sanded to a matte finish, or a clear epoxy resin finish polished to a semi-gloss shine, or traditional fiberglass cloth and clear resin polished to a high-gloss shine.

Technique: I use the strip-build technique along with my proprietary system of steaming, strapping, clamping, bending, glue-up, and multiple stages of rough sanding through finish sanding to achieve my desired design and shape of each piece.

The strip-build technique involves placing a single and very thin strip of wood, one-strip-at-a-time, over the top of a chambered or hollow wood frame. Similar to the internal construction of an airplane wing, the hollow frame has a spar and ribs to provide shape and strength without adding weight.

woman standing near a large wooden wine tank at a california winery

Example of large redwood wine tanks used during the 1920s at many California Wineries.

Grateful

Title of Artwork: Grateful

Artist: Michael Rumsey

Medium: Wood

Deck: Book Matched Figured Walnut, Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks.

Bottom: Paulownia, Curly Redwood, Curly Maple, Mahogany, and Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks, Turquoise Stone inlaid Tail Block.

Finish: Satin. Hybrid Polyurethane Clear Finish.

Dimensions: 6’ 2” x 22-½” No Fins

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy. The deck displays well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation. The bottom displays best in a vertical orientation.

Shape: “Fish”

Description: A finless “Fish” shaped hollow wood surfboard. The deck showcases the book matched figured walnut delta surrounded by a field of the wine-stained reclaimed redwood. The bottom features a series of stylized wave artwork and a tailblock made from several different species of lumber plus inlaid turquoise stone.

Availability: Sold

Tanked

Title of Artwork: Tanked

Artist: Michael Rumsey

Medium: Wood

Deck: Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks, and Paulownia.

Bottom: Paulownia, Book-matched Curly Redwood, Maple, and Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks.

Finish: Semi-gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 8’ 2” x 22-½” No Fins

Display Orientation: Both Deck and Bottom of this piece are display-worthy. The deck displays well in both vertical or horizontal orientation. The bottom displays well in both vertical or horizontal orientation.

Shape: “Gun”

Description: A finless “Gun” shaped hollow wood surfboard. The deck showcases the wine-stained reclaimed redwood offset with paulownia pin-lines. The bottom features book-matched curly redwood, paulownia, and maple.

Availability: Sold

Crushed

Title of Artwork: Crushed

Artist: Michael Rumsey

Medium: Wood

Deck: Book-Matched Flamed Redwood, Paulownia, and Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks.

Bottom: Paulownia, and Redwood

Finish: Semi-gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 6’ x 19” No Fins

Shape: “Diamond Tail”

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy. The deck displays well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

The bottom displays well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Availability: Sold

Full-Bodied

Title of Artwork: Full-Bodied

Artist: Michael Rumsey

Medium: Wood

Deck: Paulownia and Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks

Bottom: Paulownia

Finish: Semi-gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 43” No Fins

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy. The deck displays well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

The bottom displays well either in a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Shape: “Paipo”

Description: A finless “Paipo” shaped hollow wood bodyboard.

Availability: Sold

Legs

Title of Artwork: Legs

Artist: Michael Rumsey

Medium: Wood

Deck: Paulownia, Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks, Inlaid Abalone.

Bottom: Paulownia

Finish: Semi-gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 43” No Fins

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy. The deck displays well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation and the inlaid abalone tailblock will sparkle in the right light. The bottom displays well either in a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Shape: “Paipo”

Description: A finless “Paipo” shaped hollow wood bodyboard.

Availability: Sold

Petite

Title of Artwork: Petite

Artist: Michael Rumsey

Medium: Wood

Deck: Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks, Figured Redwood, Poplar, Basswood, Paulownia, Koa, and Teak.

Bottom: Paulownia, and Redwood.

Finish: Semi-gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 6’ x 19-3/4” No Fins

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy. The deck displays best a vertical orientation. The bottom displays well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Shape: “Sting”

Description: A finless “Sting” shaped hollow wood surfboard. The deck showcases the reclaimed redwood and also sports a baby sea turtle motif made from koa and teak. The bottom is made from mostly paulownia with redwood pin lines.

Availability: Sold

Provenance

Title of Artwork: Provenance

Medium: Wood

Deck: Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wine Tanks, Flamed Redwood

Bottom: Light and Dark Redwood, Paulownia

Finish: Gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 7’ 2-½” x 20-¼” No Fins

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy and display equally well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Shape: “Gun”

Description: A classic 70s “Gun” shaped hollow wood surfboard with an insert made from flamed redwood that glows in the right light. Paulownia pin lines.

Corked

Title of Artwork: Corked

Medium: Wood

Deck: Redwood and Basswood.

Bottom: Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wine Tanks.

Finish: Gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 46-½” x 22-¾” No Fins

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy and display equally well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Shape: “Tombstone”

Description: A finless “Tombstone” shaped hollow wood bodyboard.

Finesse

Title of Artwork: Finesse

Medium: Wood

Deck: Burled Redwood, Figured Maple, Poplar. Paulownia and Wine-Stained Redwood.

Bottom: Wine-Stained Redwood and Paulownia.

Finish: Semi-Gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 7’ 2” x 20-1/2” No Fins

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy and display equally well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Shape: “Round Pin Fun Board”

Description: This hollow wood surfboard glows under the right lighting. Check out the images below to see the difference in color when placed outdoors (natural sunlight) versus indoor under lighting. The burled redwood, design, and pin lines give this piece a sense of motion – just sitting still.

Burgundy

Title of Artwork: Burgundy

Artist: Michael Rumsey

Medium: Wood

Deck & Bottom: Redwood, Paulownia, and Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wooden Wine Tanks.

Finish: Semi-gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 6’ x 20-1/2” No Fins

Shape: “Square Tail”

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy and can be placed as either vertical or horizontal orientation.

Availability: Sold

Blend

Title of Artwork: Blend

Availability: Sold

Medium: Wood

Deck & Bottom: Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wine Tanks, Paulownia, and regular Redwood.

Finish: Semi-gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 6’ 4” x 22” No Fins

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy and display equally well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Shape: “Fish” 

Description: A finless “Fish” shaped hollow wood surfboard with a deep single-barrel concave bottom to go along with the deep color of the wine-stained wood. I also used some paulownia and regular redwood, too.

Uncorked

Title of Artwork: Uncorked

Medium: Wood

Deck & Bottom: Wine-Stained Redwood Reclaimed from Dismantled Wine Tanks.

Finish: Gloss. Clear epoxy resin.

Dimensions: 46-½” x 21” No Fins

Orientation: Both the deck and bottom of this piece are display-worthy and display equally well in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Shape: “Tombstone”

Description: A finless “Tombstone” shaped hollow wood bodyboard.

Availability: Sold