Sporting eighteen newly hatched baby sea turtles that made the mad dash from their nest to the ocean, this piece is titled “First Swim.”
I used several hundred strips and small segments of wood from a variety of species to build this hollow wood surfboard using the strip-build technique. I used koa wood for their shells, teak for their heads and flippers, and mahogany, poplar, wenge, walnut, curly redwood, pine, and paulownia for the ocean water and trailing streams of motion created by swimming honu.
This piece was accepted by the jury for placement in the prestigious Design in Wood International Competitive Exhibition in 2016 where it won three awards.
Always a show favorite. Everybody loves baby sea turtles!
This longboard measures 8’ x 21″ x 3″
