Art for surf's sake

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

If Vincent Van Gogh's famous bedroom in Arles can adorn a coffee cup, and if Edvard Munch's "The Scream" can be brought to 3-D life as a blow-up punching bag, and if Michelangelo's "David" can pull double duty as a refrigerator magnet, then who's to begrudge history buff Kent Reisdorff from tastefully decorating his surfboard with the gory death of Joseph Warren at the battle of Bunker Hill?

Graphic design artist Laura Powers has been decorating surfboards for 38 years. She works out of a studio in Waialua. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Reisdorff — one of many surf enthusiasts who have found that a touch of art, be it high or low, is a good, usually affordable way to display their personality on their boards — had wanted to customize his fun board with the Trumbull piece, but wasn't sure where to go to get permission.

He contacted the Smithsonian Institution, which put him in contact with curators from the Wadsworth, who couldn't have been more thrilled.

"I expected them to say, 'No way. Are you crazy? This is a major work of art. You can't put this on a surfboard,' " Reisdorff says, laughing.

Instead, the museum sent Reisdorff its encouragement along with a disk holding an image of the art. When Reisdorff completed his project three months later, the museum hyped the unique undertaking with a news release on its Web site.

"They were totally behind it," Reisdorff says.

Shaping an Identity

Kent Reisdorff, a longtime history buff, reproduced a famous painting of the battle of Bunker Hill on his board. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Tammy Foster, 16, of Kahala, has a pair of dolphins and some tiny hibiscus painted at the nose of her long board.

"I love dolphins," she says. "That's something all my friends know about me. The hibiscus is just to give it a more Hawaiian flavor. I just like being able to look down and see those when I'm out there waiting for a wave."

Down the rails of the board are the signatures of Foster's closest friends, marked in indelible ink and preserved with a coat of resin.

"That way, no matter what, I have my friends with me every time I go out," she says.

Laura Powers, a surfboard artist for 38 years, says business has never been better, thanks largely to young women like Foster.

"Girls are really making it a boom for business," says Powers, herself a former competitive surfer. "They like the flowery designs and the feminine colors. They're different than guys."

Powers is one of a dozen or so Hawai'i artists who have been able to make a living working almost exclusively on surfboards. The easiest and most plentiful work comes from applying stock designs, but Powers says she also gets regular requests for more elaborate projects. She's done everything from monk seals to a Hawaiian coat of arms to the Hinano beer girl.

"I'm a great reproducer," she says.

Powers, 57, got her start right out of high school in 1966, glossing boards for a shaper in Southern California. As she gained experience, she found opportunities to explore her talents using pigmented resins to create unique surfboard art.

"It was hard work, and I got paid almost nothing," she said. "But in your youth, you'll do anything to feel your identity. I started out in surfing, and I never graduated from it."

In 1975, Powers married and moved to Santa Cruz, working in as many as five surf shops at one time to make ends meet. It was during that time that she started to dabble in the emerging art of air-brushing. By the time she moved to Hawai'i in 1987, she had enough experience to land a job with renowned shaper Glen Minami.

Powers has worked for herself for the past decade, getting steady work from shapers, surf shops and private referrals. In a busy week, she may work on as many as 30 boards. Stock work can be done for as little as $20; more involved pieces can cost $450 or more.

"In general, though, surfers don't usually have a lot of money to spend," Powers says. "That's not what they're into."

Using a projector and stencils, Powers says, she can re-create just about anything a person could want on a board. She's recreated patriotic themes, tapa designs, even a client's tattoo.

And while she's not always comfortable with the requests she gets — before she became a Christian five years ago, Powers says she did intricate paintings of a devil, an R-rated femme fatale, and other edgy subjects — Powers says she never judges a surfer by the board.

"I don't look at anyone as strange or stupid or crazy," she says.

"People identify with their picture or their color or their idea. It's in their head and it's a part of them. I respect whatever it is that they feel represents them."

Board artist to the stars

Turtle Bay Resort surf instructor Drew Toonz, left, and Josh Lang go out to catch some waves. Toonz designs board art. His personal board features Spider-Man, a dog and the Olsen twins. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

He's already working on another board for Sandler with a "50 First Waves" theme, as well as one for Cameron Diaz, which will play off a "Shrek" theme.

Toonz, who studied animation in Philadelphia before moving to Hawai'i, uses spray paint, air brush, pens and other media to create his sprawling, often humorous designs.

"I don't do much flowers," he says. "Most of what I do is more punk rock. I like absurd, off-the-wall stuff."

Indeed, some of Toonz' boards — including one showing a beauty pageant degenerating into a pie-throwing riot — bear a passing resemblance to punk album covers of the 1980s a la Black Flag or the Minutemen. Toonz' own board features tweaked images of Spider-Man, the Olsen twins and a hodgepodge of others.

While the end results have the look and feel of spontaneous creation, Toonz says he carefully considers each piece before he starts.

"I look very carefully at the shape of the board, do a lot of research, sketch out my ideas, then I spend a few days laying down the pencil," he says. "That whole process comes first. The actual painting is done in a few hours.

"Some artists are very careful, very symmetrical," Toonz says. "I'm messy. I don't like polish."

'Just something to do'

Kent Reisdorff's mounted a bayonet on his display-only "Bunker Hill" surfboard. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Reisdorff, 37, says the Bunker Hill board is a natural outgrowth of his love for history, and his particular fascination with the story of famous battles.

"The battle occurred early in the war, and the guys were far outnumbered," he says. "They waited until the very last minute before they fired — when they were just 50 yards away — and they turned them back three times before they ran out of ammunition. It was really an incredible story."

Hilo Ohtakagi shows off the surfboard art she has created. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Once the image was set and the dates of the battle carefully applied, Reisdorff added the crowning touch: a real-life bayonet from the Revolutionary War that he obtained from an antiques dealer in Pennsylvania.

"I took the board to the park to take some pictures and this guy asked if he could have the bayonet," Reisdorff says. "I had to say no. I thought he might actually stick it on his board to clear a path when he goes surfing."

While the Bunker Hill board was intended for display purposes only, Reisdorff couldn't resist taking it out for a test ride.

"I actually took it out a couple of times," he says. "And it got dinged."

The Bunker Hill board was Reisdorff's second surfboard-as-canvas project. The first, which he gave away as a gift, featured a photo of the USS Arizona moments after it was bombed, and was designed in a black-and-white motif with gold-leaf accents. He's working on another board that will include a Richard Petty stock car. He already has the chrome paint to match.

"It's a learning experience," he says. "But it's a lot of fun."

Reach Michael Tsai at 535-2461 or mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.