While I'm here on Maui I'm getting to know a couple of artists that not only create works of art in the surfboards they make, they're all about relationship and collaboration in how they make the boards and in how they live their lives.
Meet husband and wife team Joey and Tiana Mattos of Kihei, Hawaii on the island of Maui...owners and artists at Maker Surfboards www.makersurfboards.com, working together to build a foundation of love, respect, and light in every surfboard they make.
For surfers, boards are not just the piece of foam they ride on the waves, boards become an extension of their own bodies to take them places they've only dreamed of. Joey and Tiana (native to Maui and surfers themselves) spend time with their customers getting to know them and learning about them in order to be able to create the kind of boards that will work best for them out on the waves and will also look and feel good to their customers that they can feel a part of as they surf. It really is about both function and about style.
I had the honor of getting to experience part of their creative process as they invited me into their side by side shops to watch them work.
Joey is a Shaper. This is his side of the shop. He takes the generic foam molds and shapes them, customizing their specifications for each customer (taking into considerations the height and size of the person, what the person wants to be able to do with the board, i.e. if it's a long board or a short board, etc.)
Tiana is a Glasser. This is her side of the shop. Glassing is the process of applying fiberglass cloth and resin to seal the board with protection for the water. It's also the process of adding color and design to make the board unique to the customers specifications.
SHAPING
Joey uses a number of tools to sand and shape the chunky foam mold into a streamlined surface. I can tell that Joey's precision with measurements and even the slightest touch of sanding has come from years of experience knowing what it feels like for a body to extend to a board and to aerodynamically ride through and over water together. He's a master sculptor forming and shaping that foam.
GLASSING
Tiana hand mixes colors from a limited palette available in the industry, which she then adds to the very toxic laminating resin. It's chemistry and it's a time consuming and painstaking process to correctly match the colors her customers have requested, but she takes pride in getting it right. While she mixes, Joey preps the board with tape and paper as a house painter preps a room. Once the colored resin is ready it is poured and squeegeed over fiberglass cloth that covers the foam board. This process of application is like a dance and has to be completed in time before the resin begins to set up.
There are many more steps in the process to create a finished board (adding additional design, adding the Maker logo to the board, buffing and polishing, adding the fins and other functional aspects, etc.). Though I haven't seen those finishing detailed steps as of yet, I have gotten to see some of their finished boards...and I must say that they truly are works of art.
But it's not just how good the board looks or even how good the board performs after it's completed that matters to Joey and Tiana. They put the hard work in to shaping and glassing the boards they create but they also put the hard work in to building relationships with their customers that make a difference. These guys are legit.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting to be in their creative spaces and to watch their creative process as a team. Joey and Tiana Mattos are surfboard artists.
Here is an example of a board created by Maker Surfboards
(taken from photos on their Instagram)
Maker Surfboards
Function and Style
Support Local
Check out their website www.makersurfboards.com and catch them on Instagram @makersurfboards to view boards they've created and to learn more about who they are and what they do as surfboard makers.
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