Last month I had the opportunity to create an original design on a surfboard to donate to the silent auction at the John Kelly Awards on November 14th, 2015 at Waimea Valley. The yearly event is hosted by Surfrider Foundation to "recognize those who have made the greatest contributions towards protecting or enhancing our coastal community and environment." I was supplied with a shortboard via Surfboard Factory Outlet Hawaii and told I could create whatever I desired.
When deciding what to paint on the board, I took my current inspiration of night skies/ galaxy art and translated that into something more meaningful and appropriate for this event...an underwater scene. The ocean depths and underwater world so often remind me of space and I wanted to portray this in my piece. I used royal blues and purple/maroon swirls reminiscent of those seen in photos of galaxies and nebulas; dotted with white bubbles/ foam that reminded me of stars and clouds. I added starfish (because, well, they are star shaped ;) and jellyfish because they have always reminded me of celestial alien beings.
After a few technical mishaps and false starts, I was off and running with my design and finished it in about 3 days. Overall I am pretty happy with how it turned out and am even happier that it ended up finding a great home after the auction! Many thanks to the organizations mentioned above for allowing me to participate in this event and give back. Aloha!
Colleen
Jellyfish undersea surfboard design by Colleen Wilcox