Old boards never die...

Angelique Flores

A broken surfboard, a paring knife, an emery board and a small drill are

all Michael Roberts needs to create a work of art.

The three-dimensional seascapes he carves from old surfboards reveal a

few things about the Huntington Beach artist. Roberts is a surfer, an

environmentalist and a stickler for detail.

The 54-year-old brick and stone mason began what he calls “board art”

about eight years ago.

“As I was surfing, I thought if I found a broken board, I’d do a

two-dimensional relief as an art project,” he recalled.

That day, the avid surfer did find a broken, abandoned board on the beach

as he was leaving. He took it home, removed the fiberglass from one

section and carved an intricate fish design in the foam, which he then

painted.

“I was hooked,” he remembers.

The experience brought together Roberts’ two passions -- surfing and art.

He used to carve tikis and furniture as a hobby, along with painting and

drawing.

As he whittled more two-dimensional underwater scenes on other old

boards, Roberts found himself cutting deeper and deeper until the works

evolved into three-dimensional pieces.

“He has reinvented the seascape,” said Darlene DeAngelo, curator of

exhibitions and programs at the Huntington Beach Art Center, where

Roberts’ work was on display during the Centered on the Center exhibit

last month.

Roberts’ artwork, which start at $1,200, have been featured in Surfing

magazine’s artist’s corner -- not surprising, because his art is also on

display at the Huntington Beach International Surf Museum.

“He’s very exacting,” said Ann Beasley, the museum’s ambassador. “He has

everything down to a science.”

In each seascape, everything must match: the logo, the fish, the board

and the base. But aesthetics aren’t all Roberts said he thinks about as

an artist. Detail and accuracy are just as important.

Roberts pores over books and magazines to research each fish, coral and

sponge before he makes his cuts.

“He sees it and remembers it in his head and transfers it to this,” said

his wife, Linda White, motioning to a piece that features an aqua-colored

fish swimming among coral. “He’s got an eye for things.”

And everyone notices his little touches, from the groupings of fish to

their size and color.

“Scuba divers tell him it looks exactly like it does down in the water,”

his wife said.

As a surfer, Roberts knows how important a logo is to the board. He keeps

the logos intact, incorporating the seascape around it and matching it to

the logo’s colors.

“It’s important that someone looks at it and knows it’s a surfboard,” he

said.

With the nose, stringer, fins and fiberglass intact on the uncarved

sections of the sculptures, there’s no mistaking these art pieces were

once ridable boards.

The art studio where Roberts brings broken boards back to life is a

corner of his living room near a large window where sunlight streams in.

Eight years ago at this workstation, White was sitting nearby eating an

apple and holding a paring knife. Roberts asked her if he could use the

knife. It became one of his first carving tools. Roberts also uses an

instrument that resembles a dentist’s drill, sandpaper, and an emery

board to create his works.

Above the artist’s corner is what his wife calls his shrine to surfing. A

surfer since he was teen, Roberts has about a dozen plaques from local

surf contests sitting on a table. Of course, he only enters Huntington

Beach contests.

“He’s very community-minded,” White said.

He is also environmentally conscious. By using only broken boards found

on the beach or given to him by friends, Roberts recycles.

“I don’t have the heart to cut a ridable board yet,” he said.

And he really doesn’t need to. With about 100 boards stacked in his

backyard, he has plenty of canvases.

He also retires broken “magic boards” for friends. These are boards that

have become special to a surfer and can sometimes be hard to part with,

he said.

“It’s not just art because it means something to them,” he said.

He is now carving a piece for Bob “The Greek” Bolen, an area real estate

agent, surfer and owner of Surfboards by the Greek.

“I’m waiting for the comedown when someone calls it a piece of junk,” he

said.