Simon's surf sculptures

I saw some shots of this rad lil resin sculpture of a surfer you made recently. What’s the story behind that?

I’m a graphic designer and did sculpture as a subject back in 1995. I have always loved the process and the tactile result. As much as I love painting and photography its still only 2 dimensional. As surfer I wanted to capture that exact pose that a surfer experiences and the have the ability to have a 3D view of this. There is really no arty farty hidden meaning behind my 3 pieces. Just love surfing.

Is this the first one you’ve done, and are there more on the way?

I have two more that are in production.  Hang 5 and a Bash off the lip. I still have 3 or 4 action poses that I would like to work on.

How do you actually make something like this out of resin? We think resin we think glassing a surfboard with runny gooey stuff. So how do you go about getting it to actually take a shape?

There are several ways to go about this. I start with sculptures wax and form the shape that I want. Wax is great as it really friendly to work with. Pop it in some hot water and it becomes soft and pliable. The finer details are done with anything from a tooth pick to dentist tools. Once I’m happy with the sculpture I make a rubber cast of two pieces around the form and strengthen with plaster of Paris. You pour resin into the cast and leave to set. Split the cast, remove and re-pour. If you have a good mould you can pop out several before the mould becomes unusable. Bronze powder is added to the resin this gives it a bronze like finish. Actual bronze pouring is very expensive and the process is that much more involved and time consuming. 

How long does it take to rustle one of this lil ou’s up?

The sculpting part can take as long as you want or need. I’ve been working on these little guys for 3 years now. The resin pouring part; if you had to work full time I would say 3 to 4 days.

Was this just a bit of a DIY project or is it something you’ll be doing commercially?

If someone was interested in a piece I’m happy to chat. I would only produce 15 pieces per pose in resin. And 5 in bronze.  Feel free to drop me a mail at [email protected]

Besides sculpture, are you into any other type of art like painting and stuff?

Love photography, more documentary style where the picture tells a story. Have not painted in years.

You’re a pretty creative ou, what with having your own design agency and all, have you ever put that creativity into designing your own board sprays?

I have with every custom board I’ve ordered. Some designs better than others!

Also spotted you were one of the Top 40 under 40 named by the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber – what’s the story behind that? And props for being the only surfer to make the grade!!

Thank you. Was nice to nominated and to be part of the process. Have met some really good passionate people that call PE their home.  My agency SimonSAYS adverting has been going for 11 years now. Have secured some really lekker clients in this time. Check our site at www.simonsays.co.za  for more one this.