board#076: shortboard for Leo

great artwork by Leo's wife!

dimensions: 6'1 x 18 1/2 x 2 1/8
[completed in December 2014]
Model Vavit

The story: Leo got to try one of my Vedette model from his friend, Rudy Marechal. He then contacted me to get his own. I met him one night to discuss the shape and I quickly realized that Leo was the sweetest Brazilian surfer I ever met (He came to my house with some incense sticks as a gift. Those lasted longer than flowers!). We had a very animated discussion about his board (animated in a good way, with a lot of idea exchanges). I was so stoked to be shaping for such a nice person. Later I met his wife and son. And they happened to be as nice as him. What a cute happy family!

The shape: Leo was very torn about what to get exactly. He went back and forth a couple of times on his decision but after talking to my Mère-Made technical advisor/consultant (my hubby) he was set on a classic shortboard shape with a narrow pointy nose and a lot of rocker to handle steep waves. I always enjoy shaping that shape. Round tails are definitely my favorite! Of course I carved a deep single to double concave to complete this old style shortboard shape.

The artwork: Leo's wife volunteered to take care of the artwork. It was the first time I was handing a shaped blank to someone. She came over to the house in order to get some details/instructions about painting directly on the foam. And she did a terrific job! She followed every single advice except the one about paying extra attention to an unglassed board…. But few days later I gave them the board I got a text from Leo saying the just painted board fell and got damaged. Fortunately the dings were fixable by the glass job (thank you Johnny at Global Glassing) and they were almost unnoticeable on the glassed board. 

Time to leave for other horizons but with a Mere-Made in the trunk!

board#068: mini-gun for Vincent

Dimensions: 6'2 x 18 x 2 1/8
[completed in October 2014]
Model Vavit

The story: In 2010 I was shaping a mini-gun for Vincent which displayed all the authentic signatures of the Switchfoot band members (click here to see board#010). It was a real collector as the band got to see it at the Switchfoot Bro-Am and I got interviewed on the spot by John Foreman himself !!! But most of all, it was a very nice shape. So nice that Vincent took it to his Fiji surf trip but it never returned home. The board broke and, of course, the part with the autographs got lost at sea…
In 2014 and 58 boards later, I shaped Vincent another one.

The shape: I got to use a Clark foam blank I  found at Mitch's in Solana Beach. Same shape except I was 58 board more experienced when I shaped this one. It probably took me 1/4 of the time I spent on the first one.

The artwork: Vincent's keywords for his board were: "color + fast vibe" which I translated into a "Ferrari red + race car stripes". The logos are matching the white stripes. The ultralight glass was done at Global Glassing.

The testimonial: Vincent picked that board for our trip on the North Shore. And he surfed it there. That means a lot. Also I got a very special guest giving his opinion on this board: master shaper Eric Arakawa himself looked at it and give me some very positive feed-back, with a bit of criticism too to make me improve (see when I met Eric here)!
Yep, that board, like her previous version, is very special again.

removing tape after spray painting is sooooo cool

About to be judged by one of the best (if not the best) shapers in the world!

board #010: mini-gun for Vincent

Dimension: 6'2 x 18 x 2
[completed in April 2012]

Few month ago my husband broke his mini-gun (see post:"the bad news is... the good news is..."). It was the opportunity to add another Mère-Made to his quiver! Like most of my boards, I used an existing board (the one he broke) as a template. It is really helpful to have the actual board I am "copying" on hand as a comparison. In particular, I like to have a feel of the rails as a reference.

This board was completed pretty quickly as I am starting to get used to my husband's special requests (board #010 is his 4th Mère-Made board!!!). I shaped him two short boards and a modern fish. He is ruining my business by asking for boards all the time ;) The glassing was done also very fast (2 weeks!) at Global Glassing (Oceanside). They know exactly what my husband wants: 4 ounces all over, tail pad, deck patch and Team light resin. You guys rock!

Now about the design. To make a short story even shorter, my hubby and I are both huge fans of the Encinitas-based rock band, Switchfoot. I was in the middle of shaping board #010 when I attended a Switchfoot accoustic concert at La Jolla Playhouse. I went there equipped: I brought a sheet of rice paper (a special paper which "disappears" under the glass) and I had the whole band sign it. My board, not only features the Switchfoot logo, but is also personally autographed. How cool is that ??? No need to say that this board is very precious to me. Although it was shaped for big swells, I hope its rider will not break it soon. 

I spray-painted the Switchfoot logo

the Mere-Made logo shrinked
to make more room for the Switchfoot logo

a Famous pad for a famous board ;)

the design wraps around the rails

Disclaimer:
A Switchfoot board does NOT make you a good guitar player

Yep, this board is autographed by Switchfoot.

this one is staying home ;) YEAH!!!!!

the owner of board#010 is in love

The font used for the signature was downloaded
from a Switchfoot fan who created a Jon Foreman font...

from left to right: a shy Surfmama101, Drew Shirley,
Chad Butler (in the middle of signing the rice paper),
Jon Foreman, my BFF Carine, Jerome Fontamillas and Tim Foreman.