Camarillo, CA — December 2, 2011 — Chuck Trunks' Precision Abstracts is featured in
The ACORN Newspaper. Story by Roxanne Estrada. Photographs by Claudia Pardo.
MAKING A SPLASH: SALES OF ART DECORATED SURFBOARDS TO BENEFIT OCEANS.
Hang it on a wall or hang ten on it across the face of a wave, a surfboard with brightly colored designs created by Camarillo pop artist Chuck Trunks is an eyeful, wet or dry.
Trunks used his distinctive, highly colorized artistic style to create surfboards that will be on display at the Photon Gallery in Ventura, just in time for Ventura’s Winter Wine Walk throughout downtown Ventura on Main Street tomorrow night.
Trunks first displayed his surfboard art last summer in Ventura County Museum of Art’s Splash Show.
The response was so positive that Trunks, a full-time artist, decided to use the surfboards as a way to give to charity.
Trunks said he plans to donate a portion of each board’s proceeds to Surfrider Foundation, a San Clemente- based nonprofit that protects oceans from pollution.
“The ocean is responsible for so much art inspiration,” Trunks said. “So I thought, why not create art that goes back to the ocean?”
Mds Surfboards in Newbury Park donates used surfboards to Trunks.
To prep the surfboard for his art, Trunks spends a day stripping the board of wax, dirt and stickers. He then prints his artwork on high-quality heavy vinyl with adhesive and lays it by hand on one side of the board. He leaves the sides and back of the board exposed to show the board has been used. Trunks said the shiny vinyl pairs well with the rough and tumbled board.
“The vinyl is super shiny and looks like wet candy,” Trunks said. “I intentionally leave the side untouched because I like the beaten look, like it has had a life. The art is now the board’s second life. There’s a real wow factor.”
The vinyl is sturdy, Trunks said, but can be removed if the board owner wants to change the design for something new.
Trunks said an owner can treat the vinyl-covered board like any surfboard and can surf on it, put wax on it and leave it outside. If the board is regularly being surfed on, the vinyl will last about four years.
“ I’ve never seen artwork like this, and it has a great vibe to it,” said Matt Sparks, owner of Mds Surfboards. “It fits a beach community because all his colors are bright and express happiness.”
Surfboards range in price from $ 200 to $ 400. To buy Trunks’ artwork as a print costs between $600 and $900. Trunks said he can also create custom artwork for a client.
“I think putting his art on surfboards was something very neat because it’s unique,” said Peter Duffey, owner of Photon Gallery. “It speaks to the people because it’s very Venturaesque.”
Trunks’ surfboards will be on display at the Photon Gallery, 522 E. Santa Clara St. in downtown Ventura, through the month of December. The gallery will be part of the Ventura Winter Wine Walk tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“We’re driven by the ocean because we live right beside it, and it brings us activities, food and family time,” Trunks said. “It has a certain place in people’s hearts. It’s part of our culture here. These surfboards are a gift back to the ocean.”
To see more of my work, please visit my website at www.chucktrunks.com.
Camarillo, CA — March 5, 2012 — On Saturday, I had the pleasure of delivering one of my surfboard skins to Matt Sparks, owner and chief shaper for M.d.s. Surfboards of Newbury Park, CA. While Matt was on a break from watching one of his team riders compete at the Ventura Fairgrounds, he got his first look at "Beach Breakers" which I applied to one of his original board shapes known as 'The Funky.'
Since a lot of my art work is based on the surf culture here in Southern California, it was only a matter of time before I started putting my iconic, colorful pop images on actual surfboards. The idea came to me while biking around Ventura last year. Yes, I saw loads of surfers lining up for the morning sets but it was all the old, used surfboards I saw wasting away in garages, leaning up behind sheds or pulling signage duty for antique stores that made me think, “there had to be a better way – a more honorable way for these boards to find a new purpose.” 
“Beach Breakers” is my latest surfboard skin and was inspired by the generosity of Matt Sparks. Local surf shop owners, like Matt, have helped move my brand of art into the very ocean that motivates my work. And after more than a year of making surfboard art, I now create custom works for both new and used surfboards as well as for boards that are happy to brighten up the walls of homes, offices and businesses.
