Hand Made Sculptures
The handmade sculptures are created out of surfboard foam, fiberglass, and resin. Each piece is a one of a kind original, no molds, just skills. Requiring such a high level of skill and commitment they can not be imitated. Because of the amount of energy and work these pieces take about 6-8 months to make.
Welzie painting a turtle sculpture in his studio.
Oahu Map Sculpture 96” x 60” x 2”
Welzie about to paint a Hammer Head shark sculpture
This custom installation included 76 Thai inspired kites created from the collectors fabric collection.
“Submersed” Humpback Whale Installation at The Andaz Resort Maui.
Shark Sculptures
The Two Crows collaboration with Carl Olsen and Welzie create some of the coolest shark sculptures out there.
Map Sculptures
Love Maps? Welzie does! Order a commission map of your favorite place with illustrations of all the family’s memories.
Manta Rays
Curves and movement make these Manta Ray Sculptures look like they are gliding along the wall. These beautiful pieces can be mounted on a wall or hanging from your ceiling. Turn your home into an underwater paradise.
Installations
This piece called “Nalu Pua” is part of Welzie’s installations at the Andaz Maui. Custom istallations are available.
Dolphin Sculptures
If you have an idea that you would like to turn into a sculpture, let’s chat! Commission pieces are such a fun way to explore and challange the creative spark.
Every Piece Has a Story
Welzie’s mom was a science teacher and was always collecting skulls and skeletons to share with her 8th grade students. This practice has rubbed off on Welzie as his first cow collaboration occurred on a surf trip in Mexico where he painted in acrylics in the dry desert. This skull here is made from fiberglass and resin giving it the signature Welzie look and feel.
The Dolphins…
The Whale Tail
Standing almost 2’ Tall and 36” wide, this hand made Whale tail appears to be coming out of the sea.
a 6' Hammerhead gliding through the water.
Male and Female dolphins swimming side by side. Each one of the beautiful creatures is about 6.5 feet long and two feet wide. This piece is Sold but custom commissions are available.
THE CREATIVE PROCESS
These unique sculptures are hand crafted by Carl Olsen who has decades of experience in shaping and creates each piece from scratch, with no use of molds. The combination of Olsen's clean surfboard lines and Welzie's abstract color work, provides a wonderfull balance of opposites that has birthed a new line in the Welzie Art Family.
Surfboard foam blanks being glued together to create a shark sculpture.
THE RECLAIMING OF OLD SURFBOARD BLANKS
We never stray too far from our surf roots and the creation of our sculpture family begins in our shaping room at the two Crow Surf Factory on Oahu's North Shore. These pieces are glued together to help create the core in which the animal's body is shaped. Using proprietary techniques these blocks of foam start to create the lifelike creatures.
THE GLASSING AND FINNING
So much personality of the creature is translated by the shapes of the fins. Each fin is hand made and carefully glassed onto the body to create an energy that brings it to life. The curves, foils and placement of the fins can change the entire look and feel of the sculpture and much significance is placed on this step.
This Hammerhead Sculpture is Laminated with White Pigment and ready for Welzie to start painting.
Welzie paints layer after layer of pigmented colors on a turtle sculpture.
3D PAINTING
Layers and layers of colors are applied which gives the sculptures a unique depth and individuality hard to duplicate with other mediums. It can take Welzie weeks to apply the right amount of colors to each piece, vacillating between too much and too little is what makes Welzie an expert. The sculptures take such a large amount of time to produce it is no wonder we only create a small number of these stunning three dimensional animals.
Welzie with a small Hammerhead shark circa 2012
A beautiful 10' Great White Shark circling above in downtown LA.