Colored glass tiles are spread out inside Joshua Ducharme’s studio – a converted garage at the artist’s Coronado Cays home.
Ducharme smiles as he admires a newly purchased yellow-orange stained glass, approximately 24×24-inches, among the mixed red, purple, green, pink and yellow glass tiles.
In late January, Ducharme outlines hibiscus and plumeria flowers for a mosaic that will take form in a couple of weeks: a Polynesian woman whose long, dark hair contrasts with the tropical flowers and greenery.
Ducharme says he is developing this unnamed piece for a company, the recipient of a charity auction prize in an event to raise awareness for mental health.
An atypical surface will bear the final version of his masterpiece: a surfboard.
Ducharme, who was an educator for two decades, decided to focus on his art two years ago.
Since then, he has been transforming used surfboards into eye-catching mosaics intended for viewing, not catching waves. Today he keeps some of the massive boards, including his first ever piece, inside his living room, selling them online from his website (https://redeemedsurfboardart.com/).
“I want to keep the boards from going into a landfill … and repurposing them into beautiful art that people can utilize and still have it in their home or their business,” said Ducharme.
Ducharme said the name of his business, Redeemed Surfboard Art, stems from his faith.
“Redeemed in the sense that I’m taking something old and making something new in the same way that, in my faith, I believe that I was once old and broken and I’ve been redeemed to Christ. There’s this secondary meaning to me that kind of co-exists with the art and the brand,” said Ducharme. “Nothing in the art in itself is religious, it’s more just for me.”
Artistic inspiration
Ducharme is fond of his very first piece, which depicted an ocean wave of blue and green stained glass pieces decorating a board he bought during a sale from the neighbor who inspired his artistic process.
Ducharme says he loves to surf and has always been drawn to the ocean and its beauty.
“When I started creating art I didn’t really know which direction I wanted to go,” he noted. “I kind of dabbled in various mediums.”
Ducharme says he painted a mermaid and dedicated it to his wife, Julie, on their anniversary. But he never thought about doing glass work until he saw a mosaic piece designed by a former neighbor for her late husband.
“I got online and I self-taught myself how to cut (and) snap glass and put it all together,” he said.
Soon Ducharme found himself blending his love of surfing and coastal art with two mediums.
“You don’t see a lot of pieces like this where you take surfboards and put glass all over them,” he noted.
Glass process
Next to his first board and the mermaid painting stands the Moana Pōhaku, a 9-foot board of vibrant geodes inspired by the Hawaiian Islands. In another corner is the Seahorse Serenade, an 8-ft longboard depicting a seahorse in a tropical scene.
These are the two types of boards Ducharme specializes in, the epoxy resin and the stained glass, the latter being more popular.
Finalizing the intricate details on each board takes Ducharme weeks because he spends most of his time running a marketing business.
“When I’m making things it’s like I get in this flow,” said Ducharme, noting he works on the surfboards mostly in the evenings. “I’m in my zone and it’s like it’s just solely me and the creation process. And I love that.”
Ducharme begins the Polynesian flower project with a sketched design on his iPad, already approved by the buyer.
He smoothes out rough surfaces on the board and makes vinyl outlines to aid with cutting the glass into flowers. Each piece is glued to the board, and grout is applied to keep the glass in place.
Ducharme said he has found refuge in this process since he decided to pursue selling art in 2023.
“If it’s like a really rough day, that’s where I’ll disappear to just let go,” he explained, “so it’s kind of like my mental health.”
“I love being able to take the boards and the surf culture and bring them to life in different ways,” said Ducharme. “There’s no reason why we can’t repurpose things and make them beautiful. And this is living proof of that. … It’s just really getting people to see the importance of taking care of our planet and at the same time appreciating nature and all of its beauty.”
