The Blue Sea Artisans Gallery featured artist for the month of August is reclaimed wood artist Chad Gray.
While working in construction, Chad Gray sees a lot of wood thrown into the dumpster. Following his inspiration, years ago he decided to take some of the scraps and make beds for his daughters. His creative bug awoke and he started collecting scrap wood from other contractors and woodworking friends, new and old hardwood flooring, teak roofing shingles, and cut offs from Koa tables. Gray has been influenced by other wood artists, photos on Pinterest, and by this beautiful island we live on. He sees objects in nature and in his head and tries to make them using wood.
Gray’s collection highlights different wood textures and framing little pieces of nature and culture of Hawaii. His featured pieces are “Evolution of the Surfboard”, “Hawaiian Memories” and Hidden Memories Honu”. They are intricately cut pieces of wood, some wood pieces are painted in these mosaics showing off the beauty of Hawaiian Island life. Some pieces can be customized adding a photo of a personal memory. He started building customized frames to highlight a piece of the art that it holding. Gray reflects “enjoying the journey doesn’t mean just the success and good times. It means learning from mistakes and sanded fingertips. It means looking at different ways to make it work and knowing that you can never have too many clamps.”
To meet Chad Gray and learn more about his reclaimed wood art, he will be working at the gallery on Saturdays, August 5 and 19 , 2023 from 12 pm – 6 pm. The Blue Sea Artisans Gallery is located in the Keauhou Shopping Center, Courtyard, 78-6831 Alii Drive, Kailua-Kona, for more information please call the gallery at 329-8000 or find us on FaceBook: Blue Sea Artisans. The Gallery is open Monday through Saturday 10 am – 6 pm and closed on Sundays.