UK Artist Turns Old Paddle Board Fins Into Art

To reduce our impact on the environment, we are constantly looking at how we can increase the lifespan of our products and repurpose them wherever possible. So when we were approached by Rhys Phillips from Paddle Out Creations to see if we had any old paddle board fins he could use for his custom designs, we were more than happy to have a dig around the samples box and see what he could come up with. 

We caught up with Rhys recently to find out more about how he got into Custom Fin art, the process he goes through and see what he had been able to design with the paddle board fins we had given him. 

Hi Rhys, great to meet you, first off can you tell us a little about yourself? 

Growing up between living in the South West and Wales I've been very fortunate to be exposed to some incredible landscapes and have always been drawn to them whether it's the coast or the mountains. Over the years my influences and artistic heroes may have varied but the core of my work always comes back to my travels, music and those landscapes that surround me. 

I've been teaching Art, Media & Photography for 14 years working in a range of disciplines and with a real range of students and most importantly still enjoy giving back some of those skills to our younger generation. But, never one to be a fraud and not 'practice what I preach' I have ensured that I kept my own artistic practice going in the moments I have spare, producing work for private commissions along with work being shown in local gallery spaces.

I work with a variety of materials always trying to experiment where possible with my style and technique. Experimentation is key within all my artwork, and sometimes making a mistake is the best thing for a piece to develop in the right way, mark making and expression is at the heart of my work.