Today we’d like to introduce you to Orlando Tillero.
Hi Orlando, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
As far as I can remember, I have always liked creating things with my hands, by no means I can say that I’ve been an artist since I was a little kid, I still have certain difficulty labeling myself as one. Back in my early teens, I remember painting my room with the names of some of my favorite heavy metal bands; a brush, paint and some masking tape totally did the job.
At this point, without even realizing it, it’s when I started to notice basic lettering wasn’t too hard after all. Fast-forwarding to my high school years, I remember being in shop class cutting wood to build a shed for our class project. For some reason, I was the designated “cutter”, it seems I had certain ability to keep the jigsaw or circular saw blade on top of the reference line. At this point, without even realizing it, it’s when I noticed cutting wood was very satisfying to me. This came in very handy when I developed an affinity with building wine racks out of cargo pallets at a later time. So it was back in 2015 that I went to throw the trash out and found a beat up/damaged surfboard in the dumpster, I grabbed it without the intention to repair it to use it as an actual surfboard (at that point I had already tried surfing and I knew it was not my forte). The first thing that popped in my head was to clean it up and paint something on it to hang it up on my wall, even though my painting skills are not that good, At this point is where those days painting heavy metal band names on my wall when I was 12, cutting wood in shop class back in high school, my brief stint repurposing cargo pallets, and my somewhat handy skills came together and decided that painting the board would be to easy. By no means I can claim I am the pioneer of this surfboard cutting/carving craft (there are so many talented artists around the globe doing this who I respect and admire), as a matter of fact I got the idea from a guy that I found in Google that basically cut the shape of a fishbone into a surfboard. They say imitation is the best form of flattering so I went ahead and free-handed a fishbone on the newly found treasure, bought myself a jigsaw and starting cutting away.
When I was done, I was more than happy with the results. Added my little touch by throwing some LED lights in the back of the board, and here it was, a newly found hobby that I enjoyed so much making. Friends started donating their surfboards to free up some space from their garage and storage units, this allowed me to keep creating, not having any expectations, or maybe I did but didn’t take them too seriously. Things got weird, in the good sense of the expression when I got the first “I want one, how much?”. Here I am, six years later, still creating, enjoying it even more and challenging myself to learn new techniques, always trying to reinvent myself or sticking to my comfort zone; the important thing is that I finally can say that I love what I do. Getting a message from a girl in Australia, or a guy in Costa Rica, or some lady across the country in the west coast, asking for prices or if boards can be shipped is unreal to me!!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It is not every day that I wake up feeling creative, those days are difficult because I always want to make sure that I am happy with the end result and not just lay down a design that I’m not 100% into. Fortunately for me, I’ve had massive support from my family and friends, their opinion is so valuable to me. This craft also requires certain physical space that at times it has been difficult to have. One time I found myself spray painting a board in my living room, not the smartest idea at the time. On a more personal level, I’ve had moments of self-doubt in terms of making a living out of this; but I have to use this as the driving force that will lead me to make it all possible to continue doing something I truly love and enjoy. It was many years that I spent working corporate jobs that were not fulfilling. Creating art fulfills me, it makes me happy, it brings me peace.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work mainly consists in repurposing old, broken surfboards into home decoration pieces. I have also made a few for local bars displaying their name and with decorative designs, I use a jigsaw to cut out the design and lately, I’ve been switching things up a bit by carving the foam to give the design texture and more dimension.
Contact Info:
- Email: otboardworks@gmail.com
- Instagram: @otboardworks
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/otboardworks
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