“My inspiration is to celebrate and bring attention to the beauty of nature, land and sea, and hopefully inspire others to do a little to protect it themselves, even if its simply picking up some plastic off the beach, it all makes a difference.
“With my love of surfing, nature and kaitiakitanga (protection and guardianship), it was only natural my subject matter would incorporate these three things.”
To create the artwork, Fuller painted driftwood from the Taranaki Foreshore, he said.
“I am now finding old hardwood from building sites and hand-shaping small surfboards.
“This process is satisfying because I have the desire to shape surfboards but have never really wanted to be involved with fibreglass.
“I then sand and smooth the surface, applying a good undercoat of water-based paint before painting with acrylics. This particular piece is a glassy barreling wave inspired by summer conditions, hence the name Summer Gem.”
Fuller said he’s been creative since he was young.
“It has always been a love of mine. Then in 1998 I attended Taranaki Polytech for a year and immersed myself in 14 different art subjects, and through that journey, I got hugely inspired to paint.”
For the past 10 years, he’s been painting murals using house paints and brushes.
“There are several of my creations spread around Ōpunakē depicting coastal scenes with surfbreaks and native trees, and recently one that has been quite popular was with two Humpback whales painted on the new wharepaku beside the recreational centre.
“Two summers ago I was commissioned to paint a mural on either end of the Kaupokonui Beach toilets.”
