By Lily Ramos
Staff Writer
Hermosa Beach artist and Costa alumnus Katy Jensen proves that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, as she turns old surfboards and other various objects into detailed, mosaic, beach-themed artwork.
The 55-year-old Hermosa native feels very passionate about her beach-themed artwork. Her creations are made in the garage, especially at sunset. Every surfboard is donated, and the materials used for the mosaicing are usually from broken plates and tile samples.
“I think there’s a special excitement that I feel when I take something that would have ended up in the landfill or in a trash can, and I’m able to use my passion and also other throw away materials, and create something that gives other people joy and pleasure and happiness,” Jensen said.
Photos: Hermosa Beach artist Katy Jensen creates mosaics on surfboards
Jensen makes her artwork in her garage, what she calls her “woman-cave”, and where she feels most inspired. According to Jensen, the best time for her to work on her artwork is at sunset, which sends a “beautiful warm light over the garage.” Her neighbors come to watch her work on her art, Jensen said.
“It’s one of my favorite things to do- to go to the garage at sunset and create mosaics,” Jensen said. “It kinds of opens up a different side to my head and to my heart.”
Jensen started mosaicing because she had an old surfboard that she didn’t want to throw away, and she has been mosaicing for three years now. She is a former schoolteacher and did mosaic projects with her students in the past, so she wanted to try something new and made her first mosaic surfboard art project.
“Once I did one, I was inspired to continue doing it because it’s really fun, and it is also a green art because it is all out of recycled material,” Jensen said.
Jensen is a Mira Costa graduate from the class of 1979, and she has done art for most of her life. At Costa, she focused more on art than her academic classes, Jensen said. Although, she did continue later to work in education for twenty-three years.
“It’s just kind of funny because here I am as an adult, an artist in Hermosa Beach once again,” Jensen said.
Jensen also makes mosaic art on objects other than surfboards, such as driftwood, mirrors, sidewalks, bicycles, and skateboards. These are smaller projects than the surfboards and take less time, according to Jensen. All of her artwork can be viewed on her website, www.hermosaics.com.
“It’s the same feeling people get from reading a book or from going for a run,” Jensen said. “[Mosaicing] is a relief, and it’s a really fun way to clear my mind and fill my heart up at the same time.”
Jensen’s artwork is featured in many local places, such as Miss Bee’s tutoring, Boccato’s Groceries, and Becker Surfboards. However, the most noteworthy place her art can be found is a surfboard on the set of the popular Disney show, “Liv and Maddie” inside Liv and Maddie’s house throughout season six.
“It was an honor and a privilege to have it selected to be on the Disney show of Liv and Maddie,” Jensen said. “For me, it felt like a wider audience of appreciation for what I create, and that maybe perhaps I can reach more people and inspire them to create art.”
She is currently in the process of making a surfboard for the Hermosa Beach tile shop, Classic Tile and Mosaic. It is on a dovetail surfboard with four fins, and it is to have a seahorse design on it.
“I’m in the process of creating the seahorse on it, and it’s the first board that I’ve done that’s had the mosaic design of the fin side of it,” Jensen said. “It just felt like that’s the way it needed to happen, and the fins will become part of the artwork as well.”
She is inspired to make her art by her love and passion for it. It is simply something she loves to do, and it is a fun way to clear her mind, she said. Jensen likes people’s reactions to her art.
“Something that inspires me is when I see people’s reactions and it makes people feel happy looking at [my art], it makes me feel excited and happy too,” Jensen said.
Jensen will continue to do this kind of mosaic art as long as she can. One thing she would be very happy to see in Hermosa is to have a place for local artists to be able to display their art, Jensen said. In total, she has created seven surfboards and many other various mosaic art pieces.
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