Friday night saw many youth come out to the McTavish Academy of Art to display their various works. Of the many there for what was called Youth Art and Music Night were brothers Joshua Leavitt and Teyvin, along with Orin Schafer.
The brothers, both home schooled in North Saanich are thinking of starting up their own skateboard company. They call themselves The Renegade Longboards, and currently custom make all their boards.
“So they’re not just pumped out of a factory (and) all the same. People can tell us what they want, how they want it to look, what kind of shapes, and then we make the whole thing from start to finish,” said Joshua.
They start with seven layers of hard rock maple veneer, gluing them together. They also have some high density insulation foam and will carve it to what they want the bottom of the board to look like. They will then put glue in between all the layers with a roller, setting them on top of the foam, and will put it inside a vacuum bag. The vacuum will pull the layers over top of that shape so it will become the shape of the foam.
For the colours, they use vinyl cut stencils and spray paint. They then use an epoxy resin to finish the board
Joshua said they are hoping to start selling online and to skate shops. They are also thinking of setting up a stall at the Sidney Street Market in the summer months.
Friday night was the brothers’ first event.
“It’s a really good opportunity,” said Joshua.
“It’s fun seeing your art after its been made,” said Teyvin.
Orin Schafer was also at the Youth and Art Music Night, displaying his various works of space art, all done with spray paint and fire.
“If you run fire underneath, it makes it more glossy,” said Schafer.
He uses food colouring to make them more vibrant.
Schafer, who is a Grade 11 student at ILC, just started four months ago, but has drawn since he was six-years-old.
He said an event like the one held on Friday was a good way to show off his art, while also seeing other people’s.
“It’s probably even cooler seeing other people’s because its not very often you get to see this kind of show.”