Shaper Shannon ,
By Catou MacKinnon
This article was published in Wahine
Magazine in 1998, volume 4, number 2.
Like all surfboard shapers, Shannon Payne-McIntyre starts
each creation with a perfect blank. But being practically
the only female shaper anyone can name, she comes to the
job with a different kind of blank slate. She'll tell
you lack of precedence tends to open doors, rather than
keep them closed.
"I think being a girl has helped me, definitely," says
Shannon, 23, who shaped her first board less than two
years ago. She has a thriving customer base of females
just embarking on a surfing life, who want her boards.
They trust her instincts, as shaping is roughly one part
wizardry, two parts instinct and more than a dash of knowledge
- the secret formula passed down from shaper to shaper.
Along the line, she got her hands on some of that knowledge,
with the help of Shayne, her husband and best teacher
(who learned his craft under the tutelage of masters like
Chris Ruddy, Tim Beselle and Adam Gillespie).
A former art student, Shannon found shaping to be a
perfect pursuit, given her love of surfing, and desire
to create things. She and Shayne, also 23, now have a
thriving shaping business in San Diego, near her hometown
of Santee. "We make functional art," Shannon says. It
was predestined: on their first date, they went surfing.
Shannon's basic order is for a funboard, between 6'8"
and 8'. She recently filled an order for a 14-year-old
girl, also named Shannon, living in Chicago, who wanted
to take it out on the fickle windblown waves of Lake Michigan.
"It was a birthday present from her father. The board
needed to have more dome in the deck to be more buoyant
in the fresh water (a physics thing), with more flip in
the nose," for those quick shorebreak waves. "I painted
an angel on the deck and a devil girl near the bottom.
She loved it!" She built a board for Malia Jones - a 5'11"
superlight snappy shape less than 2 inches thick. She
has customers from age 9 to their 40s and older, with
a growing male clientele.
In the shaping bay, Shannon turns the dusty old radio
way up high. This is her private domain; part of the shapers'
mystique is the secrecy of their craft. With goggles and
mask tethered firmly to her head, a current of long hair
channeled into ponytails, she sets about her work. First
she blocks out the foam "blank" and cuts it with a saw.
Then she skins it out with a planer, until she gets the
thickness she wants. She draws the shape using a template,
like a sewing pattern, plotting the board's center, nose
and tail widths, and cuts it down to size. Taking up the
planer again, she takes down the nose and tail from the
underside, defining the board's rocker and concave, and
sands it down sensitively. Sometimes she takes a dance
break. "I'm always afraid someone will walk in on me when
I'm doing hip hop," she laughs. She admits it's a strange
environment: tiny windowless room, irregular light, toxic
dust. But meditative. "I pray a lot," she says, and admits
she finds answers in the shaping bay.
Then she sands the deck, and turns the rails with a
screen used in making drywall (in fact, all of her tools
can be bought at the mega-hardware store). She plots out
where the fins will go, a job that will be finished by
the guy who will glass the board. Then she fine tunes
the board - sanding it carefully to get rid of all bumps
and other aberrations. She uses parallel fluorescent lights
to throw shadow on the board's surface, to check for bad
spots. Then she signs it.
Often, she paints the boards in bright wahine imagery:
mermaids, floral patterns, hula girls, scenes of the ocean
- "anything where I get to use a lot of color," she says.
Her logo is a mermaid, and at second glance you notice
the "S" (for Shannon) in the mermaid's tail. Women's boards
have more style and individuality, she thinks. "It's your
wave-tool, you super-fun tool. I get a lot more attached
to my surfboards, keep them longer than Shayne. I think
guys have a quick turnover of boards."
A good shaper is a combination artist and technician,
says Shannon. Anyone can learn the basics of shaping,
but the true craftsperson is rare. Shannon acknowledges
sister-shaper Miranda Pitts of Santa Cruz, who has apprenticed
under Johnny Rice. She says like Miranda, the individual
has to pursue her teachers if she wants to learn to be
a shaper. "No one is going to bend over backwards to teach
you," she says.
"If I'm the only girl around that's doing this, then
there is definitely something wrong, with all the hundreds
of guys out there shaping. I'm looking forward to the
day when things are more balanced."
Shannon Boards can be ordered through SheGear. To contact
Shannon Surfboard call 619-221-8032.
Wahine Magazine in 1998, volume 4, number 2.
For more information on Wahine Magazine, you can
reach them at 562-434-9444 or check out their web site
at www.wahinemagazine.com
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