Growing up in Port Hueneme, Rod "Ozzie" Osborn learned to surf 2nd Street and the pier at the age of 11. He picked up woodburning in his 20s, but it wasn't until he was in his mid-40s that he combined his two loves and started woodburning designs on surfboards.

From the proceeds of the sale of his artwork, Osborn gives back to the community, earning the nickname "Surfing Santa." For eight years he organized his fellow surfers to donate toys for needy children through Fire Station 20 in Upper Ojai. This year he took it one step further, donating $1,000 and volunteering at a holiday dinner for needy families at El Pescador restaurant in Santa Paula.

"How can a hungry child enjoy a toy?" Osborn asked.

But it's not just during the holiday season that Osborn gives to charity. He donates a piece of his art to auction at the Arden Taylor Surf Benefit held in March every year, an event that benefits families in need.

"It's all about karma," Osborn said. "Karma is not like gold, always shiny. Karma is like silver — you have to keep doing things to keep it polished."

When Osborn started woodburning pictures in 1975, it was just a hobby.

"It was relaxing," he said. "I just started to goof around with it, but then I started selling them," he said. "As soon as I did a picture, it was sold." Then he started adding watercolor to his pictures. Ranging from 8-by-10 to 24-by-48 inches, most of them feature surf themes: curling waves, noseriders, island scenes, beaches, an abstract pier. Some are on display on the walls at Franky's Place on Main Street in Ventura, along with six of his hand-designed surfboards, which he makes in his studio in Santa Paula.

His boards — balsa guns and noseriders — sell for up to $5,000. Thousands of hours of labor go into them. Some feature multicolored flowers among the curves of waves; some include portraits. On one, bubbles rise from a shaded area comprised of tiny dots.

"There are 20,000 dots and probably about 10,000 bubbles," Osborn said. "That one took about 125 hours."

The woodburning tool is 1,000 degrees, and once it's applied to the board, there is no turning back.

"There is no room for error," he said. He gets custom blanks — surfboards that don't have stringers or dividers between the sections, making it easier to woodburn — from Rhino Balsa in Santa Barbara.

Osborn draws a detailed pattern and lays it over the board. But he has to psych himself to begin.

"Usually it will take two days after I lay out the pattern until I get in the zone," he said. "You have to follow the lines exactly — you can't deviate off the pattern," he said. "Once you start, you have to keep moving. If you stop and start again, you will leave a little mark on that line."

He also has to pay attention to changes in the grain of the wood, he said. More pressure is required on the harder grain.

"But some parts are so soft if you sneeze on it you will go through," he said.

Portraits are particularly difficult, he said. He has done several portraits of surfing Hall of Famer Rabbit Kekai.

"The eyes are the hardest because you have to set them right," he said. "There is no way to erase."

Osborn has a prominent bump on the thumb joint of his right hand from the pressure of holding the tool.

"I can only burn four hours a shot," he said. If his hand gets numb, mistakes are more likely, he said.

"I have $1,500 in each of these boards before I touch it," he said.

He gets design ideas from photographs and magazines and from his own experiences.

Artistic inspiration for his designs come from Andy Warhol, Peter Max and Salvador Dali.

Osborn has found watercolor works best on the boards. He wipes the color off and layers for dimension.

"I layer and layer to get more depth," he said. "You can see through the color, and it looks like I put tissue paper on it."

He also burns designs on the concave side of the board. When he is finished, he takes the board to a surfboard shop to be finished with fiberglass and resin.

In addition to Kekai, Osborn has created art pieces for other major surf legends, including Tom Morey (boogie board creator), Dale Velzy, Greg Noll and the original Gidget, Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman.

When not in his studio, Osborn can often be found at the ocean. He is a member of Ventura and Santa Barbara surf clubs and enjoys the camaraderie of his surfer "bros," he said.

— To recommend an artist to be profiled in this section, contact Nicole D'Amore at artprofiles@roadrunner.com or 405-0364.