The Whimsical Woodworking Of Sunshine Singleton

It’s not every day that you find an artist whose preferred medium is birch plywood, but for Sunshine Singleton, the materials come first, then the creativity. 

Singleton is the owner, operator and artist of Cape Cod Land Shark, a Brewster studio specializing in handmade wood art. Most of the wood used is locally sourced and sustainable.

In fact, Singleton makes it a habit of finding wood scraps to use for her projects. 

“Why can’t we just repurpose the things that we’re going to throw away rather than filling the landfills with more stuff?” she said.   

That very question was one she asked nearly a decade ago, when she was working full-time as an architect on the Cape. When visiting project sites, she couldn’t help but see the large dumpsters filled to the top with undamaged wood. 

“I really got disheartened by the fact that we would literally take entire homes and throw them into dumpsters,” she said. “[I felt like I was] part of the problem and not part of the solution.”

Singleton started visiting construction sites where she would recover wood that had been thrown away and left for the landfill. In her free time, she would use the wood to build signs, many in homage to Jimmy Buffett. 

“A lot of my work is inspired by Jimmy Buffett,” she said. “I’m a huge parrot head.”

One day, as the band saw was running in her workshop, a neighbor walked over to ask what she was making. He was immediately transfixed by the signs and encouraged her to put them out on her lawn. Her house, a stone’s throw away from a local Brewster beach, was a good spot for foot traffic and beachgoers.  

“The first weekend I put them out, I made $2,000,” she said. 

After that, and with the encouragement of her husband, Mike, she decided to turn the hobby into a full-blown career.

Singleton named the brand Cape Cod Land Shark, a nod to Buffett’s song “Fins,” which includes the line, “Just behind the reef are the big white teeth/Of the sharks that can swim on the land.” 

While she produces her own designs, around 60 percent of her business is custom orders, she said. Many of the pieces currently hanging at her Orleans Artist Cottage are ocean-themed with nods to Cape Cod. The walls of the cottage are filled with sharks, fish, whales, dolphins, dragonflies, turtles and a few parrots. A large, backlit portrait of the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown is the largest design on display. 

The pieces start as hand-cut wood bases that are then hand-painted with acrylic and covered in epoxy resin, a durable, long-lasting glaze that can withstand the outdoors. Her work can vary in size from Christmas tree ornaments to the 14-foot shark she has displayed in her front yard. 

The eye-catching colors and attention to detail in her work are absolutely not lost on the naked eye. Every piece of wood is hand-cut, and many of the larger designs include layers of wood to give the illusion of three dimensions. Some also feature sand from Brewster beaches.

Although she was an architect for 18 years before opening Cape Cod Land Shark, Singleton said she’s always had an artistic side. Growing up, she didn’t realize that “artist” was a profession. Now she’s able to combine several of her passions: art, woodworking, building, detail-oriented projects and Cape Cod. 

“It’s so great to get up every day and do something I absolutely love to do for a living,” she said. 

Although Singleton’s workshop is in Brewster, she travels for pop-up events, shows and to open her artist cottages in Orleans and Provincetown. She hopes to one day have a storefront in town (specifically the abandoned auto repair shop across from Peacemaker on Route 6A). 

“Who in Brewster owns that and wants to let me have it for free?” she said with a laugh. 

As a Brewster resident for over 20 years, she has developed a deep love and connection to the area. Many of her custom orders include iconic Brewster sites like the Brewster Store, the Stony Brook Gristmill, Old Higgins Farm Windmill and the Crosby Mansion. 

It’s hard to find the balance between sharing her love for the town and keeping it a secret. While she said she wants everyone to experience how incredible Brewster is, she doesn’t want more people to move to town. 

She hopes the sustainable practices she is demonstrating through her work are a step in the right direction for the future of the town and the future of her son, Jameson. 

“I want our next generation to have a cleaner environment, a cleaner atmosphere,” she said. “Especially here on the Cape — We have very limited resources in terms of fresh water, and the amount of space [here] for landfills.” 

Singleton said the greatest feeling is when the joy she experiences while making the piece is reflected by the client. 

“They get to come here and they think it’s paradise,” she said. “I think it’s paradise and I live here all the time. So [now] people get to take a piece of Brewster home with them.”

Singleton crafted a surfboard for this year’s Boards in the Stores in Orleans. It is currently on display at the Old Firehouse Gallery and available to bid on at orleanscapecod.org.

For the most up-to-date information on her whereabouts, hours and upcoming events, check Singleton’s social media pages. Follow her on Instagram at @capecodlandshark and like her page “Cape Cod Land Shark” on Facebook. For custom orders, visit her website, capecodlandshark.com.