- March 10, 2026
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Sweetwater’s Whit Wesenberg has always had a creative side that pairs well with his a knack for working with his hands.
While driving through his neighborhood, he happened to stumble upon a dining room table next to a dumpster outside of a house under construction. He saw that as an opportunity.
He decided to carve a tiki figure into the table. After some encouragement from neighbors, he bought five more tables and let his creativity flow. His tiki-inspired art pieces all sold within a day of being posted on Facebook marketplace.
“We were like, ‘Holy (cow),’” Whit said. “We couldn't believe how fast they sold. We didn’t know if we just got lucky and people were in town for some Tiki convention at the right time.”
Those sales led to Whit and his wife, Taylor, turning the creation of these art pieces into a business: Humu’s Island Treasures. Whit carves the wood while Taylor does the painting. They sell at art shows and via social media and email.
“Every aspect of Humu’s is a reflection of us, especially our artwork,” Whit said. “We love the tropics because we are drawn to the vibrancy and liveliness that accompany it. All of our pieces embody that vibrancy and liveliness.”
When Taylor was growing up, her house was decorated in white and beige, but when she moved out she found a love for color, specifically blues and greens. Whit said their goal is to create “good vibes through tropical colors.”
Most of the products they sell are made to hang on the wall as decoration with the exception of boozy boards for shot glasses, and dog bowl holders. Whit said the average time spent creating bigger art pieces ranges from 16 to 18 hours while the smaller ones need five to eight hours depending on the style.
“It's a lot of work, yes, but it's fun that we're doing it together,” Whit said.
“It's time consuming, but it's cool to see it when it's finished,” Taylor said. You get that feeling of, ‘I actually did this,’ and then to know what's going in someone's house is pretty incredible.”
Joe Human, a friend and neighbor of the Wesenbergs, purchased a turtle-themed art piece that is now located on his lanai. He said it is a breathtaking statement piece and the Wesenbergs’ “passion for craftsmanship is truly evident in every piece of art they create.”
“The sea turtle carving is incredible,” Human said. “The way they captured the 3D texture of the shell and the colors they utilized makes the piece feel lifelike. Knowing the artists personally, I’ve seen the dedication they put into every cut and grain selection. Seeing it finished and in person is something else entirely.”
Whit said he has always had a creative side and previously expressed it through different house projects including building a tiki bar in their basement, dart boards and storage cabinets. When Whit looks back on what he has made since picking up that first table, he is amazed at the progress he and Taylor have made together. Taylor compared their first projects with their most current as “night and day.”
Most of the wood they use to create is still second hand that they have repurposed. This is due to two major factors — it is more affordable and the quality of the wood is almost always of better quality than what is made today.
Inspiration for their pieces comes from all different sorts of places, including Hawaii, where they went on their honeymoon. Humu’s is short for humuhumunukunukuāpua'a, the state fish of Hawaii. They even have a Tiki statue they purchased years ago that they named Humu, far before the business would carry on the name.
“It was just so beautiful — gorgeous, tropical, lush and full of color,” Taylor said.
“Every piece is handmade from start to finish,” Whit said. “We believe it’s the subtle imperfections that give the artwork character.”
One day, Whit was smoothing the edge of a 6-foot board with a jigsaw. All of a sudden he caught a knot on the wood and ripped a chunk off by accident. When Taylor saw what had happened, she recommended turning the missing piece into a shark bite.
“When you make mistakes, it's like, ‘What am I gonna do? How am I going to make that work?’” Taylor said. “Sometimes you end up with something that you never would have thought.”
The current prices for their wall art ranges from $250 to $1,600 based on the size and level of detail.
“If you’re looking for a unique, high-quality piece of art from a creator who genuinely cares about their craft and has a great eye for detail I cannot recommend the Wesenbergs enough,” Human said.
