Post #314456 by Paipo on Sat, Jun 23, 2007 3:44 AM

Whoa...lots to respond to! Fortunately I have some time on my hands. Thanks for all the comments - these pieces take a lot of energy and some of that comes from the encouragement of others. I need to pull finger (old Kiwi expression) and give more feedback myself. Moving right along....

Benz, I'm happy to say not a lick of sandpaper/abrasive has touched this one (or any of my pebble tikis). I think those drums would eat up the beach stone way too quick for my liking. These are all done 100% with burrs, regular grit - very occasionally I use some diamond canvas to get rid of excess ink outside the lines I carve, but not for any shaping or sanding. Jade carving is a different story, and I will definitely try them on the green stuff.

Clarita, it better go...if these don't sell, I'm screwed! I do think I will hang on to this one long enough to get a mold from it. I'm hanging out for some new work from you too!

G, I should've known this one would catch your eye. I have actually made this shape before, ages ago, but unadorned with any tikis or motifs. I have plenty of the real thing stashed away too! We will have to get you adorned with one at some point.

Sneaky, direction changes are good...I sometimes get tired of the constraints of the oval pebble. In this case, I guess it's still there in the outline, but altered by the negative space. I'm enjoying doing more integrated jewellery pieces with the beads, pebbles etc too, which I think will become more frequent.

Tornhalo, I've been up and down a few sizes myself, but I settled on holes that comfortably hold a pencil. I celebrated graduating year 1 of "rock school" by piercing my spare ear with a fat needle and putting a fine jade taper in it. I still have a nice collection of the pieces I made to get up to the gauge I wanted - I will post them if I figure out where they are. I have actually been giving serious thought to some authentic style Marquesan earplugs after all the research I did for this piece.

surf-n-turf, I'm enjoying the Marquesan stuff immensely too..."for the time being" is a good way of looking at it. Rapa Nui still draws me, as does Rarotonga and pieces much closer to home, but more Marqs are definitely on the cards. Gauguin and Picasso can't be wrong!

kiwishaman, thanks for the nice words - I am definitely a perectionist and sometimes stare at these pieces until my head starts spinning. I often wish it wasn't so, especially when it's 9:30 pm, and I've just noticed a toolmark I missed....

Perry, funny you should mention the tourist market...I guess they think it's crap too, cause I have more or less given up on selling this sort of work through galleries here. I have two of my earlier tikis coming back soon, which I agreed to buy/trade back from a shop that has had them for long time. People here just don't get the whole tiki thing as it is in the US - although there is and always has been a good market for contemporary/traditional Maori jade pieces (or carvings like your new hook, which would sell easily here). Oh, and stuff with Tapa designs on it.
Anyhow, I'm eagerly awaiting my trip to Vegas to sample the high life and expand my cultural horizons. I will be checking my mailbox diligently for the tickets.

Phew! After all that, I still have some pics to post. The tusk itself is pretty much finished - no - let's say it is definitely finished. There are minor mistakes I could go back over, but I'm happy to declare a truce at this point in the neverending war of Perfectionism vs Economic Viability. Knowing when to stop is half the challenge. I still have to carve a bead to set the cord for the pebble necklace, and that will have another little tiki face on it. I'm a sucker for punishment!

Tweedledum:

Tweedledee:

Aplogies for colour inconsistencies...light is a precious commodity here at the moment! Last pic is the most accurate.