Post #340657 by Paipo on Fri, Oct 26, 2007 2:38 PM

Hey Clarita, thanks for the comments on Lono - yep, I'm big on contrast finishes and textures, and I didn't wnat this guy to be smooth all over. The thing with the texture is always to finish the surface that will be textured up to the same level of sanding as the rest of the piece anyway, and then strip it back. The robotiki was my first pebble tiki, but it was several months later before I really thought about making tikis seriously. Here's a better pic of the finished Robotiki/Hi-Teki, which was accepted for the show along with the other piece, and is now in Auckland:

Kinny! RAWK! Still jealous about the Melvins mandate! It was hard to trash my little childhood buddy, but he will live on in several new pieces. I have all sorts of crazy materials and components, I just need to figure out how to use em. I was pretty pleased to sneak a tiki piece in to this show submission!

sar1, funny you should mention that burr, as I doubt I've even used it once since I made that first piece. I get my burrs from a couple of suppliers here in NZ, but I would recommend getting hold of Hongia directly to find out who their US distributor is - or working out how to import them yourself. There might be an opportunity for one of you US carvers to sort something out for the greater good. Their details are easy enough to find online.

Nothing much else happening here - work is sporadic, and when it does occur it seldom involves tiki. I will post this commission piece I finished, because I know Ben wanted to see it. Hope everything is OK with you Benz - you've been pretty quiet lately....

I've also been heading out during any breaks in the weather for a spot of beachcombing:

Another day, another trip - no beach photos due to the stormy weather:

The piece of flower jade didn't even strike me as being nephrite when I first picked it up. The soft black iron inclusions had been eaten away by the sand, creating wormholes which aren't often seen in jade. It was also very dull and dry looking because of the oxidation (rind). I almost left it behind!

This was the first time I have found more than one piece on the beach in a looong time...probably years? All the more fun for having my wee girl strapped on my back to take it all in! I can't wait til she's running around at beach level to spot all the ones I miss :lol:

Speaking of whom, we celebrated a 1st birthday recently. Many thanks to one of my favourite TCers who started off Miss Scarlett's mug collection in style!

Finally, to round out a totally off-topic non-tiki "fluff" post, here's a sunset for Buzzy!

I might have something new this weekend...stay tuned!

[ Edited by: Paipo 2007-10-26 16:47 ]