Post #361007 by Billy the Crud on Wed, Feb 13, 2008 5:36 PM

This is my lates finished piece. I think Babs needs to get out of my head!!!

Front

Braids

LSD

I also posted a blog/message to all new and potentially new carvers on our Myspace page:

To new carvers as well as OGs,

The reason I myself learned to carve was because I couldn't afford $500 to $800 bucks for an original tiki and was not ABOUT to go to Home Depot and pay $280 for a mass produced tiki from Bali. Now I carve my own and have gotten better at it than I ever imagined I would, thanks to the direction and influence of some great and generous carvers(so I've been told-I still think I'm a hack), so I trade tikis for other tiki stuff, body work on my classic truck, etc. It's a cool deal if you keep your head right about it. Too many carvers enter into the "Dark side", which is trying to scalp people for their renditions of a stolen art form. Respect the islands and their people and you will be happy and make others happy with your art and carvings. We were invited to carve @ the PIFA this passed year and I'll tell you that nothing feels better than when a Fijian, Samoan, or Hawaiian native walks by your work and says, "that would look GREAT in my garden". It feels even better than when a Haoli walks by and drops three bills for a piece.
This may sound a little Pagan, but Tiki is respect for the earth. Tiki is for everyone.

Billy The Crud