Post #381403 by Paipo on Tue, May 20, 2008 5:10 AM

Well, thanks to everyone - Benz, teaKEY, JP, Kahu, Tama and Benjamin for helping to get things rolling. No word yet on the Tangata Manu mugs - to tell the truth I didn't even know the sculpt was finished until someone told me about the ad! It looks great -Gecko has a done a fantastic job of a very challenging sculpt- and I'm just as keen to get my hands on one. Any news or updates will be posted right here in this thread....

Interesting comments on that hook - even with the amount of bird carvings I've been doing lately (and I'm not sure why - but there are at least 3 more on my bench), I've never really seen it in that piece - but now I can't unsee it. I'm sure a modified version is on the cards now - cheers TeaKs! Thanks also for reminding me I needed to update my slideshow (done!). The tangata manu is based on some actual carvings, but I also pictured a guy wearing a birdskin like those shamans you see wearing bear or leopard skins with the head still attached.

I spent most of my carving time making earrings today, but got in a little skull time earlier on - there's still a ton of work to do on this piece. I think I used about 7 different tools on the teeth (and they're not even finished!)