Post #42755 by Basement Kahuna on Sat, Jul 12, 2003 4:50 PM

I dunno..there's a lot of good carvers in the P.R.C. (People's Republic of California) :) ...it would be hard for me to compete with the old hands at it. Seriously, I'd love to be represented out there somewhere, sometime, although I am a total lone gunman with a small garage workshop, and pretty much carve what I can carve with what I have, if you know what I mean. I know there's no way I can compete in the quantity department until I could take on a partner or assistant, but I want to keep the detail, finish, and quality the same if I ever do get to that point. I flat refuse to go the quickie route...I don't feel it does the beauty of Pacific Rim art traditions the justice that the tiki carvers of the 50's were still pulling off in their carvings. All of those guys were just so damned good...right there in that Polynesian "sweet spot", you know? It's sort of like the old beer window...that magic place between too much beer and not enough beer? A good example: take a look at the muscle on Leroy Scmaltz's upper body sometime (he must be 70 by now?)..That's pure blood, sweat, and tears, baby. That's from doing it right for a very, very long time! I admire that like nothing else. Does anybody in Georgia want to start a tiki carving collective in Clayton??...(chuckle, chuckle)

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna on 2003-07-12 21:31 ]