Post #616133 by AlohaStation on Sat, Dec 3, 2011 6:37 PM

Time for an update. I've had the this fish done for some time, but never took any glamor shots - till today. The fish was carved in a very wet piece of palm. I ts was a quick carve simply because I wanted to do "other things with it. I taught myself how to tie the float and wire it with a red LED, powered by a 9-volt battery (see panel on back). I'm no electrician, but it works and really looks great in low light settings (pics soon). The teeth were inspired by GreenTiki Pat (has has a painting with a custom frame that used the thorns), the teeth are actually the thorns off a Washintonian Palm. Those suckers are sharp. I made the fins so they can be removed. I love this piece! Number 2 is already in the works. Originally I had made a mug to be placed in its mouth (representing a "lure" tongue), but after a trip to the West Coast (Fort Myers) I had a new solution. While shell hunting on the Gulf Coast I stepped into these clam shells. They are in excellent condition and still connected - They fit perfect!

Next is the finished Shell King. I found these shells at local park and immediately knew I needed to use these in a carving. I had already started the basic carve and made some adjustments to get the shells to fit. The piece of wood is a scrap from this tiki http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=39705&forum=7&start=0. The bark is actually the back of the piece, I left it on for effect. This was fun carve, kinda wacky (some say its a family trait) - I have more of the shells.