Post #681927 by Gene S Morgan on Thu, Jun 13, 2013 9:21 PM

First I want to thank Vantiki, Bigbadtikidaddy, Swizzle, Wendy, and the several people who have sent me PMs. It is so good to hear voices of reason out here in the Tiki Central jungle. To me, you folks are the real backbone of this forum.

I took a break from this thread yesterday because all the drama was bumming me out. I went to a Pokey LaFarge concert to cheer up. I came back and read the Hale Tiki post. Some of you may wish to stop reading now. Wendy often says what a great guy Hale Tiki is and I have great respect for her. But, his post was just more of the same. I have seen this so many times on other threads where the punk kid comes on insulting someone and as soon as other folks start to objecting here come Hale Tiki acting all indignant defending him. Is he the punk kid's dad or maybe big brother' I detect a kinda George and Lenny vibe here.

First thing …. Quoting Hale Tiki: “all thoughtful criticism is helpful, no matter how it's conveyed” I know he has gone to all those wonderful art schools and I suppose they define “thoughtful criticism” differently than I would. Almost ever word from punk kid has been hateful insults. Sorry I wasn't being helped by that. You will not find some of his earliest ones here on this thread, because he went back and deleted them. Covering his tracks, sneaky guy, dishonest as well as nasty. You will not find where he said my work looks like it was done by a 5 year old. You might find where he called my work “scribbles”. When I tried to post a very positive comment on Hale Tiki's thread he did not reply but within minutes the punk kid commented: “Gene, no more tutorials! It had to be said” and then a little later “They are(the tutorials) 'Justin Bieber' good” That was just all so helpful. I should be thanking him for such “thoughtful criticism” I know these guys are drinking buddies, but what is this relationship where their main activity is ganging up on and attacking folks.

Second thing …. Another Hale Tiki quote: “ And for everyone else, stop stirring up shit” Folks he is saying your comments are not allowed. I have not been to great art schools but I did study some psychology and guys what he is saying is that he is a Superior Being and all the rest of us are of no value. If you are to ever get this site back you will have to stop this. The only way to do this is to ignore these guys and start contacting the forum administrator. My guess is that the powers that be condone this nastiness. I'm on lots of different forums and have never seen such mean behavior allowed. Only the folks in charge can fix your TC.

The remainder of Hale Tiki's post was a lecture on how I needed to study art more and read some books. I was studying art and tiki long before this dude was born. (I'm and old fellow you know, I think he mentioned that) You all may comment about all my tiki designs, but I want to say that they look the way they do because I chose to have them look that way. I am happy with my stylized tikis. They work perfectly as designs on my CafePress products. I do not apologize for my images . They are what they are and they work fine for me How many times do have to say, “I'm not a fine artist”? I make graphic designs. I have my own style and I like it. If you don't like them, don't look at them. If you got some cool tips on improving them, give them too me, I listen.

What bothered me most about this more than a page of conflicting post was that over the last 48 hours it has got almost 1,000 hits. And, I wasn't even there. I always figure if I can get 100 or 150 post a day enough folks are checking in that I should continue. But I wasn't even posting. Does that mean that 1,000 folks came here because Hale Tiki had posted? That scares me. Folks I'm done.

For the folks who have been actually following my post for the information and encouragement, I'm very sorry. I'm a pretty busy guy and I invested much time and effort in compiling these post. I'm running out of time. I wanted to show you something no one else has. I believe that creativity and imagination defines humanness. Folks are happiest when they can express their creative urges. All this crap about judging art denies your own personal creative spirit. Don't buy it …. Someone once said …. Don't let the bastards hold you down …. Thanks folks …. so long ….. Bon Ton Roulett Y'All …... Gene