Post #753023 by danlovestikis on Fri, Oct 23, 2015 10:01 AM

Wish List #6 continues on...

I will be changing the Moroccan Mole later today so that he is holding a small Tiki Bob. This was an add on request that can still be done because the clay is not yet dried out.

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The next project that I'm work on is for Jen Tiki. Ken Ruzic (you sweet man) gave Jen permission to use one of his paintings for her Wish. She wanted me to make a bowl. So here begins the step by steps.

If you watched the first two attempts at doing this bowl you know I needed to find a better way. Here are the steps that worked. Third time was the charm.

I studied Kinney's painting of the bowl so that I could figure out how I could make it in clay. There are many challenges that I'll share over the next few days.

First my only bowl mold was for a bowl too short to work. So I cast two.

The first time I failed when I let the bowl dry out too much. They I cast again and tried to combine them when they were too soft. This time I uncovered them and for a day I check them each hour. When they were just dry enough I went to work.

The first bowl had the top trimmed until it was flat.

The second bowl lost it's bottom and then was trimmed until I had just enough height to make the bowl I needed.

I smoothed and cleaned it with water.

Now I covered them with plastic until the next day. Now the clay parts were firm enough to lift to combine.

I first wiped the pieces down with water on a paper towel then I added sticky clay around the top of the first bowl.

I little lopsided but that will be adjusted.

Next I added clay around the outside of the bowl and

smoothed it with this tool.

Now I did the same thing with the inside of the bowl.

The last step was to once again smooth it with a wet paper towel.

Now the bowl was tall enough for Kinney's design.

To match the painting I pressed in one side.

Now the bowl is covered with a plastic bag and left for several days so the clay will "equalize" in wetness so that no cracks will appear.

Now it's time to study the painting for the next steps.

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This past week Dan and I did get out of the house for some tiki hunting.

First we went to Roseville to the Treasure Trove antique mall. We saw this

and are just sharing the information. NOOOOO we didn't buy it.

Dan did find the PNG statue and

some small items. The blue glass PNG is by Paul Vituzzi (I may have spelled it wrong) a California glass artist.

Yesterday I took the whole day off and we traveled to Paradise, Chico and Yuba City. We found a canyon

that we didn't know existed and it's only 2.5 hours from our home!

In Paradise Dan found this tourist tiki. It was carved in 2001 and has the artists name on it. We thought it was a really good one because the mouth was deeply carved.

In the large antique mall in Chico Dan found records in a small tiki booth. It was so cute. The owner was there and I invited her to join Tiki Central. I hope she does.

We drove to see the Bidwell mansion but it was closed and being painted. We were told they only open on the weekends anyway.

It's always good to be back home. I'm rejuvenated and ready to tackle more Wish List projects.

Cheers, Wendy