BENZARTs Carvings, FIRST thread 04-09-2006

[ Edited by: TNTiki on 2004-11-06 15:57 ]

You did not forget about me did you? :wink:

looks great as always Ben, those Maori faces are so realistic, amazing. the Fisherman god guy looks good, as does the Maori spear head. Amaizing, there just isn't any other words to discripe your work

No I didn't forget about TikiToa. I have to start from scratch again tho, the beautiful pine Checked right Openwith the basic shape chopped out. I will find a better hunk of wood on e-bay, either Mahogany or Walnut, depending on which one I win....Yours will not be ready till HukiLau though, si I have plenty time.

my list is as follows:
Gecko-Lono
OnaTiki-Shrunken Head
Tiki-Toa Maori/Cannibal combo 12" to 18"
SwampFire-Shrunken Head
Mutanttiki- Mutanttiki 12"-18"
DawnTiki- Shrunken head???maybe
TNTiki- Moai 12"
Chongolio- Shrunken Head
Hiltiki- 2" Moai Macasser Ebony.
Jungle Trader BIG Maori for HukiLau

If your name is Not on the list and it Should be, Let Me Know..
I have been clearing up carvings that I started some time ago, getting them out of the way so I will have some pieces to put away for HukiLau. We cannot go thee empty handed.. If you would like to Order a carving for Hukilau let me know and your name will be on the list too.

Thanks for your patience guys 'n Gals.Each piece I do is better and better,ah hell they're All pretty good. I'm on a ROLL.
Also in the future I need to have a small price increase.
Thanks again

[ Edited by: Benzart on 2004-07-16 00:15 ]

The Tangaroa is done. The Black wood is very difficult to photo. It has some dark brown strips running thru it which you can barely see.He is 2 3/4" tall and is # 39.



Here is the Next Shrunken Head. He needs a few more coats of lacquer and some Stitches then some hair and he's done.


I am giving him stitches where they removed his skull on the back of his head.



Thats all for now.

Ben it is so hard to believe looking at your work every day that you have not been doing this type of carving since birth. I look so forward every day to see what new things you have done and posted.

Just incredibly great carving. I'm amazed.

Hey Ben, I would like to get on the list for one of them shrunken heads, Those ugly muthas are the next best thing to the real deal! The expressions and detail knocks the socks.

Chongolio

Ben,

dat's my man!!! I love da large Maori dat looks Ivory!! Hey where's mine? I'm getting jealous!

Hey Mister Jealous lizard man. I'm getting jealous looking at your new Mugsies. Man they are Killer.Here is an update on your Lono that i will get doneby the end of the week




I found when babmoo is fresh it is Carvable for some crude carvings,,fyi.

Ben- That's one ugly cat! Your shrunken heads are classic! I love 'em!

The "ivory"-looking piece above is beautiful! I somehow missed that one this week.

http://www.samgambino.com

Heere is the latest on Geckos Lono carved from Koa Wood, 6" tall.



once I get Gecko done then comes the Shrunken heads

Well I stuck my foot in my mouth last nite and here is the first

Thats all for now. I need to know what these sell for before I make any more.

WOW!!! Is there nothing Ben can't do? Awesome as usual. Gecko's wahine will be the envy of La Mariana.
:drink:

"Suddenly, everyone on TC mistakened Ben for the third coming of Lono..."

Amazing Ben... you are as close to a tiki god as they come!

You guys slay me...

I take it that's the tiki equivalent of a bowling ball bag so you can safely carry your favourite mug to the local bar or is it just a bamboo purse.
If the former I can just see them being a major accesorie at any tiki event with a personalised name on them.

Cruising Ebay looking at tiki and saw this auction and thought "It's a Benzart!"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=433&item=3825801393&rd=1

On 2004-07-19 08:37, Swanky wrote:
Cruising Ebay looking at tiki and saw this auction and thought "It's a Benzart!"

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=433&item=3825801393&rd=1

Ben's stuff is better than that! Nobody even bothered to carve the back of that thing! :)

http://www.samgambino.com

[ Edited by: Sam Gambino on 2004-07-19 08:54 ]

Ben, everything you do is amazing.

I hope to be able to enjoy one of your carvings someday! You'll be at Hukilau this fall? See ya there!

Thanks Tikiwahine, yes I'll be at HukiLau this year. can't wait to meet you and SO Many other TC'rs.
Swank, that Elvis tiki at first did look like a Benzart until I brightened it enough to see it. Maybe I should raise my prices some,,no a LOT. I can see it now . Benzart pendant going for Only $3500, Act soon. Right.
Thanks for posting that neat find.

You're not Benzart; YOU'RE MACGYVER!!!!!!!!!

The purse looks great!

Thanks SallyandJay. Looks kike I'll be making 3 or 4 more. Some will bw different dimensions depending on the bamboo sections , some are longer and fatter, and it depends on if I can get any more bamboo.
Meanwhile I have shrunken heads, Cannibal maoris, Moai's and stuff to do.

Back to reALITY, HERE IS ANOTHER SHRUNKEN HEAD. HE TOO NEEDS STITCHES AND HAIR






This wood is purple Heart and is very hard. Woodcarving tools do not work on this stuff you need metal working tools and it dulls them right away, If I ever carve ant=ything else with this wood, it will be very small...

Ah, I remember falling in love with the purple heart wood, and a number of other woods, when I was shopping for wood for my bar. Great to see it in action, in the hands of a pro, no less.

Hey Ben you think I could get me Cannibal in that Purple Heart wood?? Just kidding, beautiful wood though, why do the best looking ones always have to be the hardest?

I don't know TikiToa, but you are right, the cannibal would look good in that wood. I was really torn weather to use Mahogany (soft and easy carving and reddish) or Walnut (dark brown and Hard and excellent for detail) I will use the walnut since I am trying for that "different" looking spiral adopted from the mask I showed you. So Walnut it is.
Later,
Ben

[ Edited by: Benzart on 2004-07-22 16:30 ]

Here are the 2 Shrunken heads finished






Onatiki gets the one made from PurpleHeart(#43) since he sent me the wood and Swampfire is next in line for # 40.

[ Edited by: Benzart on 2004-07-22 15:38 ]

These are so cool - Love that hair too!

http://www.samgambino.com

Those heads are awesome! Color me inspired....

Ben I just looked through all 22 pages of your carvings to decide what I liked best. They are all amazing so I cant decide. So put me on the list if you can and I will send you a picture of what I would like if you have time. See you at Hukilau

Thanks Sam, I think its your fault that I've done these shrunken Heads?? The hair does add something. Difficult to do but worth it. let me know if you want more hair on yours..
Kingslod, my pleasure, glad I can inspire once in a while.
Keigs 20, you Really humble me with your request. Thanks tons, just let me know what you want and I'll make time.

[ Edited by: Benzart on 2004-07-24 06:59 ]

Benzart,

As you know, I'm a newcomer here, so I am just now checking out your stuff. These small tikis are amazing. There is just too much in this string to read during lunch break at work. I'll probably spend all next week's lunches just going through it.

I'm sure you probably already answered this, but what kind of tools do you use to do all of that detail? Do you do this under some type of magnifier? They are just incredible. The breadth of your design skills blows me away.

Separate subject - Have you designed any tattoos? I am going to Hawaii with my wife & little boy in November, and I'm going to visit Island Ink in Maui. In the mean time I want to dream up a tiki tatoo or hire someone to design one for me. Or, do you know anyone who specializes in this type of thing?

And lastly - do you have a website? I didn't get anything with google.

Awesome stuff!!

Aaron

Oh please, Ben you are the man! Hey I am emailing you a picture.

Thanks, Ben. As for the hair, mine is just right - you can't improve on perfection. :)

Aaron, Thanks. I don't have a website yet. workin on it. I use a flexshaft with many grinding burs, chisels from Very small to normal and knives. All the normal woodworking/jewelry making tools. I use a magnifier3.5x attatched to my glasses. I have never designed tats, I cannot draw at all. Some of our other artists hee on TC do though. Look thru creating tiki at all the artists. There is even a thread abouy tattoos. Thanks for the comps...
keigs, I got your picture,,Awesome Tiki

Aaron, heres the link to tiki tattoos http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=9665&forum=1&start=0
And heres another link
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6069&forum=1
There are several more you can find using the search engine.

Thanks, Benzart.

I need to do a little research, but if I get one done, I'll make sure to post it in the "Creating Tiki" forum.

Aaron

Well I just got home from a short trip, northern Arizona, and in my mailbox was my original Benzart shrunken head carving. What a great thing to come home to, a head in a box. Thanks Ben, it looks great!

Swampfire, I'm glad you like it..
I'm having no luck with wood these days. I'm working on the Tiki-Toa MaoriCannible and find a colony of some kind of insects have colonized the interior of the log too much to try to patch the bugs are long gone but their house remains.
I am having unpleasant reactions to new meds my Dr is trying,, I HATE being a guine pig._)(^(&^*%@@#$bleepion drs.
I'll be OK though ina few years.

no worries Ben, and I know the feeling when you talk about the meds, it sucks, especially when they say this will make you feel better and you end up feeling worse. Sent money for the horn.

Hello All, This is just a Statement for the record about the Maori faces I carve. I NEVER CopyANY actual Maori Moko designs. Everypiece I do , has a Tattoo Totally Designed by myself. To copy an ancient (or modern for thet matter)Moko is akin to Identity theft. While Any NZ Maori could determine this just by looking, us uneducated people mostly wouldn't have a clue. I am learning as much as I can about the Maori Ta Moko, so as not to insult anyoue blindly.
Thanks, Benzart

good thing I said REFERENECE MARTERIAL when i sent that stuff

yeah you got that right,. No worries, just trying to be politically andany other way correct.

Ben, thats what artistic interpretation's all about. There would be hardly any Tiki mugs out there if we were all so worried about being politically correct and true to the faith that we use. I think its cool that they are your own designs derived from the traditional,I also think you are talented enough to produce some amazing copys of traditional designs that any Moari would be proud to see, keep it up

Thanks Cheeky. The reason for the statement is that I dont want to represent myself as creating any authentic Ta Moko. and I don't want to represent that I Copy Anyones Ta Moko. A Maori Artist approves of my work and acknoledges (?) that it is original and there are no copies. Py point is Other people may look and think "Wow those are great Moko copies. I just want everyone to know my work is original and not copied . No big deal it's just a "read the small print " statement.
Thanks Cheeky and all of TC.