Trader Joes Tiki

The nasty weather is keeping me from carving. Instead of getting all upset and depressed, I am going to use this time productively by submitting a little tiki article to you guys/gals at Tiki Central. After some serious brain-storming, the Trader Joe's tiki suddenly entered into my deep thoughts.

A few months ago, my beautiful wife called my cell phone with exciting news. A manager, opening a new Trader Joe's in Santa Cruz, was trying to reach me. She wanted a piece of art, from a local artist, which would help them one-up their neighboring Capitola store. I was more than happy to help them attain their goals. A Tiki was just what they needed.

After a little chat with the manager, we decided on a 6-7 ft/tall, 1(1/2) ft/wide monster. The only caveat was, I had just three weeks to make it. This was quite the feat since I work 15 hours a week in a highly stressful office job. As a daddy/ daycare (House Bitch) from 1-5ish, I have to fit in family time, tiki carving, surfing, and MT biking whenever time permits.

Check out the finished product(above). It's one of the most shiny false idols I have ever seen. Often, I debate with a preacher friend of mine as to whether or not my actions are breaking one of the ten commandments. I have to explain to him that my tikis aren't for people to worship. Unfortunately, it is impossible to dictate the actions of others (Just Kidding). The reason this tiki is so shiny isn't simply because it so happy. Perhaps the three layers of polyeurethane helps create this effect. Thank you all for taking valuable time to read about my tiki adventures.

SCTikis

[ Edited by: SCTikiShack on 2004-12-30 15:29 ]

Ya know, all throughout my school days (from Junior High to High), I used to have people tell me how much they wish they could draw, how jealous they were...you know, the usual...and I still get that today, especially from people at work. However, I feel it safe to say that after seein this AWESOME piece of work...I wish to God I could do this. I mean, I can sculpt...but this is on a completely different level than working with clay or drawing. My hat's off to you man. Great Job, wish I lived in Santa Cruz, then I could bask in the glory of this piece. But noooooooo....I live in Burbank.

Will, that finish is awesome. The Chikitiki seems to have been doing all of the Trader Joe's around So-Cal with bamboo signs, awnings, etc. - but no tikis I think. You two should get together & do all the Trader Joes with your awesome tropical tiki decor. That's the first Trader Joe's logo tiki I've seen. Nice work!

A-A

Yes, that is One Superb finish. I see you sanded it thoroughly down to fine grit before the poly finish. You use the color difference to great advantage. What tools do you use for sanding?

NICE!!!
They just opened a Trader Joe's here, hmmmmmmm.

The Trader Joe's in San Luis Obispo, CA has 4 - 6 foot tikis flanking the entrance to it. I know a friend of mine, John Miller carved at least one of them. He was called in to replace one that was stolen by a local Frat. I'll try to sneak out one day and take some picts of them. They also hired a friend of mine, John T Jones to sculpt a surfing chicken to sit on top of the egg refrigerator. John also carves some amazing tikis out of palms. Once again I'll have to get a couple of photos of his stuff. I think it's great that Trader Joes hires local artisans to spice up their locations and keeps them individualized instead of "chain-like."

Tiki Man,
Thank you, I wish that I could draw too. Around ten years ago I picked up a chainsaw one day and discovered that I actually have some artistic talent. Chanisaws used to scare the #@%* out of me. Now it is the grinder that I fear.

AA,
You and Benzart seem to always be one of the first ones on it. I think you guys are Tiki Central Addicts, we may have to make an intervention. Yesterday morning, my real estate friend offered me five redwood trees worth of logs (nice guy huh). Some of these have you name on it. It would be great decorating Trader Joes stores with Chikitiki. Could you imagine picking up the whole chain, that would keep us busy for several years. However, they like to use local artists to keep the stores from looking the same.

Benzart,

Thank you for all the plugs. I didn't want to be considered a chainsaw hack. Therefore, at SCTikis we go through several processes to offer a finely refined product.
Actually, after reading your topic on the tikis you carved for the Tropicana I was inspired to try some different sealing methods. The large Maori Tiki you carved was beautifuland highly polished.
Currently, I give customers their choice. They can get their tiki sealed with Thompson's or Ultra Deck for free. A little extra will give them a coat of marine varnish followed by three of polyeurathane.

As for the sanding, The tiki is smoothed out with a chainsaw as much as possible. Then an angle grinder is used to get the easy access stuff. Instead of using sandpaper, I will then use a sanding disk to get all the hard to reach places. Around a year ago I discovered that disks work much better than paper due to their stiffness. Finally, I use a medium grit sanding sponge to complete the project.

SCTikis

On 2004-12-31 08:39, SCTikiShack wrote:

Yesterday morning, my real estate friend offered me five redwood trees worth of logs (nice guy huh). Some of these have you name on it.

Waaaaaaa-Hooooo!

Cool..........I'm diggin' it.

G.