Conga....Wisconsin stuff!

On 2004-12-21 20:55, congatiki wrote:
Happy Holidays...just for fun..."Cut-Up-Tiki"

a visit to "Tiki Beach"

and a couple shots of my latest carving...
finally stained...

Hope they bring a smile to your Tiki hearts!

Heh heh! Love it! I'm A Smilin'!

On 2006-02-19 19:05, teaKEY wrote:
No this is New Guinea Mindimbit meets "The Scream

And this one... what a scream!

On 2006-02-26 18:30, congatiki wrote:
....I was gonna stain him dark and splash a little paint here and there...but now
I'm not sure what to do...

No, leave him like that!

wow tikigap...those were a long time ago....they make me laugh too.

I'd go with an almost black torch burnish and some chalky earth pigment paint in red and yellow ochre colors and lime white...if he's white pine he will take a blowtorch nice and even and brush out smooth/grainy..that's a good Mindibit..It could look nearly right out of the Sepik Highlands if you paint him right! Nice job carving this piece.

P.S. What you have there is called a mythology figure, used to represent stories/legends. They are very important in that culture.

I'm with BK go dark and add the chalky highlights.

You spent a lot of time sanding.
JP

Definitely excellent job there and looks like you wore out your sander. Nice finish, nice carving, Excellent PNG.

Conga,

The Mindimbit looks great. Taking your time and giving him a thorough sanding sure paid off. I love it as is, but that isn't to say that he might not be even kooler with the pigmentation BK recommended. Since he is so dang nice, I guess I would try to work his coloration to as close to authentic as I could. However, any way that you wind up finishing him I bet he'll look great. Another great carving!

-Gman

mahalo Freddie...BK...Johnny...Benand GMan....honored by the feedback from you guys.
I have decided to follow my original muse with this one...and go with a dark and painted
finish...but I have a couple of questions of the more experienced in the group.

1. Since I have some sealer on it...I assume it might be too late to torch it...correct?
2. What do you guys mean by "earth pigment" or "chalky" paint...I assume not acrylic paint
   from the hobby section of Wally World. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
   Thanks again for the nice comments.

conga great carving - very original pieces that you are doing. I haven't seen many carvers recreating the more "obscure" tikis. (read as the ones that people see when they close their eyes and think of "tiki")

For painting - in the past I've painted first (you can use color water based stains from ROCKLER - they have some super earthy type choices or I've used acrylic paint too), then sanded and removed much of the paint before I stained over it (with whatever color I would stain the entire tiki). That adds some of the aged look to it. Good luck!

conga beautiful piece of work. I perefer the natural look,you can torch it but I would sand as much sealer/finish off in the areas to be torched as possible.
It starts to bubble and burn and it smells like caca and the fumes are harsh.

thanks for the kind words Polynesia and TFisher....final decision....this one was so much work
that for the time being I am not going to cover him up....like a newborn...he's gonna run around
naked for a while.....he may eventually get the vintage/relic/passed from generation to generation
look...but for now he's gonna have the "fresh outta the box" look.
Better pics when he goes outside to play this weekend.
thanks

Aloha again Bruddah!
I love da buggah! Great carving!!! I do like it in the "raw" state, but Im sure youll give it a nice look when you finish da kine!
Keep up the good work brah! I always love seeing what you create!

(Still got the Mensters palying in the gallery! Every time the CD changer goes to your Music, a nice mood & atmosphere comes into the gallery! Love it!)

Malama Pono!

hey Bruddah Kaha...Mindy appreciates the kind words from a master such as yourself...and really
happy that the mensters are still causing good vibes....and
Polynesiac....just wanted to say thanks again for the comments on the "obscure" tikis.....there
are so many spectaculars tikis being shown on this site...i need to focus on these weird guys
just to get a little attention :wink:

Conga, the old PNG carvers are really awesome and I think they Cover up too much great detail with their "Earthy" Colorings. Personally I Like your piese raw. The ONly thind I hate about the PNG Stuff IS the painted surfaces. You are a wood carver, not a painter,Well you are a painter too, but Woodcarvers like to see wood. THey love seeing the beautiful wood grains and all that stuff. Let him be nekkid for a long time, then cover him.
Torching after a sealer is difficult because when you torch a pieceof woot, you Amplify the differences within the grain of the wood and If you seal it Then burn it, you are burning the sealer and not getting the same effect. Try it if you like but if it turns out bad, it all has to be removed. I have to lightly torch my current Maori but for a different reason. after the stain when on and was sanded, a Lot of stringy hairs stood up and dared me to burn them of, but they gotta go.

thanks for all the input and inspiration...nothing real exciting here...just finished shots in
the sunlight....he was fun....think i like him with the naked look



putting the chisels away now till coontiki...can hardly wait!

WAY TO GO CONGA! He looks great! I'm glad you decided to keep the natural look. You have to do what you like....

Good luck and have fun at the carving seminar. Let me know how it was - and take lots of pics!!!

-Gman

Very nice, Conga. I like tikis that look more animal than human - sort of off the beaten path, and otherworldly (is that a word??). Nice! See you in Tennessee.

Aaron

That guy has some perosonality. You made the right choice on the finish.
JP

I will have to go back to see what wood that is but its a different type of wood considering that there is no wood grain. The finish, yeah, you got to do it your way.

thanks everyone....TeaKey....it's basswood....there is a grain but it's pretty faint....
it's hard to see in the pics...but it has a nice grain that circles the shoulders and
belly...and the nose and hips have some nice light markings....appreciate the kind
remarks from all of you.

So I lied about setting the chisels aside till after CoonTiki. There have been so many great posts
from you guys that I had to go back to work...just to feel moderately worthwhile. This is the
Congatiki "Savage"...which will hopefully look sorta like the left side figure in the "Ritual of
the Savage" album cover (Les Baxter)


and a group shot with his friends

Thanks for peeking...bring on the sugar!

Conga he will be a SWEET Addition to your growing group of Sweet tikis. There is Really some Nice stuff in that picture!. You gonna just Hoard it all til you get a big pile then giveum away to your friends, Huh Pal.Ready for another Bud? Here take my last one ,Pal

conga, is that a big ole chunk 'o basswood? Great carving material.

Wow Conga, your collection is looking great. Have you ever tried sneaking a tape recorder in that room when you go to sleep? I bet there's some real interesting conversation going on there!

Peace Ben...Finkdaddy and TFisher (yes it's basswood...really nice to work with). Great
day in Northern Wisconsin...although still snow on the ground. Gotta keep working...thanks again....pretty
happy with the direction this one is taking...maybe looks a little more tiki than some of my stuff

Looks like you had a fun weekend. No snow here, but it wasn't overly warm. "Savage" is going to round out your collection well, that carving looks clean.

JP

Conga my friend, watching your thread just amazes me at how your carving just keep getting better and better. You should be pretty darn proud of yourself. a musician, a painter, a carver, and the tiki gods only know what else. Way to go!

thanks a lot Johnny....much nicer working outside when the temp starts to climb...
and Exotica...thanks ...you know what they say about "Jack of all trades...master of none."
But I'm gonna keep on working at it...especially the carving. I am gonna try to sponge up everything
that's presented at CoonTiki...and try to get better better better. This is the finished
"Savage"


he towers in at a modest 30 inches....next on the agenda..Coontiki...and BIG wood.
Thanks again.

He looks great Conga! Thanks for sharing. :)

-Gman

Well done! I'm looking forward to meeting the artist in about 10 days!!!!!

Yeah man, truck it down to TN. We really need more tiki decor in the cabin. Right now it's pretty sparse and there are a few black bears here and there. Bring it on!

I'm glad you picked up the chisles again. I looked up Ritual of a Savage. You did a wonderful job!!!

Now do another one before Coontiki.
JP

thanks friends...
GMan...you've given me a lot of encouragement...I appreciate it!
8-Foot and Swanky....really looking forward to meeting you guys at Coontiki...would like to
bring some decorations but I am packing pretty light on the motorcycle...I will have my Finkdaddy
pendant around my neck...so you can all see how great his stuff is!
and Johnny...thanks for the push..but I don't think I can do much before the seminar...you'll have
to wait till I get back. You can knock one out in the meantime.

Conga,

You rock man! I hope you have a great time in TN. Say Hi to Benz for me - and don't let him work too hard. Ya'll be nice now, ya hear!

-Gman

Hi guys...the kids wanted to play outside....and I'm compiling a little portfolio for
Coontiki....so what the heck


Have fun...see ya after Tennessee.

[ Edited by: congatiki 2006-03-25 15:43 ]

:) :) :) :) :tiki:

-Gman

Nice family. Looks like you have a lot of fun together!
JP

Conga, Nice play job, you should go play Every day, it's good for you and Us.
Thanks.

Very cool. There is some great progression in your recent works with all the different styles and finishes. Wish I was as motivated as you are!!

Keep em coming!

Cool. I dig the Kava Kava man.

Les would be proud! Nice work on all...highly original, too.

Many many thanks my good friends....always appreciate the comps for da work.....Ben...Swanky and
BK....see ya in a few days....pulling outta wisconsin in a couple hours....COOOOOOOOOOOOONTEEEEEEKI
HERE WE COME!

While congatiki is at coontiki, I thought I'd post a snapshot of one of his paintings. I purchased this at the Wisconsin tiki event held two summers ago, and finally got around to framing it. I think congatiki said that this was the first piece of tiki artwork he sold.

I seem to like this more and more each day. Thanks congatiki!

Vern

Hi Vern...thanks for posting the painting...I have given a little thought to scratching out some
more paintings...since I don't have any big logs to work on. I wanna tell everyone that
Coontiki was fantastic. I haven't met a lot of people in the Tiki community so it was really
cool for me....and for the benefit of people who don't have personal knowledge of Ben...Basement...
Diablo and Crazy Al...they are the most genuine and sharing people you would ever want to
meet. Will post some pics when i find the "official" Coontiki thread. Thanks to Swanky for
a great event...and thanks again Vern for your comments on my painting...I'm proud that you
dig it!

Conga, I dig your carvings. It's cool that you are doing the unique New Guinea pieces as melanesian art is really cool.
ST

hey Sneaky...thanks a lot....I really enjoy doing the somewhat "offbeat" stuff....party because
there are so many guys doing wonderful work on the marqs...lonos....tangs and such. I do want to
do a more "tiki" piece like the big communal one from Coontiki. Thanks for the comments.