Conga....Wisconsin stuff!

Conga, obviously we all love your carvings. However, I do really miss your paintings! So try and sneak one in when you get the chance, will you? :D

We want more Conga carvings! I'm going on a hunger strike until you post a new one!

-Gman

GMan you are a hoot...the great motivator of tiki central! I am getting ready to rock...the
next carving is in my head...but right now I don't have any wood. I will be getting some free
basswood soon...but I also have an order in for a couple of big chunks so I can get back to work.
Right now I am working on a little painting...my first paint work in at least a year....so you better
eat one last BIG meal before you start that hunger strike...I appreciate your nudges and support...
I will try to be worthy!

Conga,

I need to drop 25 pounds anyway....so here goes!.....

-Gman

Conga.....I'm getting hungry!!??!!

I think I am going to join Gman on the hunger strike.
JP

Hey Conga! Noticed my little friend Mindimbit isn't in the snazzy family portrait on your chilly deck. Is it possible he escaped and is shipping himself to visit the Hodaddy in Mission Beach?

It is spring break after all!

BTW I showed the picture of Kava Kava man on The Mensters CD cover to a Turkish friend and mentioned that he appeared to be made of dark chocolate. She giggled and named him "Kahve Kahve" which means coffee in Persian!

Happy Easter Everyone! Better eat really well today GMan and Johnny...I still don't have any wood.
Waiting for some free stuff from my boss...and the local sawmill dude isn't really inspired to
slice one 8 foot chunk of basswood...he will do it...but it wasn't a high enough priority
(which I understand) to do it this past week. So I spent most of yesterday getting the congatiki
lounge ready for summer fun. I ripped off the thatch roof over my bar to replace the support
posts (they looked great but stunk really bad cuz they were treated with some sort of oil.

Thanks for looking Hodadhank...Mindimbit was around when I took the deck picture...he must have
slipped off to the bathroom.

When I do get back to work....all you guys who like my somewhat "off track" stuff will be
impressed (I hope). I will just say it's a PNG style with a bit of Maori-style intricacy....
I'm not even sure I can do it...but I will try.

Conga, I'm sure you will be able to do that style very easily. It was Great finally meeting you at Coon Tiki, you're really a Cool old fart! Can't wait til you finally get youeself some wood. You have to find a more reliable source.
Happy Easter.

Thanks for your confidence Ben...us "old farts" gotta stick together!
So anyway...just to show that I haven't strayed too far away from the tribe...a little paint
splashing in honor of Finkdaddy and Ikitnrev...I know...the green background may draw some
references to "rip off"...but....I like green

oh....it's not finished...

I like green too. I don't know if anyone can have a copywrite on green.... Nice painting Conga, it's totally your style - but where are the wood chips? I know you are carving up there...c'mon, what is it????

-G

Yeah! Let's see it! Can't wait!

ok ok....we have wood!!!!! Gonna put the brush down for a little while and get to work whittlin'.
GMan and Johnny...eat some Easter leftovers and hit the hunger strike....first pics by the weekend!

SWEET!

Conga, cool, cool, cool, Noticed the ref. to the green bay (non tiki mugs)

And in Wisconsin, it is much more likely that a sole tiki mug would be surrounded by not two, but probably many more (dozens?) Green Bay Packer themed drinking glasses.

Congatiki has created a 'Revenge of the Nerds' type painting, where the world has has turned itself over on its head, and it is now the tiki mugs who outnumber the sportsmugs. The Congatiki Lounge might be one of only a handful of places in Wisconsin where this is true in real life.

Vern

thanks TFisher and Vern...
Being from Wisconsin...Vern...you know all too well that Packer mugs outnumber tiki mugs
by gigazillions.....except of course....The congatiki lounge....Finkdaddy's Leeward Lounge....
and....I assume a few other places (Lakesurfer?). Appreciate the comments.

well...it's back to digging into wood.....this is the start of an 8 foot half-log...based on a
PNG ancestral figure...he's holding a pole that supports an elaborate ceremonial headdress...it's
my first chance to carve since Coontiki...at completion...I believe a couple of months away...it

will incorporate a great deal of intricate detail using stuff I learnt from our instructors.
at least that's what I hope


GMan and Johnny...you can get back to eating now!

[ Edited by: congatiki 2006-04-22 12:25 ]

Sweet! Looks a little like Coltrane.

Was sitting on my porch this morning wailing on my new used bongos ($40 LP's scored from the pawn shop) and singing Whitey on the Moon( http://www.gilscottheron.com/lywhitey.html ) to my unappreciative neighbors and wondered what my percussive pal Conga was up to.

Glad to see you flexing your carving muscles again. Can't wait to see this feller progress!

BTW, UPS will have a hefty package for you soon. Need more of bubble wrap!

Give my love to "Mindi"!

OH Yeah! Classic Conga style! This is gonna be awesome! Hell, it looks awesome already! This was worth the famine. I can't wait to see what you do with this piece. I'm glad I can get back to eating now. I was so weak from starvation that I couldn't carve at all........

-Gman

Hey Conga Glad to see you getting back to carving. I have been itching to get back outside again to carve again too. Now that the weather has settled into a warmer average temp. I need to get started. I just have been extra busy since Coontiki. I have been working on getting my Benzart sharpening system assembled. Good to see you are inspired to work something LARGE. Great start! PS check you pm's.
Your friend 8FT

Nice, Conga...good luck with it. Looks like very clear wood.

thanks Hank...GMan....8Ft and Basement....great to be working with wood again. This is another
big chunk of ole' Wisconsin basswood. making a lot of progress today...will try to post another
pic a little later. It's amazing how much I seemed to soak up watching Ben...BK...Danny and
Al at Coontiki...getting a lot more confident with the hook knife...which will show up much later
when i get into the detail stuff on this.

Guess who's back?

Nice work as always, Conga!
Is that Tiki smoking a bong? HaHa....

Hey Conga!

I love your painting. Both of the end tikis are sippin' their drinks and staring at the middle guy with the Packer mug like he's crazy, but he's just sitting there completely content no matter what the others think of him. :)

You don't need me to tell you how great your carvings have become. Now that you've been schooled by the greats, I can't even imagine what you'll be turning out from now on!

Thanks good friends....Kaha...welcome back...nice to have you around here again...and
Finkdaddy...nice to see you too! Appreciate the comps on the painting (which I will try to finish
soon)...and always appreciate your kind words on my whittlin'.
This will be the final update on this guy till next week...made some progress defining the head
a little more...and dug a bit deeper around the body...there will be lotsa fancy work on the
pole and headdress...please stay tuned

You all come back now, ya hear?

You got a source imaqe you are workingfrom you can share? I wanna seee where you are going.

Check this out Swanky....I think of this while at work and sleeping...then carve from memory.
As you can tell...I am not attempting to copy this exactly....mainly cuz I couldn't do it if
I wanted to. And mine is gonna have "Benzart toes."
http://www.lostworldarts.com/images/artifacts/img1164.jpg

[ Edited by: congatiki 2006-04-23 17:15 ]

BenZart toes rule!

Conga - Long time no see! This will surely be a killer piece. You have a great eye for source ideas. They are always off the beaten path and super interesting to look at. It will be cool to see where you take this one with the final detailing that you mentioned. Great to finally share drinks in TN.

Cheers!

A-A

Nice start! Those curled over toes are all the rage now. The subject is a challenging one. Looking forward to seeing the "intricate" stuff you have learned from Coontiki.
JP

Conga - Nice work! I'm getting ready to chop up some tall wood... maybe I could ask you for a few pointers...

[ Edited by: tikigap 2006-04-24 21:32 ]

Sweetness Conga. I'm watching this one.

WOW, Conga, By the start of this guy, he will be your Masterpiece to date. I Love what you have started sofar and I Love the Toez man,,COOL. This is one I Don't want to miss so take Lotz of progress shots and then POST Them.
Thanks...

Wow...love you guys....now I'm gonna really work hard on this one...so as not to disappoint!!!
Gapper...you'll do fine with big wood...my only pointer is to not get discouraged...it takes a
lot of digging until you see a little personality start to peep through....dug for about an
hour today just to get completely throught the wood between his legs (this is starting to sound
like a porno script)...
thanks Ben...already really liking the hook knife...I even found a way to use that weird one
that I brought to Coontiki...and I'm keeping em SHARP....will get more pics up in a day or two.
Thanks to all...it's your feedback for my crazy stuff that keeps me pushing.

On 2006-04-17 20:32, congatiki wrote:
thanks TFisher and Vern...
Being from Wisconsin...Vern...you know all too well that Packer mugs outnumber tiki mugs
by gigazillions.....except of course....The congatiki lounge....Finkdaddy's Leeward Lounge....
and....I assume a few other places (Lakesurfer?). Appreciate the comments.

I hate the Packers... problem is my wife love them....

No Packers in my tiki lounge... there might be a throw or blanket in the living room but that's it :wink:

Oh.... NICE WORK CONGA! Bigger is better!

Man... I'm wayyyy too busy with tiki stuff to be keeping up with all you guys... gotta get back to work :)

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2006-04-24 22:52 ]

thanks Lake...only one Packer item in the Congatiki Lounge...a Favre bobblehead...and that's
going out pretty damn soon!
Digging deeper...starting to see "daylight"

Conga,
Wow, this is going to be one heck of a carving. I dont know how you are managing all the layers and elements, but keep it up. I'm sure this one is really making you think before you cut...Awesome work.

You are making some serious progress. Looks good.
JP

Holy Cow! Man, you are gonna need to be carful with that sucka now - it looks fragile. But man does it look cool! I checked out some source images and I know what you are up to now. Very neat idea. I'm really going to like watching this one progress. Only, we need action shots of you working on it....any chance ????

-Gman

On 2006-04-25 13:37, GMAN wrote:
Only, we need action shots of you working on it....any chance ????

-Gman

Flash photography may drive the carving machine into a frenzy.

Beautiful so far Conga.

It looks like a great amalgamation of a Hawaiian ki'i and the PNG source pic. u posted with sum poly pop thrown in. NICE!!!!

Wow Conga, that's lookin' very nice! It's always better and better with you. I'm sure I've asked yo this before, but do you use any power tools or is it all by hand?

Yeah, I was just gonna ask what you're using, tool-wise, on that guy. He's turning out FANTASTIC and F A S T! Two things I can't do!

Aw shucks....you cats are making me blush.....this is less me and more and more the result of
watching Benzart...Basement....Crazy Al and Diablo in action at Coontiki. At this point...all
chisels....mainly cuz I don't have any power tools that I can find after I use them....I think
I have a home handyman version of ADD...the only tools I can ever find are my carving tools...and
now...thanks to Ben...they're sharp. This is a fun carving...and the response from you guys
will definitely make it better in the long run.....thank you all. I spent a lot of time drinking
mai tais and watching Ben and Basement work their detail magic....I can't wait to get to that
point in this carving. Stay tuned.

Hi pals...
time for another little update...working my way down the 8 foot log...still in the pretty
rough stage......

[ Edited by: congatiki 2006-04-30 06:24 ]

Sunday update...

Conga, he/they is/are looking VEry nie. This carving is not an easy one. I think you will find the PNG pieces are much more difficult than they look. Those old carvers are very adept at taking very human features and stretching and twisting them all out of perportion and making it look Sooo eaassy and simpole. You seem to have no trouble with it.Nice.