tikis by marcus thorn

sorry i didn't make it to be waiting on your doorstep. it was a pleasure meeting you, your wife and your friends.

the maori looks great. i'll be over some time next week.

Cool stuff man. Maoris are all the rage these days arent they?

Marcus,

He looks great! That angle grinder is a good choice for working on the face.

-Gman

Thanks Ben - it means a lot to me to get such great feedback from someone as talented as yourself, lets me know that I am heading in the right direction.
Pdrake - we have the spare room made up - drop in anytime.

and some more progress on the maori.

OWw, you're Killin' me. I need to see More Pictures,as that was just a tease. This guy is really very very excellent. I LOVE to see More peeps carving the Maori stuff.
HappyHappyHappy!

OHHH YEAHHHH! That guy is bitchin! I love this stuff!!!

-Gman

Hot damn! Look at that detail! Friggin' fantastic, man.

WOW!!! ....cant wait to see it done.

Nice details on that one Marcus.

Read in Cruzin your making them a tiki at Wintersun - can't wait to see what you come up with.

Thanks guys - I will post some more pics early next week - when I get back home - Hewey I will have to grab a cruisin at the airport and have a read on the plane down - looking forward to tomorrow night.

blown away Marcus...can't wait to see more....

Sweetness Marcus.....Sweetness.

That's it!!! Great.
JP

Are ya' Home Yet??

On 2006-05-04 18:48, Benzart wrote:
Are ya' Home Yet??

he'd be in Sydney now (or soon) 'cause Im seein him tonight! (Friday). He goes back tomorrow I think.

Wow, it's going to be a great one. Good Job.
T.

I had the pleasure of meeting both Marcus and the lovely Yvette last night - a great pair of folks! Can't speak highly enough of how cool they are, or how cool Marcus' tikis are in the flesh!

Thought people might be interested in this (blurb from Tiki Taboo email propaganda:

Marcus and his wife Yvette live on a 10-acre man-made paradise of waterfalls and jungle, giant bonfire pits and an outdoor bamboo tiki bar hung with odd bits of vintage flotsam-and-jetsam on the outskirts of Brisbane. Marcus, revered around the world for his enormous tiki carvings in Australian gum- timber and palm, is a self-taught carver.

‘Marcus is one of the greatest living tiki carvers today, and he’s neither Polynesian nor American,’ comes one comment on Tiki Central, a website set-up for lovers of all things Polynesian, visited by over 1000 people every hour (www.tikicentral.com).

Viewing his work in person it is easy to understand the reason behind this surge of publicity and orders for these beautiful Polynesian statues, representative of the 1950s interest in pop paradise. They are superb, and his artistry, which sees him get up at 4am each day, demonstrates his love for one of the greatest icons of an era he is adamant to recreate. How tiki carving became a full-time job for Marcus in less than five years shows just how big the interest in Polynesian exotica has become. Sparked-off by the revival of Hawaiian fashions, complimented by the release of the excellent and widely read Taschen Book of Tiki by Sven Stroheim, the ground was set for a man as skilled and passionate as Marcus to flourish.

‘Every tiki I do attracts many more commissions as people who see them want one for themselves. Nowadays I can’t keep up. It can take me a week to do a single large carving, and my most recent, a Maori tiki with detailed carved tattoos, took me three weeks full time!’

How about some pics of that backyard of yours man? Sounds pretty sweet!

A few more pictures to tease you all - sorry Ben - you will have to wait till you get back from your trip to see the rest of this fella, but thanks for your enthusiasm - I am always waiting with baited breath for your postings so now its my turn.
Thanks to GMan Kahaka, rodeotiki, Congatiki, McTiki JohnnyP and Tahitiki
Hewey it was really great to meet you finally, thanks for hanging out with Yvette while I was busy carving. The blurb that you posted was real nice hey? makes me blush - you will get to see the tropical surroundings that I live in when you get your Butt up here for Luau later this year hehehe.

Marcus,

That looks fantastic! It looks like a damn museum piece. I can't believe how perfect he is - and the way you used the body elevation in the Moko....jeeez! From the last pic it looks like you are getting ready to finish - no Puhoro (butt and leg moko)?? Either way, this one has me slobbering on my keyboard. Please post more progress pics! If/when you do, I'll be better prepared and will have my keyboard covered with a tarp. I know you always carve great stuff, but this one has me in a frenzy.....

-Gman

I share the same view as Gman.
I'd like to see some yard pics though.

John

Marcus, This Maori is the coolest, even the treatment on the base is really nice. I can't wait to see it with the final finish.

Drum Roll please....GMan prepare plastic tarp for keyboard here he is...

And at his temporary home at Ocean Earth Surf Shop at the Gold Coast until the owner takes him home in June - and has ordered a replacement for Maori to fill the void.

DAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tarp in place (slobber)

Serious sweetness! Totally slobberific. Great job Marcus. Have a beer on me...I'll pay ya back if we ever meet!

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-05-12 18:59 ]

Holy CRAP! That thing is AWESOME!!!

davez_tikiz (the artist formerly known as Doubravsky)

Why do you live soooooooo far???

Thanks Davez Tikiz, Hiltiki and of course GMan - this is my first moari so it was a great challenge - i hope I did it justice - cant wait to start another one to keep for me with a lot more tattoo fat chance of that happening for a while - I had my first TV appearance this week - it was a little piece about me and the tiki culture - turned out pretty good - I also bumped into a stranger at a woodworking exhibition yesterday and he was telling me how there was a guy on TV just this week that did Tikis - and I said "yeah that was me" and he said "oh yeah it is you - man you look like you've lost 15 kilos since that story was done (last week)so it is true TV does make ya fat! Gonna sit back and have that beer today and start some more stuff tomorrow - no more Krispy Kreme donuts for me.

Tiki Beat by Marcus

[ Edited by: tiki beat by marcus thorn 2006-05-12 20:00 ]

Real nice, I like the way you did the eyes. Neat.

[ Edited by: Tahitiki 2006-05-12 20:37 ]

Marcus, that is so hot. Your attention to detail is incredible on this piece. Each spiral and line adds so much more to the piece.

Priceless.

Speechless.

He looks so at home at the surfshop. :wink:

Can't wait to see what's next.

Nice stuff man. Those pics I got of the maori are gonna go up soon :)

Id be interested to know what the house of a guy who owns a major surf brand looks like too :)

Marcus, your tikis are all so different in style, it's always interesting to see what you are up to. Benzart, Gman, and Marcus all doing Maoris... The fascinating thing to me is how each artist can do the same genre, and infuse it with their own unique styling. Having got my feet wet with staining/antiquing, I'm also much impressed that side of your work as well.

Okay, enough lavishing of praise! Get back to work and show us another new and different Marcus tiki.

Please!

A-A

Marcus,

I have been meaning to respond to your topics for quite a while now.
Surfing this morning with a couple of Aussies reminded me that I better send you some plugs.

Your tikis are outstanding! It is amazing the different styles and creativity that you put into your work. They are truly fine art.

Are you mostly carving gum trees?

Have fun in the land down under, I'm jealous I was trying to buy some land in Uladulla, but there is so much red-tape involved that we gave up.

Cheers,
Will

WOW Marcus, Thanx for the pix, this guy is totally unbelievable. He is as great as I thought he would be. You got every bit of detail out of that log that was hidden in there. I'm gonna have to raise the bar even higher now. This has to be one of your Best pieces if not The Best.
VeryVery Excellent work, and you did it like it was just another walk in the park, no big detail.
You know we are expecting greater things from you now, no more slouching (Not that your earlier work is any slouch work mind you)
Thanks for sharing this Maori with us!

Thank you Tahitiki.
Lakesurfer - I cant wait to see whats next either - I have started on a piece of wood but he is yet to really reveal himself.
Hewey - I would like to check out his house too - maybe I can deliver the next tiki to his place?
Aarons Akua - thanks - the staining really brings everything together - it is like magic when you start applying it - shades and depths come out of nowhere!
SCtikishack - G'day mate - yeah I use real authentic australian gum - it is a great hardwood - hardly cracks and has some beautiful textures and grains through it. It goes down well in print to be able to say that I am using gum tree - very patriotic. Shame about the red tape - you can always come and visit us if you need a trip down under.
Benzart - dont go raising that bar too high - I wont be able to reach me beer! hehe. Seriously - thank you for lashings of praise - I cant afford to be a slacker with such great company as yourself - I really enjoyed this maori - have been wanting to do one since I first set chisel to wood but had to wait for my own evolution to that sort of quality - the maori demands a lot out of a carver as you well know.

I just blew coffee through me nose. Dayum that's a nice Maori sir. More more.

Wow !!!

Mahalo

Been meaning to ask, where do you get your wood from?

are you kidding hewey? wood falls from the sky for the privilege of being carved by marcus.

I just saw the finished result. Very nice. Your work is an Austrailian treasure.
JP

Mctiki - Hate it when that happens, but thanks for the compliment (Gman uses plastic drop sheet over keyboard before looking at my stuff - if that is any help)
Hewey - trees fall down and I take them home - nah seriously - I contact my friendly local treeloppers and they are more than happy to help me out - I aint no greenie.
Pdrake - yeah thats right - I wake up most mornings walk out the back door and there is a line of logs all begging me to hit them with the chisel....how is your leg mending up - it looked pretty bad. Your little carved tiki went straight to the "tiki room" thanks for that - I have good memories when I see him. It looks as though I may get back over to the states next year - so we can catch up for a drink.
JohnnyP - Thanks

the legs almost all better, thanks for asking. the dog scratched it so it bled a little, but i can walk normal again.

get back here and take me home with you. i'm hating vegas right now. too hot.

Aloha Marcus!!!!!
Your maori is incredable my friend . You and ben keep the wood flying in such a KOOL way with your carving flow that it is really cool to watch it all unfold,Mahalo my friend and keep the soul flowing through your chisels!!!!!your friend , Mooney

What a freaking masterpiece! The more threads I check out, the more inspiration I get. I will most definitely browse your art...incredible!

Beachnik

Inspired by a visit from mother-in-law on Mothers day - nah- a customer is a hot rod enthusiast from Sydney (yeah where the Opera House is)

Hope you like him - will post more pics soon.

Tiki Beat by Marcus
http://www.tikibeat.com.au

[ Edited by: tiki beat by marcus thorn 2006-06-02 22:52 ]

On 2006-06-02 22:51, tiki beat by marcus thorn wrote:
Inspired by a visit from mother-in-law on Mothers day - nah- a customer is a hot rod enthusiast from Sydney (yeah where the Opera House is)

For someone who carves so well you take crap photos! And Sydney - home to the Opera House and Hewey! :)

what can I say
"everyone loves a little head"
lookin good mate.

cheers
Bob

MArcus, he is looking pretty darn good for just a beginning. Can't wait to watch this guy unfold.

Some more progress on my shrunken head

Thanks for the feedback Ben, glad you like the little head Bob - I hope these photos are up to your standard Hewey - I will try to get better!