New high standards

Man, the level of carving excellence around here has gone thru the roof lately. Is it just me or is at an all time high ? Quick, somebody post something crappy to keep the gods from getting jealous and destroying us all.

Saxotica you are right, there seems to me More excellent art than we have had in a Long time IF Ever. Everyone seems to have really raised the bar. I think it's great.

I think we owe it to guys like benz for giving nothing but encouragement and also putin out some awsome stuff for us amatures to shoot for constently raising the bar...

I agree. Ben is the all time KING of raising the bar!

Three cheers for Ben...

Hip hip Maori!
Hip hip Maori!
Hip hip Maori!

Seriously though, you are absolutely right about everyones stuff. Paintings, lamps, carvings, pinstriping, and the whole ball of wax are looking top notch.

Everybody here is an inspiration! :D

COON-TIKI.

heh, here you go.

Once again I nominate Ben for tribal chief....he encourages at all levels...he pushes....
and he sure as hell leads by example. This is a great place to hang out...and I agree that
the bar is being raised at all angles of tiki art....fun ain't it?

No contest. Ben Rules.

But I have also admired the works and talent of the myriad of wonderful artisans that are willing to show off their work here.

Here is a crappy tiki or two.

I've been trying to balance the excellence... just check out my thread - there's some real crap in there! Someday (soon I hope) I'll get better...

A lot of this bar-raising is due to things like Coon-Tiki - (Thanks to Swanky and Ms Swanky, and of course Benzart, Basement Kahuna, Tiki Diablo, and Crazy Al). Coon Tiki Rocks!

I just started carving and visiting this site a few months ago, but looking back in the threads it's obvious that there has been serious excellence here for quite a while. The coon tiki like events just expose the excellence to others who are now trying to get close to the bar (Except CongaTiki, who blew everyone away with his current project! I thought he was a newbie when we first met at Coon Tiki!).

[ Edited by: tikigap 2006-06-07 19:20 ]

On 2006-06-07 17:54, pdrake wrote:
heh, here you go.

Brilliant!

Yeh, I also think there has been an increase in # of people creating generally, in various fields. I think we have quality representation of all creating tiki fields. All of these serve as inspiration for everyone else to create more!

More artists are pushing themselves to higher standards. I reckon this could be in part to the dreaded "chicklet teeth" thread that caused a sh**storm in a teacup. I think that has helped people to delve a little deeper and try and create higher quality art.

Then there's folks like Benz, who'll take time to help out any newbie, and really make the place what it is, and why it means so much to so many of us.

You are so right. There has been a huge increase in quality work with everyone here. Not that my work is raising the bar by any means, but I do find myself thinking about the work with more intensity and taking my time on the cuts. I find this intimacy with the piece comes through in the end. Many thanks to Ben for personally visiting my workshop and giving tips. Also to the Tiki Jam attendees. It's always great to have a group of carvers in one place sharing ideas and techniques.

I would suggest to anyone to host a carving day. It's fun and you get to meet great people who share a passion for the same thing you do. Thus everyones work comes out better.

I think that many of us are also holding back some of the crappy stuff. Come on admit it - how many tikis are sitting around your carving area gathering sawdust. I counted 5 on mine. This thread has inspired me so I'll post some pictures later tonight.

[ Edited by: AlohaStation 2006-06-08 06:58 ]

AS...you are so right. I have a tiki graveyard.

Yes, I have a Graveyard box too. Some of the pieces don't look too bad, but when you carve small, just a small chip is a large part of the total carving and if it comes off at the wrong spot it's into the Box.
Benzart is Only a small part of the Creational force flowing through the TC Ohana. It takes us All with a desire to be better artists to raise the bar.
What ever the reason, there is no doubt thet there is some serious art floating around the pages of Tiki Central and I am certainly enjoying it.
ALOHA to All