New Tiki Farm,,,, BenZart Mugs. ....STAY TUNED

There have been a couple things in the works now for awhile. Do you want it All in One big statement? Or would you like the info as it comes in, some here and some there? DO you have any idea what I am talking about here?Is there anything you would love to see from Tiki Farm and BenZart? An AshTray? AN umbrella stand? a salt & Pepper shaker? Do I hear a chorus of "MUGS" out there?? Well I guess we could do that! We'll have to scrap all the plans and go in the Mug direction if thats what they want .. Shall we Vote on it.
ENough of the games. SOme time ago Holden called me on the phone and asked if I would like to do a couple mugs with him and Tiki Farm. Of course I said Yes after thinking about it for about 20 thousandths of a second. We finally tackled Dave over at SquidArt and he agreed to do the sculpts. I don't think he knew what was in store, but he ended up having great fun, and did some WAY-Out , Awesome sculpting.
Friends here at Tiki Central, I am Very Proud along with Holden and Dave Cohen to bring you 2 BenZart Mugs. Both Maori the first from my #20 pendant and second is from BigBenZart#12. Neither of these guys are who you want to meet in a dark alley alone .

That Is from the #20 pendant and This next one from the #12 BigBenZart.

The smaller one is the more traditional size and will retail for $10.95. The Larger one will be a bit larger than most mugs and will finish out with a Scalloped top and sell for $12.95
Here are 3 new glazes Holden is working on for these Mokos

LEt me say that I am VERY Proud of these 2 mugs. They have taken a long time but now I understand the workings of Mug Making. I am Hoping you will all love these tooI think we can Safely say Plan on these mugs to be out before christmas.
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY !!!

[ Edited by: Benzart 2006-07-22 15:43 ]

Congrats Ben those sculpts look freakin great!!! I cant wait to have them both!!! Oh yeah just so you know I am still your #1 fan!!

Benz,

I don't collect mugs, but I will certainly make sure to get one of these. Nice stuff. Cool project! They both look great, but I like the second guy the most.

-Gman

licking lips in anticipation of seeing the final result...

they both look fantastic!!

warning you/Tiki Farm to be prepared for some to be sent down to me here in Australia!!

well done again.

Wow! Those are going to be effin' great!

Excellent! I'll take two.

I'm so excited about these mugs, Ben.

Two of my favorite things happen to be Tiki Farm and your Maori carvings.

I'd like to see the small mug in the second glaze selection (the brown) and the large mug in the third (the darker green.) I think they would really make the detail stand out on each mug.

I hope they're makin a whole bunch of them... ah, what do I care - I'm 15 mins from Tiki Farm!

Way to go Benz - it's about time! Seriously, those are incredible mugs. I'm not a huge mug collector, but those will be in my collection for sure! Awesome!

A-A

PS - When can we buy them?

Incredible! Love them! Two things that belong together...tiki mugs and Benzart!

I'll take one of each. Just point me in the right direction at the right time.

..waits with credit card firmly in hand...

Ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.........................

Great mugs Benz, I especially like the super detailed moko on the second one with the elongated head. Can you post pics of the original carvings they're based on in this thread? Did the sculptor have your originals to work with, or just photos? I'd be interested in seeing how the work is translated.

[ Edited by: Paipo 2006-07-19 23:59 ]

In-freakin-credible! Second one's my fave(#12 BigBenZart)! Any plans on putting anything on the back or are ya just gonna let the glaze do its beautiful job! I second Paipo's suggestion you post the original inspiration for us uninitiated! Tell me,does Holden ever sleep?Great Job! and props to you,Mr. TikiFarm,and Dave for bringing these hooligans to life!

Okay, how happy am I or what!? Ben Davis is a carving institution and I'm a lil' fellow working with a master carver! Just wanted to post up the reality and now I've gotta snooze. These will rule; fiercest TF designs ever!
Mahaloz,
H

[ Edited by: smogbreather 2006-07-20 00:19 ]

Wow! Something like this long overdue, Ben. Congratulations!

Oh Ben, they represent your work perfectly. There is no doubt that these were designed by you. They are perfection. I am so excited to know these will be a future part of Dan's collection. I hope Holden is making enough to go around because we will all want them. Congratulations and many hugs, Wendy and Dan too.

Hey Ben, Congrats on living the American Tiki Dream. I know that tikifarm does an excellent job carving up the master positives for mugs and Squid is great but your the Master carver of these heads. Those heads look great and may be the closest chance to my number one favorite mug the Ren Clark. I like the second one better too. It seems like more people do but the first one does have more of that Clark vibe. But it also is alittle scary and brings up a childhood fear that I won't say.

Congrats again and I'm going to need to get a signed one in the future. Maybe even a picture of you, say a head shot. :D

Radical Mugs! Wow! Now I can have Benzart's works in my favorite collectible Genre....Mugs

Can't wait ot get them.

Mahalo

Mc

WOW, Thanks everyone for the great response.I am Very proud of these mugs and how they are coming out. I can't say enough about the man who Never Sleeps, SmogBreather, And the guy who did the Awesome jobs of the Sculpts, Dave from Squid Art. I don't know what it is about having your works represented in Mug form, but when it happens, the feeling is Overwhelming!
I am Positive Holden is planning on making plenty of these bad boyz to go around. Harro, If TF can't get some to you down under, then I will make sure you get them.
We will have to work something out for me to sign a bunch, not sure how that will work.
They should be Available by CHristmas, depending on how the glaze goes. If they don't have trouble with it, they should be out on schedule, but we all know what a glaze can do to production schedules. I think TF has an excellent handle on it though and don't expect any issues.
For those that asked, Squid had Pictures only to work from:






As you can see they were both captured very well and both retain their "Benzart" look . I could not have asked for a better sculpt. Now we just wait for the real thing to Pop out of the TF Ovens and we'll be sending you all the cheer we can get.
HappyHappyHappy

[ Edited by: Benzart 2006-07-20 06:13 ]

I gotta say 'Wow.' For a long time it's been the same ol' same ol'. Yes, each mug is different, but they all are from the same style and look similar. Not a lot of really new, unique and classic designs out there. Danny has done some good stuff. But this is a grand slam. #1) It's just a killer design. Great detail. #2) It looks like nothing out there #3) I can see this in any place from Don the Beachcomber 1934 to Forbidden Island 2006 and it would fit right in. Takes a cue from the Severed Head for realism and the Maori mugs for style and makes a new statement.

I have not bought a single new mug except at events, but I want a couple of these!

Congrats Ben. You deserve it. Love the sneers on those and Dave did a great job capturing the look. I see one of each sitting on my shelf soon.

It reminds me of my favorite passage from the BoT. Sven likens mug collecting to the savage head collecting. As you collect the heads, you gain the mana of those collected. Each new mug on the shelf is a new head and more mana. This is the epitome of that idea. This and the Sven-Tiki mug... I prefer the first one for it's daunting looks. Dark and mysterious is the island we seek.

I know what I want for Christmas.

WOWZA!!!! Incredible news Ben!! I think the mugs really capture the essence of your art. Everyone involved should be proud of these.

I just hope the quality of these mugs justify mass producing them. I would hate to see a mug like this cheapened my any means.

Any chance of Limited Edition hand-painted ones?

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

DANG ben!! those are gonna be some awesome couple of mugs!! i haven't bought any mugs for a while, but i may have to change that when these beauties come out. i'm really looking foward to seeing them glazed. keep us updated on the release date!!

BAM!!!

How did I miss this?

Arrr-some!!

Is it going to be a limited or an open run?

Score!!!

happy Happy HAPPY !!!

I'd also like one of each.
write up the reciept.

Sorry for comming on so strong on Zaya's post. But I have a great deal of respect for authentic Polynesian ancestry.

Ben- These 2 mugs are beautiful - I can't decide which I like best though. They both are unique, and I don't like one more than the other. I tend to like the darker glazes, but the middle glaze would look great on the first mug. Great stuff! I can't wait to add these to my collection.

nice work as usual!!! love the #12 mug!!

hey holden, since i own the benzart original #12 carving that this mug was modeled on would you consider doing a limited production sometime down the road, with the only addition being the name of my home bar "the bamboo bunker" on the back in raised letters?? ...after all, the bamboo bunker is now his new home and he would like his drinks served out of his own mugs...if not, i'll still order up a half dozen or so of these anyway when they are available....thanks!! lookin' good!!

I'm thinking that with Ben's popularity & comradery here on TC that we may want to consider a special glaze addition, exclusively for TC Members. I really appreciate the response to these. There are a lot of fun angles to approach these mugs in terms of doing something unique and I'm receptive to what anybody has in terms of suggestions. I don't want to cheapen Ben's work in any way, but perhaps casting TC exclusive matching stained pendants might not be a bad idea? But then again, I don't want to disgrace the owners of the originals... thoughts please!

I'd like a cold painted version with color in the eyes and teeth and maybe the moko. Along the lines of what's done on these guys:

On 2006-07-20 11:33, smogbreather wrote:
I'm thinking that with Ben's popularity & comradery here on TC that we may want to consider a special glaze addition, exclusively for TC Members. I really appreciate the response to these. There are a lot of fun angles to approach these mugs in terms of doing something unique and I'm receptive to what anybody has in terms of suggestions. I don't want to cheapen Ben's work in any way, but perhaps casting TC exclusive matching stained pendants might not be a bad idea? But then again, I don't want to disgrace the owners of the originals... thoughts please!

if the colors of glaze on the previous page are our choices for this first run then i opt for the light color in the middle to be used for the #12....there are too many green mugs out there as it is... not alot of light brownish/yellows out there, like the old hukilau easter island head mug from new orleans...hopefully it will pick up the detail like in the sample....

..damn...you really nailed the profile on that #12.....creepy.

Again I say WOW! I did not really expect this response, you guys really know how to make me Happy. I'm Sure TF will be making enough of these to go around.Thanks to Everyone for the props and kind words.
I am not opposed to matching pendants. I'm also up for some specialty painted runs and
diffrent glazes. If you know me, you know that whatever youwant is OK by me. I'm not opposed to a Cali trip to sign a run. I think a TC Special Edition would be pretty cool too.
More than that, I don't know what tosay..I'm Speechless.
Mahalo's to everyone..

On 2006-07-20 11:33, smogbreather wrote:
perhaps casting TC exclusive matching stained pendants might not be a bad idea? ... thoughts please!

Yes! I like the idea of the matching pendants.

I'm in. Add me to the list! Those are gotta haves.
JP

Congrats Ben,

You are an amazing artist and it is great to see these carvings take "mug form". I can hardly wait to get em and keep us posted re some painted ones,limited etd TC version, etc. Also we would love for you to make it out here to the "left" coast. I am sure we could arrange a Tiki Ti Benzart Mug signing bash. You got a mai tai on me....

Michael G

matching pendants, I was just thinking yesterday and today that I wanted a tiki necklace and one in ceramic would be preferred. As of now, I have nothing cool to put around my neck. Who ever has the inspiration for these mugs can consider themselves very lucky. And Ben, I'll still take a necklace from you if you ever get to that. It sounds like you might be a little busier with these mugs coming out.

Ben, those mugs are awsome.
I want both, in fact I want two of each, always a good Idea to have back-up mugs.
Great job!

Congrats Ben, the 1st time I saw some of your work was at the Hukilau last year and was blown away. I can't wait to get my hands on both mugs and a pendant. Any chance you'll be there this year?

Hey Ben! Please Please put me on the list for both, twice. 4 more!

Thanks!

ohhh man you'll make me poor.
The TF 2006 product line is awesome. So many cool mugs have been produced and will produce this year.

@ Benzart
Your works rock !!!
Hope these 2 really cool mugs won't be your last ones. :wink:

Thanks again everyone. It looks like we need to get a list going to keep track of any "Variations" wanted on these mugs. Holden seems to be open to doing some different variations along with a TC Only version. I'm not sure where to start such a list, any ideas??

Fantastic news...well, a few months ago a little bird told me this was going to happen and keeping the secret was NOT easy, right Ben? I had no idea they would turn out so great. Looking forward to owning these guys. They are already my favorite mug.

so amazing, and affordable too god i hope this is an open run, id truely hate to miss these....

Nice stuff, Ben. And Squid is a master...it's in very good hands. I want one, too!

These are going to be amazing mugs and scream to be an open edition. I'm really at a loss as to what to say, it's been a long time coming Ben having his own mug made and I couldn't be happier.

I think a lot of glazes would look good on these. A basic glaze with overpainting would definitely be in the spirit of things, maybe even having people overpaint them after market and posting pics. I'd probably give it a shot. I'm sure you guys will come up wish something special. These will be awesome mugs.

Awesome man! The mugs look great and are a credit to the originals and squids carving skills.

Keen to get some :)

On 2006-07-20 12:39, Benzart wrote:
I'm not opposed to a Cali trip to sign a run.

That would be the TiKi event of the year. If that were to happen, we would have to roll out the red carpet like never before.

How about a mug and a ceramic matching necklace as a special TC package? I don't really care so long as I can get a few of Ben's mugs. Thanks for keeping the price reasonable!

You rock!