Buzzy's work: Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

dang buzzy, you're cranking them out.......and they all look great!! keep 'em coming!

I am building my tiki empire one brick at a time...

Step 1: Actually carve a tiki. establish credibility through craftsmanship-build strong tiki consumer relationships

Step 2: Diversify tiki related ventures. Do crafts that you never did before, but still retain tiki themed originality

Step 3: Produce entry level priced consumer line of branded products-Brand logo recognition emphasis

Step 4: Company Visibilty-On site advertising and word of mouth contacts

Step 5: When sales slow: Re-Release limited edition collector's only series(different color, etc.)

Adapt to the dynamics of the current market conditions: The suppliers will always be there to fill the market's changing needs.
Mugs for sale:

That picture of my first ghetto tiki mug made this whole wasted day worth it.
I'm going to start a mug company...
Buzzy
(No I'm not! Limited edition of 1)

hi buzzy its zayas cousin from mass.she told me to check your stuff out and the website and i really like both.i would love to buy one if i could.also i thought ufc 61 was kinda of disapointing but cant wait for the next one.anyway let me know about the tiki and take care johnny

Sticker looks good mate. As I said, I want a little one for the Kustom Kahoona wagon side windows :) The glass/mug is cool.

Aw. 'cmon, we want the Mug. It looks cool and is a great new idea. Well done, I love the start of your Tiki Empire!

FIVE days without a Buzzy post!?! C'mon Man, we're dyin'! :wink:

Did Zaya take the computer out of town again? You need to sell a couple tikis, and get yer own!

I noticed the dry spell also, what gives?
JP

I bet you didn't know you had so many followers!!!!!:wink: :wink:

I'd better not hear the old excuse, "I'm so productive while you're on vacation Zaya, but now that your back I can't get anything done!" :)

Zaya: It's your fault!!!
I'm sorry to let all my loyal followers down the last couple of days. The computer hasn't been working too well and I keep losing my signal. To top that off, it has been way too hot to do anything outside the last few days. I've been purposely avoiding my next carving project. Somehow, I got subcontracted to carve a tiki without my approval. Paid in advance too, so I couldn't really refuse it. My objection: I have to carve an exact copy of the worst tiki I ever made. Grumble...Drew it out today-will carve it tomorrow, but no pictures because it was bad enough the first time....
I'm also resting up. I have 11 tikis on order and I need to start busting them out real soon. It's been too hot to really make it enjoyable to prep the logs right now, so I've been waiting until it cools a bit...
And I have 4 tikis to sand and finish...
Stickers too? Don't get me started...
I did set up a couple of parties, so for you guys to not think I have been slacking the last couple days, I'll show you some pictures of just another day at the office...
:down:At the Playboy Golf tournament....

:down:We set up 5, 10' by 10' tiki bars and huts around the course. Benzart said that my job rethatching the Luau hut was a job "Everybody" would want. I agreed until this job...Everybody REALLY does want THIS job. It's been a good month for THOSE type of jobs...

This is hole #1. They get you all liquored up before you start and then tempt and distract you with scantly clad models :down:

They parked a couple of mid life crises mobiles next to the huts. I do not know what kind of car that fancy import job is. I would have been stoked to see a 1968 Dodge Hemi Dart though :down:

Another car...

I don't have pictures of the other holes, but one of them was from a high end tequila company, and the other was Steinlager...Here is the free swag I walked away with from those two holes. The tequila retails for over 100 a bottle...:down:

I also got a stupid looking playboy golf hat that I already lost and an autographed copy of this month's playboy.

In between setting up and tearing down the golf course, I made enough money setting up a sports bar themed back yard party to buy my girlfriend a fancy pants woodburner...

We threw all this together from scratch the night before the party. I spent the evening searching the rafters of my garage for all my old beer signs and lights, sports banners, and designing a custom bar logo sticker for the windows of two structures we built for the party.
Here is one of the two structures :down:

The walls are plywood with a false brick pattern, set 12 feet high. The baseballs on top are actually foam cooler lids with hand painted stitching on them. We also had soccer, basketball, and tennis balls like this. The 21 and over sign used to be on my bedroom door when I lived in a "party house" by the beach. The banners were from the first few Holiday Bowls that my Grandparents took me to when I was little. Right now Grandma is rolling over in her grave...The beer signs came from when I was in high school and worked at a liquor store. The sign in the window was my first custom sticker logo and is back lit.
There was another bar we set up, but one of the guys I worked with got sick and I had to drive him around in my air conditioned truck until he felt better,so I didn't get a picture of it...
the family that threw this party was way happy with the end result.That's how you throw together a theme party in 10 hours...
It was super hot this day and I sweat out 8 pounds in about 5 hours...All I did was surf today and sleep. You guys are all caught up now and I hope I didn't cause you any worry.
At His Busiest to Buy His Babe a Wood Burner Buzzy Out!

Great pics Buzzy

And the big shiny yellow mid life crisis car is the new lamborghini gallardo spyder.

Hey, Hey, Hey,, anOther one of those jobs that most of us can only Wish for. Very well done. Don't drink that tequila, it's poison and must be disposed of properly. I can do that for you, so just send it on over, but pack it well so it doesn't break and leak poison all ofer the place.

I would have been stoked to see a 1968 Dodge Hemi Dart though

You a Mopar Guy?

I changed my mind about posting this project because I found out why another copy of one of my tikis was required. At first, I just thought someone wanted a crappy, cheap tiki. The design of the original was largely defined by a large scar that the tree service did prior to my receiving the log. The design was not tiki at all, more like a messed up face on a log piece. I guess that someone saw it as something different. He looked at it and saw half of a bench. All that was needed was another side of the bench, hence the need for an exact copy of my worst tiki ever...
This is kind of the idea. I put bamboo in front to cover the white boards that I placed there for illustrative purposes :down:

I started by making a log the exact same size as the original. My Ryobi planer had the speed and precision to form this log in moments. The next step was to redraw the original design in exact scale. I used a combo of rulers and stencils for this. It was harder the second time, because the first time I just free handed it. I rough cut it with the chainsaw and then cleaned it up with a gouge :down:

It's close :down:

Sanded it down to match :down:

It's like an attractive woman in the early spring. Looks great, all she needs is a little tan to be perfect...

Oh no! I just realized that I'm one of those assembly line, same design, chainsaw carvers. I suck! I hope I fail...

This is the final idea (I do not have to do the bench top. Cheapskates!)

Looks like crap with that white wood. Pretend it's the coolest color ever

I'm going to make another one, but make it good this time. It's a good idea; too bad it isn't my best work. I guess the important thing is that the person who spent his money on this liked it. What do I know anyway? I'm just a backyard carver...
Bench Maker Buzzy Out!

Tikimecula: I'm a Barrett-Jackson junkie. I've recorded the last few years worth of auctions commercial free and I watch them all of the time. There was this one time i was so happy for this guy who bought a car, I started to tear up and almost cry because I was so happy for him fullfilling his dream. Personally, I like 68-72 Dodge Darts, and especially the Dodge dart Swingers with the white vinyl roof. My grandma had one for me and was waiting for me to turn 16 and it was to be my first car. I looked forward to that car for years. A year or two before I was 16, California passed some dumb assed new smog law, and it couldn't be transfered to another owner. She sold it to a family in Mexico so it could blow the somg it makes back up here anyway. I love Mexico; It's like the wild, lawless old west of California, but my first car turned out to be a station wagon. It was formerly owned by a gardener who spilled concentrated bug poison in the back seat. He had to drill a hole in the floor to drain it out. If you rolled up the windows, you got a headache from the poison fumes. At least I had a car to fit my surfboards in and be able to lock them up. My next car was the next model year of the same Dodge Colt station wagon. This one was the deluxe model, in that it had a luggage rack...
If I win the lottery, this is what I will buy:

I'll actually buy a few, ship them out to my tiki island compound, and let my VIP guests and residents drag race them on my own quarter mile track...

The back of that car looks great: :up: guess that makes me an ass man. Or more likely, just an ass...
Big Plans Buzzy Out!

[ Edited by: Bay Park Buzzy 2006-07-27 20:01 ]

My first car was a 67 Dart, I Loved that car! About 3 weeks ago I bought this.

It is actually my second 69 Road Runner! I sold my last one about 5 years ago, (Been kicking myself ever since)

(It's Soon to be a HEMI car)

Cool bar work man! And good on ya for buyin the girl a burner :)

Tikimecula: One word-SWEET!
Hewey: Next project is a sticker pack meant to go your way...Mug kit, window stickers, ...the works.
Buzzy

Buzzy the tiki that you call your worst ever is actually quiet attractive, it has personality and a different look to it.

Hiltiki: Funny you should say that. I am always amazed that when people see my stuff, everyone has a different favorite one. Especially awhile back when I had close to 30 tikis around my place. People would come over, and each person would pick a different favorite one. Rarely would two people have the same favorite. I keep waiting for more than two people to like any single piece of my work. I'm trying to design that one slam dunk piece that everyone will love, and I'll keep making that one over and over again for my career. If I could just find that one design...
The original piece that I carved was made with two others that were similar shaped. The other two were higher priced and sold early on on saturday at Tiki Oasis. this one was super cheap and sat there for the whole weekend. It was also the last of the quick tikis that I made that did not sell. There was one person out there who liked this design, and somehow, he found it, and wanted another. The cool thing is that it gave me an idea for a bench...
Buzzy

Hey Buzzy...another cool thing is that you are carving tikis and people are giving you cash to
own them....and you are going to Playboy golf outings...you are a prolific carver and it's
always fun to look at your chizzlin'....now let's see another six or seven more by the end of
the weekend!

Conga's right. It could be worse...None of my stuff could sell. I just wish people would ask me for my best effort, not my cheapest. Some day i'll have the skills to match my ambitions. So I'd better quit complaining about the heat and get to work.
Last week it was in the 90's all week, and the week before that, and the week before that. I've lived in this house for 12 years and it's never got above 100 once. It got to the ninties about 4-5 times in all that time(spent most summers out though)
My high low for the last week was 56-94

It's finally cool enough to work for extended periods. right now=

Ah! Perfect. It's cloudy, so I cannot work on evening out my emerging farmer tan, so I guess I'll finally finish this one...

I just took a break from carving out the neck and the back. There was something I just didn't like about those two areas. I usually just move on after I "finish" carving a piece, but I went back and fixed this one before sanding. I was going to sand it right now, but looking at that picture, I think I need to deepen the eyes. See, that's why I don't make it a habit of going back and working on "finished" pieces...Oh well, the only other thing on my plate today was getting rid of my farmer tan. No sun-so I got some time to spare to work on los ojos...
Still Working On This Piece I Finished In May Buzzy

On 2006-07-27 21:03, Bay Park Buzzy wrote:

Hewey: Next project is a sticker pack meant to go your way...Mug kit, window stickers, ...the works.
Buzzy

:)

Hewey:
Still learning the delicate art of sticker peeling...

That other one must have been beginners luck or something!
I'm practicing on some letters and stuff...
Soon, soon. The night is young...
Buzzy

I'm still lookin for my Sticker pack, and I think we should sell them. Split them up any way that you see fit.

Benzart: Only problem is that I only have three more empty kegs laying around. That's too limited a run.
I do not want to introduce a new product like the...

BENZART BREW BEER BARREL

unless we can meet the consumer's demand. It's crucial to both of our reputations that we deliver enough product, in a timely manner, to all of our potential customers.

Oops! Another problem. My second Benzart sticker attempt got slept on by my dog

I'm thinking of sending you one of your own creations, in another medium. After you give it a try, you'll go " this sucks, it's easier just to carve the damn thing". It would really help me out if you could tell me which pieces to remove...

We might just try to make and sell the stickers and let people find their own kegs to put them on. In the future, why don't you carve something simple so that the sticker will be easier to make. Thanks
Failed Sticker Maker Buzzy Out

PS To TC world

On 2006-07-31 19:40, Benzart wrote:
I'm still lookin for my Sticker pack, and I think we should sell them.

What do you guys think about a Benzart sticker? Sounds like Ben's game.

Hello this is Buzzy. I'm on vacation right now. I decided to take a cruise on a big cruise ship to a place that is very beautiful, in the tropics. The reason that I am on a cruise is because it is my anniversary today, and I am celebrating my success this last year by treating myself to a cruise. It is the one year anniversary of when I started my first carving today. I took one of my tikis on the cruise with me to celebrate. Here he is on the dock before we left for a pretty island :down:

I got him all cleaned up for the big trip

Here is my tiki looking towards the open sea on a beautiful night. the moon looks so big out at sea.

Our first plan for tomorrow is to just relax and tan all day...
We'll check in soon,
Veteran Carver Buzzy Out

Oh man! My tiki and I are having a great time! This is the best cruise ever. I'm so glad I decided to go. Somtimes you just have to do something for yourself. I just finished rock climbing on the Aquarius deck and I'm on my way to the Newlywed Game in the main theater on the sunset deck.
Here's a picture we took from our excursion while in port of call. It is from the deck of the boat we were on, looking back towards our cruise ship.

We were on a 200 year old former pirate ship that was going to take us to a beach that had guys who would rent out jet skis. Tiki got so tan, that people thought he was native. He blended right in to the local scene quite rapidly.
I have to go now, I might be able to hit the soft serve machine by the casino on the way to main theater...
Bronzed Buzzy Out!

WOW.......looks like the tiki was out in the sun too long, but hey, he's got a nice tan now. the tiki looks good buzzy!! it seems like he enjoyed the cruise, too. great work as always!

Great tiki Buzzy, the stain is beautiful

Close up of this grain/stain combo:

Whole thing:

side

I totally messed up the arms in the back, but i learned a ton about making better tiki bodies. No more of those fake simulated full body ones like my earlier efforts. This one really opened many new ways to correctly carve a body, and was somewhat of a launching point for the next several pieces that I would do.

Since I have been on Tiki Central this last 4 months, I have basically posted nearly every single step of every single project that I have ever done since i started carving. I have done this to share my experiences with tiki and how it has transformed my life quite rapidly, since I first started carving, 366 days ago. Every moment has been fun and enjoyable, and I'm glad that something in my head compelled me to take this up.
My goal from moment one was to become a master of the tasks of carving. Specifically, my quest is to be the best. Without believing that this is possible, it will never be obtainable. You do not accidently become the best at anything; you can be born with natural gifts that will help you acheive some level of success, but to excel at anything at the highest level, it takes desire, skills, and lots of practice and even more time.
It is with this desire to become the best, that I have embarked upon my carving development to this point. I have never been finished product minded-I have only been process minded. I look to each project as an opportunity to try something harder than I have done in the past, to better my skills. Each new piece, I set a specific challenge that I hope to conquer through my decision making process. Carving to me is an endless series of right and wrong decisions. Your success depends on the ratio of correct to incorrect choices that you make to physically manifest what your mind envisions.
I do not think I came prewired with tiki recognition upon birth. I had to see tikis before I knew what a tiki was. Likewise, when I started carving, my first attempt didn't turn out like Crazy Al's #120. I looked at tikis that were just above what I thought my ability could produce. To get better, I had to understand how the best works. At first, I had no hope of reproducing an exact replica of what I saw. My best effort at an exact copy usually turned out at best, an approximation of the original intent.
However, there came a couple of times where I made a couple of quick jumps in technique level through my discovery process, and I was capable of reproducing a very close copy of my original source. I never intended to make an exact copy of an original tiki, if one were to even exist at this point. The reason that I'm going through all this is because today, a tiki carver, one of my favorites at that, contacted me privately and basically said, hey dude I'm flattered you copied me-but it just looks a little too much like the original. He said he wasn't pissed, and he didn't want to point this out publically, saving me the embarrassment. Which I thought was totally cool of him, because he had every right to be pissed, but he was polite with his message despite his being justified in choosing a more angry approach, which is contrary to most people on this site. He had every right to be a dick to me, but was totally cool instead.
For this, I willingly admit that I used this picture for reference on that tiki I was finishing last night:

I wrote him a longer and more detailed explanation of my decision making process while making this one. But, I wanted to share each and every aspect of my carving experience and development with the world. I knew when I chose to try and do his piece, someone would recognize it. It's a small insular tiki world here, and everything gets around eventually. If I had thought that I was doing something wrong at the time for nefarious purposes, I would have not posted every single picture of every single tiki I ever made for the world to see. I'm proud of my progress, and that is why I share everything that I do, along with how and why I choose to do each challenge. Part of my learning process to become the carver I hope to be was to try to figure out how someone good at making tikis, makes a good tiki.
I told Tiki Diablo that I was sorry in a way that it looked like the original. I also honestly told him that I was kinda stoked too, that I did a good enough job that he recognized it. I never intended to go out and rip him off, copy his work, post it on a website and say, "Here's my new tiki design for sale.Buy it because I am such an original carver" I remember early on in my thread, I made a game out of finding my original reference source, and even offered up prizes for people who find it. I even gave hints as to where I found the original picture source.
This tiki was one of the last which I used a single source for reference. After seeing how close I could copy something, I didn't feel like i needed to work on that specific skill anymore, and started collaging different pieces of several sources into one.
Eventually, the goal will be to have enough skills through experience that I do not need to even draw out my plan before carving.
I'm not making any excuses for using his piece as reference, and I fully expect the world to come down on me for this. I chose to publically share this experience, because it is an issue that is common in the tiki world, now and forever. This can ultimately only be resolved through Tiki Diablo, and myself, and the resolution will be independent of any public outcry for this. But you are all more than welcome to comment on this. Controversy breeds conversation-we're in a forum, and to be honest, some of you guys are really funny when you are pissed.
Hope I didn't let any of you other guys down...
Buzzy
And I promise that I will not go back and edit any of this stuff out later. If you see an edited by, its only for puncuation...

I finished one of my current projects over the weekend:

Here's the info link
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=19969&forum=18

Buzzy since you have found piece within yourself and Tiki Diablo has spoken his mind. I have no negative response or anger towards you and your carving tactics. I still enjoy reading your posts, and watching you become a better carver with each piece. I guess you got to live, make mistakes, and learn.....

Hey Buzzy that cruise looks like a blast :)

Good on you and TD for handling this in the way that you have.

By the way, those stickers are cool! How about a Benzart piece with all the moku detail in the sticker too? Should be asy... hahaha

Kustom Kahoona* - Tiki and Hot Rod Art by Hewey*

[ Edited by: hewey 2006-08-01 20:03 ]

Buzzy, Just keep up the good work and don't stop the stories and the dialogue that comes inbetween the carvings. We love you the way you are and your carvings are beginning to become excellent .

Oh, Yes, I almost Forgot,, How was your cruise, looked loke a pretty steady ship. They had some nice tiki decorations too.

Benzart: I had a great time on my cruise, but I still have my farmer tan. The ship, as you said, was steady, but I still have my sea legs a little. I jumped straight back into work right off the boat, but I couldn't sand that well because I am unable to steady myself for long periods of time. I asked my friend Lenny to come over and help me sand. He jumped at the opportunity. Here he is, working away. I hope his hair doesn't get caught in my tools, he'd look funny with short hair...

Fresh Off The Boat Buzzy Out!

Taking a break, finished sanding this guy.

I had him flat on the table while I sanded him. I felt like I was massaging a fat guy for three hours.

He's big...and wide...
Buzzy

Buzzy you are out of control funny!!!!!

Hey Hiltiki! Glad you could catch my late night act tonight...you can usually get real good seats this time of night.

Just finished staining this guy:



Moments before actually completing this, I made a sticker for Hewey's wagon...

Now I just need the mug kit...
Benzart: Keep carving away your time my friend. No need to look for the mailman yet...
Out For The Night Buzzy Out!

Cool man :)

Hey, send Lenny over to my house right away. I need him to hold the wood for me so I can test out the new fancy woodburner that arrived today! I can hardly wait!

Zaya

Man this woodburner is one SWEET tool...
My first doodles to give it a try:



This was done on a scrap log and is about 5x7".
Do I have any blank Tikis lying around?

Cant wait to see a tiki covered in tatts :)

On 2006-08-04 18:37, hewey wrote:
Cant wait to see a tiki covered in tatts :)

I have a volunteer...
Buzzy's tattoo parlor is just about to have a grand opening.
I just need need to finish the eyes, sand it, and then it's a burn fest.
To work I go.
Buzzy

I smell trouble! Or is that your burner you left on?

Hi Buzzy-

I like the woodburning stuff. One of my favorite pieces in my office is a shelf my dad built when he was a kid ( around 1950) on which he burned a horses head. Anyhow, cool stuff you are doing there.

Wow! Sam Gambino! Thanks a lot. It's an honor to hear from an artist of your caliber.
GMAN-I smell that too. What is that?
Here's the update before I pass out:


All I did was draw a line, change the angle, and then draw another line just like it. I kept doing this over and over until I ran out of surface area.

There is still surface area left uncovered, therefore, I am not done.
Last Call Buzzy Out!