Left Coast Benzart Carving Seminar.

While Benzart has been carving his 6327th amazing tiki, I've been trying to carve my first bad one, to prep for the Oki Oki seminar.

Here it is (about 2 feet tall) after 3 hours work at the beach. This is all freehanded, and used only a 1" flat chisel to get a feel for the thing;

And here it is after another 4 hours, bringing out the features;

Finally, I wanted it to look really rough and sort of antique, so I stained it with a Red Mahogany and Spar Varnish, left some parts untouched, 1 hour of work or less;

Anyway, it was a LOT of fun. I am so looking forward to this event.

Hey! No fair practicing! GROG hasn't even bought chisels yet.

On 2006-10-20 11:54, GROG wrote:
Hey! No fair practicing! GROG hasn't even bought chisels yet.

Better get a move on, GROG.

Great work, Cammo. That's exactly how I intend to spend this weekend. I've had some 3" palm logs drying in my garage for a few years. (So now I can lift them all by myself.) Can't wait to get started.

Nice tiki Cammo!
Nice.

I felt I had to make a practice run myself. It came out pretty well. It is a mini though.

You and I are not beginners. Maybe (NOT), I will have a large tiki made by 'Oki 'Oki.

Anyways, it looks real good! Jealous

Hey, thanks folks. Hope to do a bit better on my 2nd one. Has anybody else tried one for practice? Lets see them!

Cammo... WOW! That is great for a first timer!! (Sounds a lot like what I said to the Mr.... never mind) Anyways, awesome tiki!

I didn't end up with enough time to make any serious progress on my tiki today. Since I'm a complete beginner, I focused on how not to hurt myself. (I know you other beginners are thinking, "I don't want to be the first one to draw blood.")

I feel much safer with the chisels and mallet than I do with the hook knife. Because of the curve of the blade, my instinct is to hold my thumb against the curved side. Well, that's how you lose a finger. I worked with it on some wood scraps just to get the feel for it. And yes, my fingers are all still in tact.

I'm really looking forward to learning a lot next weekend. And I'm very glad that we're going over how to sharpen chisels. It's true that a sharp chisel will go through palm wood like it's butter.

It's very intimidating being in the same class as so many seasoned carvers. I have the feeling that the beginners will need some simple instructions and then a whole lot of practice.

Glad to oblige ya, Cammo!

Here's the link to my first attempt at carving:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=19696&forum=7

-countin' down the days!!!

Love the whole look, Lee. Making it green with jungle alge is nifty, how to age a tiki is a whole topic in itself. You should set aside some time to see the Crazy Al show; he has one tiki that looks like it's about 300 years old, it has shells for teeth but a lot are missing, etc. Have no idea how he got the bleached out, weathered look.

Bizarrely, those dots look exactly like the motion-capture mouth guides 3D ILM animators used in Pirates if the Carribean. (Check out the recent issue of Cinefx!)

An update has just been sent via e-mail. If you didn't get it, please let me know.

I am posting this to get your attention :wink: Please read and respond accordingly.

Thanks,
Moki

Great stuff guys....so excited for this weekend....did some carving over this past weekend to get ready......and NO BLOOD WAS SHED!!!

first a 12incher, working on the hook knife

and then this monster 6 and a half footer got done....a little strange but that is what the log told to shape....so that is what you get....

No email for me, The chisels have been sharpened! Bosko and I are looking forward to this weekend as well. Oh, [email protected] ?

Got a question.

'Sup up with GROG?

Hey, when we were starting, GROG was bragging that all he had to do is breath hard on a palm log and the thing splinters into a perfect Tiki shape! He was telling us that he could skin a Sabre Tooth Tiger with one hand and carve ironwood with the other!

Hey, now it's time to get to work, where is he?

Out buying little pink matching doilies to go with the new chisels? Looking for a nice paisley lampshade? Decorating that special corner of the cave cause mauve just isn't as in as it was last month???

'Sup with GROG?

Hey fellas, any thoughts of videoing this historical event? offering it for sale to the East Coast prisoners? Just a thought huh huh huh maybe maybe maybe ah come-on guys oh please oh please oh please. Don't ya just hate it when somebody begs dontcha ah dontcha huh huh huh. Uncrichie...

GROG not sure what Cammo's been smokin'. GROG not remember any of those boasts, but GROG looking forward to splittin' wood this weekend. GROG going to call GROG's first tiki "firewood", because that's what it will probably end up being.

[ Edited by: GROG 2006-10-24 18:22 ]

We've had a last minute cancellation. Anybody wanna come learn a thing or two. Now's your chance. :wink:
PM me!!!

Counting down the days!!!! I can't wait!!

It's THIS weekend?!!!

Aw crap!!!!!!!

That sounds like another cancellation.

On 2006-10-24 18:51, Moki wrote:
We've had a last minute cancellation. Anybody wanna come learn a thing or two. Now's your chance. :wink:
PM me!!!

Moki has a PM from me. :)

Hopefully it'll work out and I can join you guys. I'm a beginner, I took Polynesiac's beginner class at the aquarium a week and a half ago - so I've worked on one tiki. It's not great, but it looks enough like a tiki that I think I can do this. :)

We'd love to have you aboard.

Yeah Mieko!!! THat'd be great if you could join in too! I hope to see you down there this weekend

Welcome to TC!!! be sure to hang around and post stuff!

PS - she's being modest, her tiki looks great

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2006-10-25 20:56 ]

here's the sculpt we did. This mug is a tall one and we are getting the particulars all figured out. Give all an update thursday

[ Edited by: Tiki Diablo 2006-10-25 22:52 ]

Wicked mug! Who's the "we" - you and.....? Is this something that will only be available to those attending the seminar?

now THAT is a mug!!!! excellent!

Excellent. Put some more scratches and crap on it and pull the mold. I want 3.

Awesome! I've been hoping someone would do a mug with the layered, cocentric circle eye design for a l-o-n-g time. It's one of my favorite styles. Looks like Danny & Bosko finally did it! Yeay! Mahaloz, Braddahs!

It's gonna be a great weekend. The 5-hour trip from Vegas will be nothin' compared to the super-fun time we're all gonna have!

See ya there!

Had a nice visit today from the one and only,

Other Benz and Sherry Art!!!

It was an honor having them in the hut!!

And that C'Al guy too!!! (sponging APE cd's!!!)

Was going to try to make a sneak attack down SD way this Sat. but some of us have to work!!!

Y'All have a fun time now!!!

[ Edited by: RevBambooBen 2006-10-26 20:02 ]

is c'al coming down? can he bring my mug? i still haven't received it.

Pdrake---don't forget GROG's mug. The only person to contribute a mug to GROG to help GROG deal with GROG's fatal baldness----GROG really appreciate that.

it's already packed.

Can't wait for the Meat & Eat at the Bali Hai tonight. See you all soon...

I'm stuck with work so no meat and beat tonight...but I'll see everyonoe tommorrow morning!! With a large portion hung over I can imagine!

In the san bernadino mnts with tiki lees right now. Will be at bali hai around 7. Please order me a mai tai.

me and grog are leavin Sunland in a lil bit , You guys better not start party-in with out us or I will be carvin human flesh this weekend..see you in a few hours...kirby

Hey, They made it finally around 9:00 pm, better late then never.

We had a great time at the Bali Hai last night! It was fun seeing everyone, and a priveledge to finally meet Ben and his lovely wife Sherry. Here are a few pictures from the gathering.

Buzzy and Benzart

Benzart and Zaya

Zaya

Nice pictures. Well I got the Amtrak tickets, and I will be there in the morning. I can't wait to meet Benz. Actually that's the reason I am going there. I am so excited I don't know what to do. :wink:

This is REALLY fun.

Next time I'm doing a Tiki that looks like Buzzy.

Matt Reese's place is better than Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

The carving pros are fast. They can carve anything.

Ali'i is mixing at the bar.

This should have been a 6 day event.

You should see the mugs!

Nice Pics Buzzy. Lots of fun that evening.

Matt's place is amazing! With bright tents set up in the lush tropical meadow below Matt's house and tiki lounge we were treated to a sharpenning demo by Benzart. Then with Clouseax and Yma Sumac wafting through the banana palms I was ready to bust out my new Flexcuts and tackle one of the logs I'd husked with Onatiki and Mr NoNaMe last week.

What a blast! (Moki's Hawaiian lunch was a big hit too! Mmmmm Kaluha pork!!!)

After a long day of carving my first real tiki ever, with lots of helpful advise from Tiki Diablo, Bosko and his son (a real chip off the old log) and my chizel savey tent-mate Monkeyman I was able to complete my first real tiki ever dubbed "Tiki Scallopini" by Van Tiki!

With our newly carved tikis sleeping in the dark below Matt's beautiful lounge we watched an orange sunset and drank Mai Tais and Monkey pods from guest bartenders Ali'i and Monkeyman.

Oh! I almost forgot, Bosko and Tiki Diablo held a Raffel to win an opportunity to buy one of the half dozen event mugs we'd all been drooling over. I won!

I could have stayed all night dispite a loud, beligerant and shitfaced PDrake. I sure hope he didn't fall down all those stairs and break his neck. Anyhow I needed my rest for "Benzart Day"!

Today's my Benzart tutorial. I'm so nervous. I picked what many considered to be an easy hook knife template but it sure looks hard to me. I'll let you know how ith turns out... carpooling with Mr NoNaMe this morning...

[ Edited by: hodadhank 2006-10-29 09:25 ]

On 2006-10-29 09:23, hodadhank wrote:

I could have stayed all night dispite a loud, beligerant and shitfaced PDrake. I sure hope he didn't fall down all those stairs and break his neck!

Ooooh. Please tell more!!

Pictures!?!?!

Sounds like it was Good Times for ya'll!!

Bummed we missed it. ( Damn Hukilau Cold!!!)

more more more!!!!.... Bummed I missed it too....

Thank you Danny and Bosko for insight on log carving.

Thanks to Ben for the patience with those that quietly hook knifed the weekend away.

Thanks to Ona, Moki and Matt for putting on a great shindig in a perfect backyard (those long stairs were a killer when carrying a tiki).

I must congratulate all who carved this weekend. I saw incredible work all around me. Everyone who participated deserves a pat on the back.

Hodad hank kicked ass on his first ever carving....

WOW... What a nice time..... I could do this once a month with everyone. Tap Tap Tap (the sound of urethane mallets hitting chisels.)

Just a couple shots while I have a spare moment:




Fun's over. Back to work...

Back to the Rat Race Buzzy Out!

I carved a huge gash in my hand at the Oki Oki yesterday. I didn't really tell anyone at the time. I think that I should have because it seems to be really infected now and may lose the hand.

I really like my tiki. Pretty neat for a first timer. My mini came out pretty good too. Thanks Benz. Mrs. NoNaMe says "Nice to meet you and Mrs. Art."

Thanks 'Ona & Moki, Matt, and Bosko & Tiki Diablo.
I will be skinnin' logs tommorow!

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2006-10-29 19:56 ]

My cameras eye is not so hot. And barely clicked any off.
Here are a few.

edit

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2006-10-29 19:55 ]

Hey everyone, thanks to all the talented folks who came out, it’s an event I’ll never forget, looks like there are going to be 20 new Tiki carvers giving us a run for our money. Also many mahalos to Matt for hosting this at his cool pad and putting up with all the bother (having his lawn destroyed). Thanks Ric and Monica everything went off with out a hitch and great to finally met Benzart!

Here’s a few pictures of the “carve in”.

My very best alohas,
Bosko