Benzart 's, Last, most recent thread

Hey Doctor,

it's amazing !!!
Very nice pix to illustrate your beautiful art Dr Benzart. I was right when i talked about plastic surgery :wink:

very mahalo.

Ben.

Baypark, Thanks. I guess it is about the same but without the blood.

Thanks Clarita, I will carve the Octopus to look like a Pendant around his neck.

You Tell'um Gman. Thanks.

Thanks Mieko, I'm curious as well as to how it will fit in.

JP, Thanks, I use what-ever tool best suits the job and for eyes the hook works best.

Tama, Thanks, You Already carve better than Benzart! I gotta admit when I look at these pic's, I get a burning in my eyes. I Know itz gotta hurt. Thankd for the props.

Paipo, don't they make a hook knife for stone? I'll figure it out and show you. Thanks.

Thanks Benella, I appreciate the kind words. I Guess I could be Dr Ben, but I think my patients would freak out if they saw the hook knife...
Thanks everyone. I'll take more pix tomorrow.

Ben, Outstanding. You know you have my undevided attention.
Thanks
Will

wow.... you are definately a busy man, how do you find the time? this is looking awesome, those eyes are very spooky. i think i'd turn him around if i was home alone!!!!

TikiKirby

Ben, I'm loving the ears. Great surface detail!

Benz it is nice to see your pictures up again, it has been a while. Your work is always great and you are an inspiration to me.

Thanks Will, I appreciate the props,
Kirby, OfCourse I'm a busy bizzy man and barely have time to carve anything, but I try to make some time every other day weather I want to or not. This Moai Does have spooky eyze and I just drape a towel over him when I am not working on him. I Don't want him watching me with those peepers and that quirky smile/smirk. Thanks Kirbe.
Thanks Dave, All the better to hear you with, Nice props.
Hiltiki, Thanks, I'll try to do better, I Promise!

Looking great.

Thanx Bete, Always good for a kind word or two, Thanks.
Here is the progress for today, Almost NONE. I did change the Octopus head and worked on the whole octopus for at least 20 minutes. I had issues with the way the head looked cartoony and wanted it a bit more reallistic. AM I Losing my mind OR did the Papanui people carve Octopus's on the heads of the KavaKava Man??? Can anyone out there in TC land get pictures of such animals and the why's?? I'll send you some sighned wood chips and shavings,, Signed even like I did bulletttt...

On 2006-11-27 10:48, Benzart wrote:

Wow Ben - great stuff. That hook action is great. I've been too chicken to cut my eyes yet :wink:, but now maybe I'll get on it. Thanks again for that lesson.

TG

Thanks T-Gap, good luck with your eyes.
Here is todays update, Mostly Sanding and sanding and grinding and a little carving.








This next shot looks like the FBI Guy on prison Break ??

WOW BEN!!! the face on that guy is amazing!!! it's so life-like looking. i love the smirk look on his face. the octopus is looking good so far & i'm sure it'll look amazin as well. awesome job as always!

B E A U T I F U L !

Best I could find Ben, and only from the front Im afraid...

The Moai Kava-kava occys are pretty stylised/patterned (you are looking at the 'head' section of occy...)

Hope this helps..?

Mr Moai is fantastic, that face is alive I tell ya! I would be covering/turning around if alone in the house too, heehee

Sob Tama :cry:

WOW! It's looking fantastic!

my favorite moai of all time Ben. I wish it were mine, but I trust it's going to a pretty
good home.

I love it! of course what I really want is just the octopus, so, why don't you finish that up, then just cut off the head, and make the octopus into a nice necklace for me. :)
Of course with all those nice step by step photos, I'll be able to make one for myself, especially since I learned from the master on how to use a hook knife, so I think I can be happy with that.

Tiki5-0, Thanks for the props, I'm hoping he will turn out OK.

Benella ,THANKYOU

Tama, Thankd for the picture, Now I know I wasn't dreaming that the KavaKava guy had a Monster on his head. He has a bit much of an "evil" looking eye and even gives Me the Willys when I catch him staring at me. Save the tears for Later! Thanks Tama.

Thanks Bete for the kind words

Conga, Those are Strong words coming from you, Thanks Big time. The GMAN has laid claim to this guy.

Mieko, Thanks a lot. Yes You could carve your own Octopus. I don't think the GMAN would be happy without that 8 legged creature, since that is the main reason he wanted this guy. An Octopus pendant might be a great idea, but It would have to be Jade or stone or maybe a Big Bone as wood would not stant the stresses of being stretched around the neck! Thanks.

GMAN, Thanks, Yes I modeled the top of his head from yours, I haven't got the 10 inch wound with staples yet though. I might even stick a piece of rusted, sandy tailpipe out of his head too! ( I can read the future!)

Benzo,

Simply amazing. I can't say anymore. He is just amazing. If he looks this good now, he's surely going to be a mega powerhouse tiki when he is completed. As for his head having similarities to mine.....yeah, you got me there. If he had a little stubble he would be a dead-ringer for me. Add in a couple hundred stitches and a dozen or so staples and he would be my twin!

Mucho Bueno!

-Gman

Yourmoai just looks like a human being.
Very fine art.
Will you leave it natural or will you color it with some wax ?

Mahalo

Ben

Thanks GMan, I'm tryin to figure out how to glue on some stubble :)
Benella, thanks. I will leave the color natural and give him a clear coat of Poly.

AlohaStation visited today and brought his Moai up to carve on.


I finished up One Eye today

wow. use up all ya internet downloads so you cant check image heavy threads and look what happens when ya gone! :)

Nice man, lotta kool tikis goin on

and each tiki gets me closer to the top of the list :)

Yeahhhh Bouy!! He looks dope in that hat and chillin' at the Benz crib...

Ben - update your subject line...I almost missed this update!

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-11-30 17:57 ]

:lol: I never knew Moais were into yachting!

the eyes... the eyes... oh my god, the eyes...

TTT

Mad props from me and Mrs. Pappy. She says that's art she can get along with. (this is high praise from the gal).

I love the octopus, but damn those ears are magnificient!

WOW BEN WOW WOW LOVE IT GOOD TO SEE YOU CARVING WOOD AGAIN

Ben, Thanks for spending part of your afternoon with me - it was a blast. The amount of knowledge gained is priceless. Seeing pictures of Benz work is one thing but get see it up close in process - oooohhh! The stock pile of wood he gave me will be keeping me busy for the next few months (his wood pile is very lustful for wood-junkies like me). He has a few surprises in his workshop that I think everyone is anxious to see. He showed me the stone stuff he has been working on and I still don't get it. For now, I'll stick with making sawdust. Thanks again and I will let you about next week soon.

We spend about 4 hours in the shop working on a few different things (mostly me getting useful bits of wood crafting know-how). I chiseled away at a now official, authentic-imitation Benzart moai. When I got home last night I couldn't contain myself and spent some time sanding the skin off him. This is a piece of Florida Mahogany - beautiful grain to this. Enjoy.

You can see a few more pictures on my thread.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=12451&forum=7&start=225

That is the coolest Moai I have ever seen. The Kava-kavas are proud of ya Ben!

I have dial up and every picture that slooowly loaded in from your updates for the last couple days has been an incredible surprise. It was worth every minute of waiting. Every picture showed more incredible details of that fantastic carving, what a treat.

It does look a bit like Gman, but strangely calmer.

JP

I'm calm!!

Thanks Hewey, yes it gets you closer to the top of the list. Sorry for the bandwidth usage. Glad you like this guy.
GMAN, Thanks to you too, Subject line? Whatzzat? You mean peeps looks at that ting?
Bouy? HaHaHA
Tama, didn't you know the Moai Bouyz are trying to get the Americas Cup to be sailed off Easter Island"
Those Eyes haunting you? Thanks Tama the Terrified!
Pappy And Mrs Pappy, Big thanks. I appreciate those kind words, especially prom the Mrs..
Raffer, Thanks. Nice to see you around again :)
Thank you Marcus, though I'll be carving the Hard stuff again pretty soon, I still have LOTS of wood to carve and finish.
AS, Thank You for coming up too. I see you have done some Awesome work to your gyyz eyez too and he looka fantastic. Come on back!
Mr Dale, Thats enough to keep me going for a long time, Appreciate those kind words, HappyHappyHappy
Thanks JP, He Does look a lot like GMAN, though I'm Still working on the Stubble. Sorry about the large files, I'll try to get them smaller so they load faster..
Hey GMAN, what brings you 'round?? You look about as calm as the eye of a Hurricane. I Love that shirt full of Fishes, but DON'T go to Sleep in it, you'll be sleeping with the fiiishes!! You need to go "Yachting" with Mr Moai, IF I didn't tick him off with the sailing words. I Should have known that with that "yachting" hat he treats the sailor guy as a lower class being. No Sailing for him, He wants all the POWER!
Thanks everyone. No updates today, I wasn't able to do much at all today, Maybe monday.
Thanks Mang

Large files are good-- keep posting lots of pics. I'll wait for the download, they are worth it.

JPighammer

Could you show the box of clear coat poly you will use ? Because I used a wax for my "moai" and I was a bit disappointed in finding my carving darker than what I was waiting for. Thanks a lot.

Ben

Hi Benzart,

I've been taking my time going over your different threads and posts as there is just so much to digest....

I must say that your work simply blows me away! You are truly a master carver. TC is very is quite fortunate to have you around, and documenting your trail blazing efforts.

In this tread, I am very intrigued by the tiki groupings. I love the way these tiki's touch and play off of one another...they are very strong pieces standing alone individually, but it's grouped together that they really seem to come to life for me...cool direction.

Your periodic jump into stone is also very cool...It would be fun to see some of your stone carvings integrated into the wood in the way that you have been using the shell...or, maybe even both, shell and stone? I really love mixed media efforts in art.

At any rate, if you should ever come back to San Diego for a gathering, I would sure love to take part...One could really learn a great deal from you. Keep up the great work man!

Best,

Babalu

BoyZ In Da Wood!

Really dig the mean chops on da 'Yachting Moai' BUT the other one... 'Sooey Sid Al'? That one is just plain SCARY...I would grind that one down and rework the facial expressions!!! Gives me the willies!...ooooh kinda reminds me of a guy I met from St. Pete, hmmmm Ol'Whazz hizName??? :lol:

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

Thanks everyone. My Computer is down with a sick sys board I think so I won't be here too much till I get it fixed I'll have to use Sherry's computer when she is not using it for work.. Might get back on tomorrow nite awhile.. Aloha Station comes up tomorrow for more woodworking sessions. Hope I'll see you tomorrow.Thanks everyone.

Here is a little bit of whatx goin on. Computer wires and drives. Moai octopus getting done and other stuff. Not sure if this will work, but Hree goez

Gads! No wonder you are having computer problems....it looks like you ran it over with your car??!! I think it would work better with all the wires and guts left on the inside? I'm no computer tech, but I think they put that stuff inside for a reason!

Now that octopus....!!!!! Now that looks pretty damn awesome! Man, he is nice and rounded and cut in nice and deep. I likeee! I really dig how it looks like it's looking right at you. Very nice stuff BenZ. This is a masterpiece for sure.

-Gman

WOW!!!

this moai is unbelievable!!! best ever!!

it quite simply looks ALIVE - so spooky!

keep it up Ben.

Ben, great stuff! ok not the pictures of the computer but the Moai and pendant....lol

Amy :)

Oh yeah! That occy's starting to slither!!! Two Moai thumbs-up!!!

And the Air NZ Hei-tiki...??? Now whats that about?

Sorry to see the comp has been disembowelled! Gman's right; the guts are supposed to be on the inside!!

C'mon Mr Moai!!

Tama :)

The octopus is just very nice.
Great stuff.

Ben

Finally got the PC Fixed, it had a shorted out Harddrive cable. It is back to Normal now.
The Air NZ Hei-Tiki I just won on E-bay for $5 shipped. I Won it the same time Paipo posted his smaller ones. This one is 2 3/4" tall(70cm),and I just couldn't believe I found it and then Won it. I guess I was just Supposed to have it.
The Octopus is Really a slimy little devil and Very difficult to get out of that piece of wood. If it was the heart wood it would be easier but since most of it is in the softer sap wood it makis it very difficult. Thats why I have been putting it off for so long.
Thanks Gman, Harro, Queenie, Tama and Ben. I appreciate your kind words. Now that I can get online, maybe I can do a little more carving, not much more than that tho.Ha1

Ben

Had a great time again yesterday. He was working on this a bit while I was there and all I have to say is - WOW! I know some inside info - but won't spill the beans till its finished. While there, we traded turns working on alot of other stuff - making pen blanks, roughs, and playing on the lathe. Thanks again. See you at the Jam!

Thanks AS for the kind words and for keeping mum about the stuff.
I Finished the Octopus today so now just have an ear, eye and finish to do on the Moai.
Wanna see the Octopus? I'm thinkin I will wait til later cuz I'm kinda tired and need a nap.
"No Nap" you say?
Well Alright If you want to be that way about it!






Enjoy

:o

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:o

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:o

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A jade octopus pendant - now why didn't I see that coming? More importantly, how many people on "the list" will I need to bump off to get my hands on one of these? Even by your standards, that's a mighty inspired piece of work. Please post full length finished pics and lots of them soon!

FANTASTIC! How did you get the those suckers so consistant?
JP