Tama - NZ Pounamu/greenstone - Last post for '08! - pg99

I Love the tini tiki from Tama the Truthful tiny tiki maker. And I also love the story of the "bag of eyes".. Now There's something you want to keep closed up tight lest you find them Watching you some day. Ah Soo, Tama the Tinker, Gold/silversmythe. Lost wax and All that stuff. You ever think about making gold and silver Hei-Tiki pieces? Might be nice with inlaid Jade eyes. I would love to do a line of tiki jewelry, letz talk.

Very nice Tama (and very small). I'm impressed that you didn't use any magifiers for this guy. The dark jade is so wild. I love how it appears black but then slightly green with back lighting.

As for knowing he was done......you tell me?

-Gman

That little dark teeny guy is the shizzle. I love it!

Very nice...but can you do 2cm ? :wink:
This guy would make a nice wee casting - he's a lot more authentic looking than those other little plastic fellas we were talking about yesterday....

Actually this mini guy is an Amazing piece of work woth no glasses. Once I put on MY glasses I could see how really good he is. As Usual, VERy Very well done Tama the Great!

Yes, "crazy" in a good way! Your work is so amazing and beautiful,
like the finish of your last pendant. Congratulations!

Aloha Tamapoutini! I love the angry-stoner he is so cool!! and 'Teeny-Tiny-Tiki' made me drool a little...Congrats incredible pieces!

The little dark jade guy is fantastic! your skill at these is amazing! I hope to do justice to the jade you sent. I do have some great stone mentors though.

JP

You still have my address, right?

Hello-ha...

*Just checking in to make my aplogies. Wading through an urgent mini-mountain of non-tiki at present. Might be a few days before there's anything interesting to show.

Benz: These wee eyes can handle. Unlike your Moai, they dont appear like they're about to blink!

Thanks Tikigap, Gman, Haikai, JohnnyP (you'll do great, get grindin'), & Clarita... Glad you like the little fella.

No magnifiers; its all true, though almost at the point of eye-implosion... Almost; I might just have to take up Paipos challenge of 2cm.... thinks was that the size of the micro-Marq? I might just have to make it 1.9cm :lol:

Happy grindin'/chippin'/hookin' everyone!

Tama :)

I'll Call Paipo's 2cm and raise the bar to 1cm :lol:
Great work! Always challenging yourself and pushing it! At this rate, you'll be carving tikis into rice very soon!Your detail's pretty amazing! Whaddya got? Little Doll Hands? Is that your secret? Amazing....... :)

Raising a bar from 2cm to 1cm..? Thats lowering in my book & definately tempting eye-implosion. My poor wee dolls hands! :lol:

The grain of rice may have to wait; Im too hungry at the moment, but 1cm... Is there a prize..? :)

Tama

LLT: You're on!

Found a few minutes at the end of the day to make a start on 'Micro-Maori'. Exactly 1cm (approx 3/8"), but he might shrink a little. Not promising I wont resort to them, but no magnification so far...

So when are we going to see a start on 'Pompele-Postage Stamp'? :D

TamaTheTerrible! ah-hahahahahaaaaaaa...!!!

Oh jeeze.......

It is amazing how small you can go wen you put your mind tom it. You can only go as small as you have toolz. You may not Need glasses to carve, but when toy take that macro picture of the piece, you'll definitely see where the glasses could have helped. I'd like to say it looked good but it is too small for me to see and determine that. Of course I could just take your word for it...OK Its good!
Ain't Life Great! Thanks Tama the Tiny

On 2006-12-03 04:35, GMAN wrote:
Oh jeeze.......

Yep, it's all true Gman. Little is really big this year. How low can you go with your bonez? :D

Thanks Benz - This IS the limit of my toolz. Probably best that the bar was lowered/raised to 1cm; any bigger & I would still be itchin' to go smaller. I now know that its not possible (unless Paipo can prove me wrong, nudge nudge...)

Another hard day with my nose to the grindstone (groan) working on a large rush order.
Some wise words from QueenK clarified my aversion to this type of work. It is the wearing down you start to feel when doing your art for 'other people' too much. Pretty hard to escape when working at it fulltime & aiming towards gaining recognition - and customers, haha

Still, its little-bitty moments like these that make it all seem worth while... Whilst other people are putting up with their leery bosses or painful co-workers, I get to goof around & do things like this...

(yes, he bit me. Go on, laugh...)

Not finished yet, but I think the record has been set! tiny cheer Im thinking about making a pinky ring out of him, awwwwww. Still have to give him a few details, fingers, toes, eyelashes etc

Now where's that grain of rice..? :wink:

TamaTheTiny

Where's the teeth and tongue? Why not a pair of nicely oriented paua inlays too :wink:
I decided my bar will go no lower than around 15mm, at least for a tiki that requires more than just a head, but a mask or face...hmmm...
Amazing how annoying a a drop of water can be when you're working at that scale, isn't it?

Aw' Rite, Looks like we have a War brewing peeps for the Smallest tiki award! Looks like Tama the Tiny is out front, but Paipo is goin for the teenyweeny award and around the stretch, they're neck and neck. Who's got the smallest,, GMAN sneeking up from the rear with a 1/4" face on some PigBone he's been saving. Tama and Paipo look back and increase their stride."No one's catchin us today" they say as Benzart Screams past them with a 3/16" moai! "Ah but it's Wood and doesn't count" cries Paipo. So it looks like Tama the Tiny and Paipo win together with the worlds SMALLEST Stone faces/tiki's. YEAAAYYYYY.

Tama,

This guy is great! I think he would look awesome in a gold "prong" mount and set to be worn as a pendant. In a previous post you said you had gold and silver skillz. I think that would be a super idea for him. I think the ring would be cool too, but would he stand up to the abuse a pinky ring takes?

I'm looking for a present for the wife, PM me about this and/or the other small guy.

-G

My Hula dancer figure wants both yours and Paipo's to wear around her neck. How about some earrings to match? Great work Tama!

You guys are cracked! What a hoot! Incredible!

Awesome

Regards
Flynny

Hi Guys n Gals.

Back with another small offering. Havent been doing much in the way of tiki; been slammed with a large rush order & finishing/posting various things that have sold recently.

Will soon be here to satisfy a couple of TC'ers who have been waiting a while... They know who they are. I think you'll find the newly cut stone worth the wait B! (see below)

Paipo: The Tiny-Cup was a wee cliffhanger, wasnt it? I admit it; you are the undisputed Tiny-Tiki-Titleholder when it comes to Quality, but unfortunately the fineprint definately falls in my favour for wee-ness. I crown myself Mr Small!

Benz: Great running commentary - a photo finish!

Gman: Probably safer with a 'bezel' setting where the entire edge is surrounded by metal. I have always found prong/claw settings are more likely to catch on clothing etc & open up. With amazing synchronisity (sp?) I happened to see a tiki ring a few days back where the stone was held with 3 claws each side. I dont know if the maker intended it or not, but it reminded me of three tiki fingers - how apt!
*Mrs Gs prezzie posted today!

Tikidav: My turn to cue the facemelt... Earrings for the Hula-girl? No problem; hooks or studs? :lol:

Tikigap: It's actually this sort of thing that stops me from cracking! manic laughter

Flynny: Cheers!

With just moments to spare Ive finished a very important little 'commission'. Our wee girl Kenna turns 5 tommorrow & is off to school for the very first time. Awwwww
To mark the occasion & to do a bit better than a store bought gift, I have just finished a Hei-tiki of her very own. (Mk2 - the first being abandoned as unworthy for our little Princess)

She has always been told that she could have one when she turned 10, but none of us can wait that long...

"Happy-Birthday-To-You-Tiki"

Pretty much carved but still all scratched up:

1/2 way through sanding:

Hole at the very top of head, disappearing at a steep angle...

And emerging at deeper the back:

Freshly finished!

Bound and toggle made. I'll finish at the right length tommorrow before she heads away for the big first day... sniff

Happy Birthday Darlin'!

Daddy-Tama

Awwww! Thanks for sharing such a special tiki for such a special day. Makes me miss my own dad a little more than usual. Your daughter is a very lucky little girl!

Wish her luck for me Tama. Nice gift; lots of dad in that one! Hopefully she is still wearing it when she graduates from college.

I think that page was a little filled with Pride and maybe even a tear or two. Tama, you gotta be SO Proud, both of the Birthday Hei-Tiki and the birthday girl herself. First day off to school, what a journey she begins. I'm Sure she will be the Envy of the whole class with her own Hei-tiki made for her by her own Daddy. HappyHappyHappy

Thanks Jen, Ben & G

Just a quick pic as she walks out the door...

*Now to survive the party this evening... doh!

No, She isn't Happy, or Proud, or Glad she has You for a Dad, No, No Way! Her pic says Otherwise. Very very Happy little girl. Normally the first day of school is a "Drag'em out the door kicking and screaming" but it looks like she is Eager to go and make everyone jealouse.
Thanks for sharing that picture Tama, it says a Lot.

Kia ora Guys n Gals.

Thanks Ben. Kenna had a great day, meeting new friends at school & a party this afternoon... The kids have long since crashed & the last guests just leaving. It is now tommorrow (Saturday 9th would you believe - you guys are still in Thursday as I understand it..?) :lol: & a perfect time to show what yesterday produced...

Back with a new one: (& about bl#@dy time, right Kings?) another challenge. Been looking forward to this myself...

We got a SEXY piece of stone; some of the sexiest Ive had my finger on in quite some time...

We got a hat; a fez; Bullets' Fez...

We got a clever little template to match the curve in said fez...

We got a design to go with the sexy stone & clever template...

We gonna use that clever template to make a curve in that sexy stone to match the curve on the fez...

And the Ancients bestow their blessings: the diameter of the fez is exactly the same as the diameter of my sexy grinding wheel, making a difficult job so much easier. Alright!!!

Beautiful...

A perfect fit!

Now to do the same to the front, only manually.

That'll do...

We got our design.

Trimmed out.

Homing in.

Taken some more of the thickness out of the back. Working much heavier than usual & very carefully working my way into the form - dont want to mess this one up!! Working with the curve is a bit of a nostalgic approach, reminds me of carving dem bones Gman...

Punched a few holes & that'll do for one day, phew! Hope youre liking it Bullet!

I'll try to keep at this one & will post progress as it happens.

Im also going to swing by with some progress for you Tikimecula; keep an eye out.

Happy carving all! Tama :)

Beautiful progress shots of a beautiful project. I Really love it when you give us these step by step photos Tama. That piece of stone is sweet looking. Is that from the big rock you recently had slabbed out? Or have you not completed that yet? Can I get a pound?
Can't wait to see this one finished. And I'm sure Kingsey will be so excited to have his Fez SO Adorned. COOL!

Tama, when you finish the Fez, will it now become the "royal order of Tama" I think that would be fitting.. :)

I second Benz thoughts on the step by step, nicely done

Amy

thanks for the great progress pics, triple t! i'm proud to be the first member of the royal order of tama. anybody else wanna join?

this one is going to be awesome can't wait....HURRY UP!!

Tama T, workin' the green-bone! Nice stuff buddy. I hear ya on the round edges. I likes round much better than flat.

-Gman

Hi Guys n Girl. No carving today, my head was the wrong shape...

Benz: Yep, thats the big one, now in 5 pieces: well, 4 pieces: one block has now been slabbed down to about 30 pieces, each of which may yield 1-4 tikis. Its a comfort to know Ive got a good stash of working material in this precarious industry. There is no 'place' to go to buy raw jade... Ill PM re:lb

QueenK: I dont know about Tamas' Royal Order - Would they let me in? Id hate to imagine the shenanigans! :lol:

Bullet: I hearby call to order the first meeting: my place; bring a bottle! :lol:

Cheers Marcus: I wont dilly dally any longer; Im guessing I dont want to keep a guy named 'Bullet' waiting for his hat...(gulp)

Gman: It really is nice to have that subtle curve through the whole piece. Ill be working that into some future pendant designs I reckon. Takes just that little bit of extra thought (& stone) but worth the effort (& stone!), makes the whole thing that bit more 'organic' than just flat which is my usual practice.

Hopefully back to this one tommorrow.

Shalom. Triple T

I'm with you on having that curve and what it adds to the overall piece instead of being flat. BIG Difference. It should open up different doors too and allow some different configurations if you think it through.
Also Agree about keeping a man with the "Bullet" name waiting, doesn't sound comfortable.

On 2006-12-08 17:14, kingstiedye wrote:
thanks for the great progress pics, triple t! i'm proud to be the first member of the royal order of tama. anybody else wanna join?

Bullet, YES, How do I join? Do I need one of those funny hats? Would i have to Wear it?

Excellent piece this fez! So creative and so cool!!!, I've was a little blue and now I'm much happier...Thanks!

On 2006-12-09 04:56, Benzart wrote:

Bullet, YES, How do I join? Do I need one of those funny hats? Would i have to Wear it?

if you carve a tiki wearing a fez pendant and send it to me, you're in! it's that simple! :D

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2006-12-10 11:42 ]

how do you suppose you're going to attach it? will you put something into the jade to go through the felt?

Hey gang. Just a quickie to give a couple of peeps their fix...

Benz: The Order is going to look even stranger if we're all sitting in front of computer screens in different parts of the globe wearing our fezs'; they're the sort of thing that work best in large groups arent they? :lol:

Clarita: Glad you were tickled by the fez..! :wink:

KTD: Im only 'in' if I can play President!

Pdrake: Good question & has been thought about. The plan is to make a series of small 'hidden holes' on the rear & 'sew' it into the hat. Piece of cake...(gulp)

On with it...

Some initial delineation of elements, being very careful to follow the design but also allowing it to 'move' if necessary as the piece progresses.

Tongue, mouth, eyes, nose...

Some real shaping into head, legs, tummy & the start of toes...

May still need to go fractionally thinner on the back, but well see. Im enjoying the extra depth that not carving the back gives...

Getting there Bullet! Im afraid Im still having to juggle you along with several other projects...

...Like this one. Nabbed by Tikimecula! A bit more done on him today & tommorrow belongs to you guys exclusively!!!
*Need to ask you both whether or not you are wanting paua eyes set. Please PM me.

Given this guy a good going over, pulling proportions/symmetry into line & achieving main curvature/shaping. Made a start on the facial details & should have actual carving but not sanding/finishing done tommorrow...

Hope you're both happy with progress!

Tama :)

Well, I'M Ultra happy with Both pieces so if they Aren't, you can just send them over here and I will dispose of them properly. There is just something Magical in your work that I Love watching as it unfolds. You definitely start the Drool machine going in full gear. I'm Drowning here and I can't stop looking! I guess the next thing you need to do is Video Tape yourself creating some of these marvels, I'd buy one for sure.......

I've gone to covering my keyboard with towels when I can, because my laptop stops working corektly whn i strt too droowl ovnr Tama'S jade harvnings....damn, no towwelz!.....baak ltr....

STOP IT. I think I just saw Gman Sliding past on a river of drool, clutching a Mouse in one hand and a fist full of cash in the other.

Wow Tama, I can't believe how cool that it looking! I love how it is so traditional, yet very modern too. Your work always has a huge amount of class to it.

Thanks Gman, Benz & Finky.

Back with another quick update...

The wee Swinger is all ready for sanding & we've had the go-ahead for paua inlays. On tommorrows list, and should be finished with any luck.

And a bit more done on the Royal Crest. smoothing, honing...

Teeth...

Im enjoying every minute of this one (unlike many commission jobs). Touch wood, its looking to rank among the better ones.

Tama gone for the day. Peace

Super slippery slobberific!

Wow Great. I'm gone for the day too but not before I say hello and good job on your stuff. Good job on your stuff.
More tomorrow[[{Ozxfbdjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjxcxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wow....
You bruddah's may make me quit carving again with all the pono work Im seeing!! jeez!!
Very very nice! I look forward to going back over the old posts and seeing everyones work in the past 6 months, including yours! I love it!!

Aloha!