Found: Wendy's Ren Clark Severed Head Tribute Mug

I was doing some antiquing in Southern California last week, and stopped in an antique mall in the city of Orange. There was a huge display case in the back that was filled with highly desireable (and highly expensive) tiki mugs, one of which appeared to be an actual Ren Clark severed head! I immediately started experiencing heart palpitations when I saw that the asking price was "only" $165 and I had brief visions of selling it on eBay for enough money to send both of my kids through college.

Alas, it was too good to be true. I had the case opened so I could examine the mug more closely. I noticed immediately that the walls of the mug were very thick and that it had been painted with enamel (it was peeling off in spots), not glazed. I flipped the mug over to look for a maker's mark on the bottom, and saw that it had "2006" scratched in it, along with what I presume was the artist's name (which I can't remember, unfortunately). Sadly, I put the mug back in the case and left the store. Another mug-hunting fantasy brutally crushed.

Anyway, I know of at least one Ren Clark "tribute" mug out there by artist Wendy Cevola, are there others? It kind of bugged me that the seller didn't clearly mark this mug as a repro, and was asking what I considered to be an exorbitant price for it. Whoever this person is, they clearly knew the value and provenance of the other mugs they were selling.

Weblog: Eye of the Goof

[ Edited by: MrBaliHai 2013-11-23 10:01 ]

I saw that exact one several weeks ago. I was pretty excited to see it, and asked to get a better look at it (the price tag was hidden). I figured there was no way I'd have been able to afford it. I was pretty suprised at $160 and then realized, like you said, that it was a knock-off.
Oh well.....

What was even sadder were the prices on the rest of the mugs in that display. $125 for a Mark Thomas Outrigger Moai!? $45 for a Harvey's Hula Girl?! What a ripoff.

Theres a guy called Nacho on here (mates with Kahaka, Nacho is the guy who built that huge tiki tiki bar that is at hot rod events). Hes done some, not sure how many etc.

Here are 2 of his mugs with Mai Tai's new gi-tar

And here's a pic of Nacho (holding mugs) and Mai Tai (wit da gi-tar)

On 2007-01-19 14:15, MrBaliHai wrote:
What was even sadder were the prices on the rest of the mugs in that display. $125 for a Mark Thomas Outrigger Moai!? $45 for a Harvey's Hula Girl?! What a ripoff.

Yeah, some of the prices were outrageous. I think he had a Tiki Bob from the Bali Hai by the Lake for like $165. Little high priced, even for a tiki bob. We did pick up a plate and teacup from the luau, though. In the time I've been hunting tiki stuff, I've never seen anything like that in the wild. They were a bit overpriced but not too bad. I wouldn't be able to afford service for eight or anything like that, but they were too cool to pass up.
The Outrigger mug, though? No way. I was telling the Missus, at those prices, 99% of this stuff will still be there the next time we stop in. It seems strange to have a booth at an antique mall if your prices are so high that you never sell anything. Just doesn't make any sense to me.

Nice Gretsch! Whats the model/year?

Hi Ren Clark fans. I made a head for Dan and some friends in Southern California and then I sold two on eBay. It's possible that it was one of mine, they are made of clay, fired, painted with acrylic paint and then sealed with concrete sealer. Each person was told that the heads had to be treated as a painting on a wall would be. No liquids etc, no scrapping or bumping or they would peal. I know Vontiki was trying to sell his recently.

These heads are very hard to make so if it was one of mine I'm happy it was close enough to make someone heart pound. I spent enough hours on each one that I figured I earned around $4.00 an hour when they sold on eBay for $120. I made mine from photos, a year after I stopped making these we bought an original from Ren Clarks family.

To see the steps it took to make one you can go to my web page (still under construction) http://www.claytikis.com

MY ART IS ON THE LEFT AND AN ORIGINAL REN CLARK IS ON THE RIGHT

These being so fragile is why I paired up with Gecko in Hawaii to make the Bloody Maori. I've started two more projects with him this week that will be in ceramics when completed.

How big was the head grapefruit size or a soccer ball size? Then I'll know who sold it if it's mine, Wendy

ps sorry guys we all want to find a treasure hopefully your day is around the corner, we found the Elvis Presely Tiki Bob in Springfield Oregon for $18 we couldn't breath until we were out of the shop and in the car, then we squealed like little pigs, we also found a Frankoma war god for $40 in Reno, NV, those are our best two finds

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2007-01-19 19:32 ]

On 2007-01-19 14:53, hewey wrote:
Theres a guy called Nacho on here (mates with Kahaka, Nacho is the guy who built that huge tiki tiki bar that is at hot rod events). Hes done some, not sure how many etc.

Those two in the pic by my guitar are the only two that Nacho has done. They are both prototypes. As you can see, the colors on one of the mugs is much less vibrant than the other. He is still experimenting with different glazes and multi-firings of the mugs. I think the one with the more vibrant colors has been fired and additionally has cold paint on it over the glaze, and the less vibrant one has glaze only and has been fired without any cold paint. Nacho will have these available for sale in the near future, after he works out all the details, and it will be well announced here on Tiki Central, but he hasn't sold any of them yet, nor has he had any available yet to sell.

I would agree with Wendy that the one you saw in the antique mall in Orange was most likely the tribute mug made by her.

On 2007-01-19 16:57, Kenike wrote:
Nice Gretsch! Whats the model/year?

Thanks! It's a Gretsch Nashville 6120 Brian Setzer Signature model, actually brand new (2006). It's a repro of a 1959 Gretsch, complete with 1959 style trestle bracing. Brian Setzer had them do away with all of those quirky volume and tone controls, so instead of 4 or more knobs, this one has only one just for volume - and it only has one switch for the pickup selection, instead of the standard confusing two. For you guitar geeks out there, it also has hotter wound humbucking pickups, locking tuners, a Gibson style pinned adjusto-matic bridge on a rosewood base that's adjustable for intonation, and a cool Bigsby vibrato tailpiece - and all of the hardware is either chrome or nickel plated.

On 2007-01-19 19:28, danlovestikis wrote:
How big was the head grapefruit size or a soccer ball size? Then I'll know who sold it if it's mine, Wendy

It was definitely smaller than a soccer ball. The rest of your description certainly sounds like the mug I was looking at. How do you sign the bottom? I think the name started with a "V", but that's all I can remember.

Whoever made it did a wonderful job!

On 2007-01-19 15:21, TikiJosh wrote:
I was telling the Missus, at those prices, 99% of this stuff will still be there the next time we stop in. It seems strange to have a booth at an antique mall if your prices are so high that you never sell anything. Just doesn't make any sense to me.

I was thinking the same thing. Whoever was renting that space has an overinflated sense of how much most people are willing to pay for mugs. I just hope that no one starts buying them at those prices.

On the other hand, prices for tiki/hawaiiana are very high all over SoCal. The cheapest stuff I found was at the Rose Bowl flea market last Sunday, and even then it was far more expensive than what I've seen the same stuff go for elsewhere.

Hi MrBaliHai, here is a photo of what I wrote on the bottom.

WCEVOLADLT'S
2006

dlt's for danlovestikis

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2007-01-20 11:52 ]

On 2007-01-20 11:51, danlovestikis wrote:
Hi MrBaliHai, here is a photo of what I wrote on the bottom.

WCEVOLADLT'S
2006

That's exactly what I saw written on the bottom. Thanks for clearing up the mystery!

Yet another Nancy Drew Mystery solved by the super-sleuths at TC. :tiki:

so instead of 4 or more knobs, this one has only one just for volume - and it only has one switch for the pickup selection, instead of the standard confusing two.

Aha...thats why I didn't recognize it at first. I thought it may have been a Black Phoenix. I bet that thing shreds.

Last year I came very close to buying a Tennessee Rose but just couldn't bare going into debt to afford it. I ended up with an Epiphone Casino...which is nice (and half the price) but it ain't no Tennessee Rose.

Whats the Elvis Presely Tiki Bob? Anyone who knows

Yep. I knows.

Tiki Bob has left the building.

here.

Hi TikiJosh, In 1961 there was a convention held for everyone who participated in making the Elvis movie Blue Hawaii. A souvenir Tiki Bob mug was given to each person who was there. It says all of this on the side of the mug as shown in these photos.

The last one on eBay sold for $500 but years ago one sold in England for $1000.
I wish there were photos of the convention that would be a blast from the past. Wendy

I asked and then for some strange reason, I happen to see it in Ooga, today anyways. But nice to have that little more info posted about it.

Looks like I wrote the note to the wrong person, sorry, Wendy

On 2007-01-24 14:23, danlovestikis wrote:
Looks like I wrote the note to the wrong person, sorry, Wendy

No worries. The extra info is always a nice touch. I had no idea that they'd been selling for that much! I couldn't imagine spending that much on anything like a tiki mug.

We got ours for $18 but we have paid that much for a tiki mug, it's when you become truly obsessed that you go crazy to acquire that special mug. Sometimes I looks at Dan and say well there goes the dream of retiring early. Our motto, "will work for tikis".

For fun here's Gecko and I with our Bloody Maori, Wendy

On 2007-01-19 19:28, danlovestikis wrote:
I spent enough hours on each one that I figured I earned around $4.00 an hour when they sold on eBay for $120.

If I had known that I would have bid higher on mine Wendy :wink:

Seriously though it's still the fave in my collection!

On 2007-01-19 14:53, hewey wrote:
Theres a guy called Nacho on here (mates with Kahaka, Nacho is the guy who built that huge tiki tiki bar that is at hot rod events). Hes done some, not sure how many etc.

Here are 2 of his mugs with Mai Tai's new gi-tar

And here's a pic of Nacho (holding mugs) and Mai Tai (wit da gi-tar)

That looks a lot like the 1964 Gretsch Aniversary I used to have. Only difference was mine was (rare factory original) red. I replaced the original Hi-Lo Trons with some new-old-stock DeArmonds and it screamed! Ahh...the good old days. I can post a pic if you like. Cool axe & mugs!

Yeah, now that Fender owns Gretsch, they seem to be strongly committed to making some quality repros. For example, they took Brian Setzer's favorite 1959 6120 Nashville, and did a medical MRI scan on it, to see what made it tick inside, and be able to exactly reproduce the trestle bracing, without having to completely disassemble the guitar. Now that's a commitment to tone!

Thanks for the compliments, vegastikidude. I'd love to see pics of your red Gretsch!

Hi Friends, I've always wondered if I would run into the Ren Clark head I'd made and sure enough on a trip to Old Orange County I found it and bought it. The owner had taken it to Hawaii and back, it was all chipped up. I've since repaired it and today it goes into the mail. It's making a second journey to Hawaii to go into Gecko's collection.

Here are some photos of when I found it at the antique store and how it looks repaired.

This story has a happy ending. Wendy

I was fortunate enough to win one of those from Wendy off ebay some time back and glad to say I still have it . Didn't there was only 2 sold on ebay that makes it that much better to be in my collection thanx again Wendy

Hi Mai Tai Matty, thank you. I'd love for you to post a photo here of you with the head. You are right I only made a few of these. My next project is with Joniece Frank of Frankoma Pottery. She's famous for the original War God. She, Gecko and I have brought it back. She has just finished the mold for a tiki bowl I've made called Tiki Crate. Each crate is for shipping the tiki next it. I've started a thread under crafts or you can search under Tiki Crate. I'd love a critique, cheers, Wendy

Wendy - fun story about finding your own handiwork; I'm sure Gecko will be happy adding it to his amazing collection of mugs.

I've always wanted to see a thread on repair of tiki mugs for display - how one goes about filling in chips, matching paint to glaze, etc. I've never been able to fix mugs to my satisfaction. You did a great job fixing that head - if you ever have time to post on your technique, I'm sure it would be widely appreciated.

Aloha

Hi Koolau, you can find all the products that I've used over the years on my web page http://www.claytikis.com but here's the best advice for repairing chips, hairlines can be hidden but not very well.

The best product ever invented is Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler. I place some, more than needed into the chip space. Then I lightly spray it with water and smooth it with my finger and let it dry. It will shrink some so I do it a second time. You can use a fine grain sandpaper to finish it off if needed.

I use two types of paints that can even be mixed to get the right color. One is Liquitex Acrylic Artist Color and the other is Liquitex glossies (this is enamel). Both are carried by Michael's national chain or can be ordered through Dick Blick's artist catalog. Never use student paints they always are filled with too much water to make them cheap.

To seal the paint isn't necessary when using only the enamel but it is with any mix that has just Acrylic paint.

The best seal I've found is concrete sealer. You need to test it first because some existing paints could come off with this. It doesn't effect the two types of Liquitex. My next favorite for glossy surfaces is clear nail polish which is again enamel. I've had bad luck with spray sealers staying sticky.

I repaired so many chips for Dan's collection that I decided to start doing tiki art full time (when not at my day job). We are having so much fun both with art and collecting.

If you want to start a repair thread feel free to copy any part of this.

Just for fun here are a few images taken during the sculpting of my Tiki Crate Bowl.



I decided that larger tikis were better for the bowl. That thread is under Tiki Crate

Thank you for looking, Wendy

Thanks Wendy - I'm going to look for those products you listed and give it a go. If I get good at repair, I'll start that thread. Mahalo!

You are welcome. Here is one more painting tip. Start with the darkest color and work forward. This is an old Treasure Craft statue that I restored. Wendy

Beautiful job on that resto! Nice TCraft collection!

ive never seen swizzles for tiki bobs...did they exist?

Changed the title of this thread, as now that I know it's Wendy's work, I thought it sounded a bit harsh.