Gman vs Wild - Page 1; Kotiate Warrior 183; BoatMan 184; Gman Lizard Dance 190; Screamer 193

Hope that the anger here can melt away and the true spirit of art can shine through. I know that none of the artists on TC ever mean to offend anyone with their fabulous creations. It is wonderful that the art of carving is still alive and has expanded to so many parts of the world. Supporting your heritage is good and important and we are lucky that GMAN honors the Maori culture through his great carving. Peace and harmony to all. :)

Gman, this is your thread, please some more wonderful photo's of your carvings ad get us all back on track! :)

Amy

Yes G....as the Queen said!
We love you and want more more more!

We are looking forward to the next project! When I get back in a week I want to see some really wicked progress on a new log! Have a good week!

JP

Hello all,

I have been stuck at Reagan National Airport because an ice storm canceled all our flights Friday. I only just got home today, Sunday. In all, I've been gone since Tuesday and missed most of this exchange. I would like to thank the members of the TC Ohana who stepped up to defend me and my artwork during my absence. I really appreciate your support.

We as artists are entitled to artistic freedom, creativity, and the right to carve practically anything we want. If someone decides to carve a Maori STYLE design or figure, it has always been accepted and appreciated by the Ohana here. I have had long descussions with other members here regarding Maori subjects. I would never intentionally create something that I thought might offend anyone's beliefs or traditions.

A while back we were all asked to rethink our carving subjects, do more research, and look further back to more traditional works. For the last year or so I have done that to the best of my ability, and tried very hard to create and post works more in line with what some participants wanted to see in the Carving Thread.

Onward and Upward,

Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2007-03-18 19:36 ]

Great work Gman, it's neat to see all those pics in one place like that. Your newest piece turned out amazing! Glad to hear you finally got home OK. Snow sucks, palm trees rule! :D

great work...but man everybody needs tougher skin....somebody made a comment about your work...so what...have a little confidence in yourself, enjoy the true nature of your work and relax. I know this place tends to be a flowery love fest and everyone's work is wonderful but we need to remember too each his own...

The internet....getting people fired up for no reason since 1991!

Edit - see my response above.

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2007-03-18 12:05 ]

With ya all the way G! By the way...NICE WORK! There's one in there that I'm particulary fond of..:wink:

Two more for ya Helz....

-Gman

you have a beautiful collection of work there gman. keep up the great work and posts.

G, Glad your back and posting. This is what I am talking about, beautiful pieces, each and everyone of them..... Thanks for freshening up your thread and reminding us all how talented you are!!!

Amy

G, your carvings are great, and I also gotta throw in that you're a class act. Anyone that knows you would find any attack on your character incredulous.

TT

Keep'em coming G! So what's the next project..?

Tama :)

Thanks guys, your friendship means the world to me. Thank you again for the support and for liking what I do.

I have been banging on the keyboard all afternoon, and believe I have some of this all worked out. Thanks for having my back.

-Greg

Wow GMAN I've never seen everything all at once before! What can I say they are fabulous. Can't wait to see what's next! And don't forget When the Teko is absolutely done... I wanna see that big knife!

Oh & the Poptiki/Helztiki/GMAN collaboration is awesome! I can't wait to finally have a chance to own a GMAN original, with a little help from his friends!

Tikisgrl

Thanks for sharing the pics of so many of your awsome projects. You are a great artist....love the pics in the yard...looks good in the fauna. Keep em coming G :)

On 2007-03-16 01:35, Dragonaotearoa wrote:
Private Message

I understand and have always taken the Maori pride and history in mind when creating my artwork. There are others on this site who flat out copy hisitoric Maori artifacts as closely as possible. Even I find that offensive. Please feel free to chop on them, but I have taken every opportunity NOT to copy any moko designs or other designs that the Maoris use as identity. I am a simple carver who finds great beauty in ancient NZ artwork. Our discussions with the Maori go well beyond what you will likely ever know, and we know we are not stepping on any toes here.

-Gman

Response
I have tried to say that it was a mis-understanding repeatedly.
This is Aggressive you bunch of gutter bred morons

I think all i stood on was your ego. And it seems to be a big one. It is arrogant to say that discussions on moari art and culture are beyond me. My Uncle was one the south islands greatest master carver and he taught me art at his knees. My family are the most direct bloodlines to a line of chiefs in Ngai tahu. To be precise my great great grandfather was the last chief. Maori culture is personal i was brought up in it, surrounded by it and stood with my family when we fought the government for our land s and rights. you HAVE NO RIGHT or presumption to be a pathetic arrogant little prick and tell me that what you know of maori is beyond me. If you stood here and said that at me while in the presence of my whanau you would seriously have the crap beaten out of you. I am the eldest of my generation and have been expected to know my people, to understand and participate.

Miriama Te Ahi Puia Furlong

Dragonaotearoa,
Your comments were very educational. Unfortunately, some individuals do not want to hear the truth about Polynesian culture.

I feel that if you’re going to post your carvings then you should be man enough to withstand the critique/lesson.

EGOs are very BIG on TC. Some will even go as far as stating that they discovered tiki themselves...

Keep-up the lessons,

MTK

It was a big misunderstanding - I don't believe she ever got to see the carving I posted about in the subject heading - the carving on page 100. Please let this end here. If she did see my last Teko and doesn't like it fine, I'm sorry. I have no issue with that. I'm sorry again. I'm sorry for things I never did and haven't even thought of yet. Please let this go.

-Gman

F$&#in' (IVOKE YOUR FAVORITE DEITY HERE)!!!

Can't we just leave this alone!?! G and BK are settling up, and yes we know it was an HONEST TO GOODNESS Maori talking, so do we really need to drege this crap back up? This is TIKI...POLY POP...Manufactured escapisim...and people using the images and artifiact of old, proud, acient cultures for inspiration. Yes, there are egos here. We all know it...but the scratching of the open wound serves NONE of us! Now I'm just going to go back to appreciating G's (and BK's and Benz's and...) non-athuentic (Not that it was trying to be) work!

And I always thought the point of the Aloha shirts was to relax everyone.

and what G said!

Unfortunately people just now coming into this thread do not have the benefit of the whole story since much of it was edited out way earlier. Anyone preparing to post comments please keep this in mind, you only see part of the story!!!

Seriously MTKahuna, do you look around TC at all? Tiki Central, Open 24 Hours, Celebrating classic and modern Polynesian Pop. If you find this offensive, maybe you should think about the content of the website before frequenting. This is not to say that no one here is interested in actual Polynesian culture. Lots of us have that interest. Alot of us also enjoy going to Trader Vic's, Kon-Tiki Tucson, Hula Hula in Seattle, or whatever "tiki" joint we have around. While a lot of us would go GLADLY to any Polynesian cultural event we could find, or actually GO to Polynesia, we acknowledge "tiki" as a fun thing we do to get some ambiance in our lives that we couldn't even find on a Polynesian, Melanisian, or Micronesian island, even if we could afford to just go to one of those places on the weekend.

That said, Gman has said repeatedly in this thread that he's not trying to depict any actual Maori ancestors, and that he's carving in Maori style. If you're going to post that he's ignorant of Polynesian culture because he a) likes to carve, and b) likes to carve in a Maori Style...then please, go make a critique of Squid's and TikitOny's Marqo Pollo and Fatutu mugs, all of the Ku look alikes, and every bit of Moai memorabilia you can find on this site. Your post count will skyrocket, and at least everyone will get a little bit of your hammering on their creating thread.

Remember, we're talking about Polynesian Pop, not Polynesian Culture, two VERY different things.

TT

Yeah, I'd say drop it. Everybody understands how it all should have went.

We could all afford to have a Zombie and go deep sea fishing.

last time I had a Zombie, Her husband caught up with us and ... well thats a story for later!

Maybe I need to switch to PNG carving? Aack!

-Gman

On 2007-03-18 21:00, tekoteko wrote:
Seriously MTKahuna, do you look around TC at all? Tiki Central, Open 24 Hours, Celebrating classic and modern Polynesian Pop. If you find this offensive, maybe you should think about the content of the website before frequenting. This is not to say that no one here is interested in actual Polynesian culture. Lots of us have that interest. Alot of us also enjoy going to Trader Vic's, Kon-Tiki Tucson, Hula Hula in Seattle, or whatever "tiki" joint we have around. While a lot of us would go GLADLY to any Polynesian cultural event we could find, or actually GO to Polynesia, we acknowledge "tiki" as a fun thing we do to get some ambiance in our lives that we couldn't even find on a Polynesian, Melanisian, or Micronesian island, even if we could afford to just go to one of those places on the weekend.

That said, Gman has said repeatedly in this thread that he's not trying to depict any actual Maori ancestors, and that he's carving in Maori style. If you're going to post that he's ignorant of Polynesian culture because he a) likes to carve, and b) likes to carve in a Maori Style...then please, go make a critique of Squid's and TikitOny's Marqo Pollo and Fatutu mugs, all of the Ku look alikes, and every bit of Moai memorabilia you can find on this site. Your post count will skyrocket, and at least everyone will get a little bit of your hammering on their creating thread.

Remember, we're talking about Polynesian Pop, not Polynesian Culture, two VERY different things.

TT

Tekoteko,
Believe me... I get it!
However, This sight is also for educational purposes.

Put down your cocktail and pick up a book!

Benzart & BK,
Thanks for filling me in.

Hey guys,

Here is a set of pics set in order as I worked on this fellow - beginning to end.

-Gman

[ Edited by: GMAN 2007-03-18 22:19 ]

Off roading in Florida?

You got to come out here.

BooBen,

That's a long way to drive mang. I have friends who ride Glamis and Imperial (I think) all the time - they live close to there in Yuma. They are always asking me to come out. I've got great places to ride here withing one hour of my house; some private, some State/Federal. I'll be out there by you one day, but not until I put a turbo on the rail. :D

Thanks for stopping by,

Greg

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2007-03-18 22:36 ]

Beautiful pix, a kind of best of.
Definetely wonderful tekoteko (or figure carving) :wink:
Very good work.

Benjamin

Dat ting he got da voodoo in him--I seen it in he eyes!!!!

BEEEEEE-U-TEEEE-FUL!!!!

Your Teko rules Gman, the pics speak for themselves. I just want you to know that we all support you here. Hell, I wouldn't be carving bone at all if you would have just sold me that damn shark when I asked! :wink: Every conversation, every bit of advice, and every lesson you gave me has gone in to everything I've carved since I've known you. You are a terrific artist, a terrific carver and a terrific guy and you shouldn't feel like you need the approval of anyone to carve what you'd like. Just carve on and keep posting pics, we love it! (Any chance we might get a new pop tiki out of you? Please? :D)

Your friend,

Finkdaddy

BUMP

Aloha,

I received a package from a friend this week with some really neat things inside. I won't tell you what projects I have in mind, but there are quite a few that I want to tackle. These bills will be the starting point for my next few month's adventures.

-G

haven't looked at your stuff in awhile GMAN! The new projects you have in mind better be good! shake fist Keep it up GMAN! We all love it!

What are those things GMan....they're not green enough to be dollar bills and they are
too skinny to be duck bills? You got me guessing now man!

Sword fish bills?

Cool, Can't wait to see what becomes of these guys. Get to the POINT! :) :) :)

Billfish bills? Haaaaaaawwwwww, I can't wait to see this!
Keep on rockin' in the free world!

"Every conversation, every bit of advice, and every lesson you gave me has gone in to everything I've carved since I've known you. You are a terrific artist, a terrific carver and a terrific guy....."

Thanks for that FinkDaddy, I'm sorry for the late reply. I really appreciated that post. I will continue to share what I can with you and hopefully one of these days we can work face to face instead of over the telephone! If not, you know how to reach me.

Thanks to everyone else who has posted here lately as well. Although I haven't been carving, I have been checking in often.

So, I started this guy in December of '06 and here it is April of '07 and I still wasn't finished. Aack! I made his bone eye inlays a while back but decided I didn't like the way they were going to look. I am much happier leaving the wood as is, with the sharp keels across his eyes. I like that look. Since my last update he has received some nice coats of rubbing oil and he is all happy now. I will leave him with this finish as I can recoat him whenever he needs it to keep the wood moist and him glowing.

Here are a few pics of him all finished. I also included one pic of him inside with one of my other figure carvings and Benzo's #13, the Octo-Moai. This is where he will stay, just outside our master bedroom.

-Gman

He is beautiful finished. It's a keeper.

I win-- stike is over, I'll post something this weekend!

JP

He looks Italian with all that OIL, Izzit Olive Oil??? :):):) Hohoho.

Sorry Greg I couldn't resist that. He Really looks Regal with the finish added, the coloring is Hot.
Whats next?? When you coming to So Fla?

Hot damn Gman, that guy is super fly!! Beautiful, gorgeous finish! I don't know why, but I love the look of his 3-fingered Moari hand wrapped around the knife handle.

Yeah, when are you coming to our neighborhood?

By the way, I meant every word. :wink:

Beautiful finish, G..You must have worked that one down to 1500 grit..Very nice.

Dynamic, supple and full of life. A very distinctive "figurative" style...it reminds me of something I've seen before ...? :wink:
I'm with you on the eyes too...I like the eyes of the little supporting figures on some of the trad panel carvings which are just a simple ridged almond shape like on your guy. Paua or whatever is nice, but to me inlays work best on flatter designs (my sig image is a good example) that are only meant to be viewed front on.