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

Tama, he certainly is a cute little bugger and the Coloring is really neat. You should have no problem finding a new home for this guy I love to see these Rescues from the "Box"

Beautiful indeed, I really like it, that would look good hanging around on me. :)

Always singular work, Tam. Something to look up to.

Tama, I found this link while surfing the web for info on Pounamu. Congrats!

http://nzjade.org/catalogue.html

Amy

On 2007-03-20 16:27, Queen Kamehameha wrote:
Tama, I found this link while surfing the web for info on Pounamu. Congrats!

http://nzjade.org/catalogue.html

Amy

I believe I see some work from our other NZ carver in there as well! Congrats to Tama and Paipo!

Hi everyone. Nothing to show you today, just wanted to say Yo. "Yo"...

Paipo: The wee Kokopu was snapped up & now has a pair of purdy pink eyes. It is in fact going to another freckly redhead in the US. Kokopu doesnt really lend itself to a lot of detail so thats probably why we dont see too many Hei-tiki made from it; pretty hard to come by too..? Another update with no piccies Im afraid...

Big thanks SurfnTurf.

Gman: As above, you were dead right about that one! :D

Tipua: Thanks for adding another Sheela-na-Gig (Ill just call her 'Sheila' from now on :lol: -Aussie/NZ joke) & for PMs! We'll talk more soon about that!

Benz: Thanks mate. I do like to see them move on from the box myself; most are about 1/2 completed and owe me money! :lol: Only problem is, once theyve been in there for a while they tend to become dated or I find that I would have tackled them differently if I could start again. Many are indeed 'rescues' and many require radical rescusitation to bring them back to life.

Big thanks also Vampiress and BK!

QueenK & JenTiki: Yep, thats the biggie to date..! The next national exhibition/competition is about 12mnths from now & Id be lying if I said I wasnt going to push for Glory... :lol: Judging must be very difficult as so much of the work is of very high calibre. Judging is 'nameless' and has often met mixed reaction.
This last show was a hands-down cleanup by the local carvers, most of whom I have worked alongside as either colleague, teacher or student. Many are good friends and at one time there was a third musketeer to the Tama/Paip lineup.

Thanks for tuning in everyone. I am fussing around with finishing a few things/orders but do believe I have tommorrow all to myself ( :D :D :D ) and intend to make it a PLAY DAY!!yay! Might even take two or three days - Hooray!! I havent managed any more on the swap-chop so a look at that will be on the cards along with who knows what else. I must admit I am excited. Keep watchin'

Tama :)

Push for the Glory,man!
the clock is ticking!
How do you keep creating winner after winner?
You're on a roll man!
time to get back to the shop!

Glad that Purdy guy found a home so quickly and it doesn't surprise me at all. I would Love to have a look and a go at that box of 80. Send me a handful to play with and I'll send you a handful of mine (yes I have one too with similar descriptions!)
Just keep Rokkin onn I'm Green with envy.

Hey Tama.
Keep up the excellent work, although I really don't understand how you can. How do you find the time? Or yet the inclination? I know the 'artist MUST be set free' but with only a few days rest between works? Don't you just 'carve yourself out' ever?
This is coming from an extremely lazy person though. I suppose I too could achieve greatness if only I could be bothered! Well maybe not the greatness of your standard... but still! Whew! I get tired just thinking about it!

Yes, Sheela (or Sheila - I wonder if they're related?) is an interesting lady. There's many of her type in the next town to mine apparently. They stay away from churches these days though! :wink:

Ahhh, play day...

LLT: Would you believe I have the theme tune from 'Chariots of Fire' running on an endless loop in my workshop, just to keep me pushing for glory? Hope not, coz it's not true! (actually its 'The Eye of The Tiger') :lol:

Benz: Im pretty protective of the '80'. I know Gman has been wanting to have a peek for some time :wink: Its just that it is a 'womb' of sorts and needs privacy & time; not for casual browsing. Im sure you understand.

Tipua: The inclination is the easy part; it would be fair to say I am pretty well obsessed with Pounamu & all things Tiki so the inspiration/energy/focus, etc are kind of with me all of the time. Finding enough time is the hard bit; there just aint enough hours in the day to satisfy those carving-cravings and still maintain a healthy family & social life! Working at it fulltime does leave me a bit jaded (pun intended) from time to time & occasionally I find that I just cant carve, but thats the beauty of being self-employed; on those days we pack up a picnic and head off for an unscheduled family day or whatever... Believe it or not I consider myself a very lazy person too but that might just be a happy side-effect of enjoying my work so much. (especially on play-day)... :wink:

The postman bought me two packages yesterday; both containing stone and both from the US. Neither contained jade. spooky...

The first was from an e:friend & TC lurker (lets call him Tiki-E) and was a couple of examples of his own stonework. Both are carved from beautiful specimens of botroidal (bubbly) 'Fire-Agate'. One is a belly-button 'plug' (fits perfectly but I wont take you there) and the other is a free carved Tiki/Moai-type head. The mouth & closed eye are natural features of the stone. Apparently the layer of 'fire' is quite thin and there is really only one shot at carving it right; go too far & the fire goes out...

Clever eh? I think this guy will have to take his place in another ring -next to the 'Worlds Smallest...' A job for another play-day.

Thanks again Tiki-E!

The next stone to arrive was a bit bigger and lot different'er than anything Ive ever seen before. This one was dug up, thawed out and sent to me by our very own JohnnyP, thanks brother!

(standard Air New Zealand hei-tiki shown for size reference: 2 5/8" or 68mm long)

It is fossilised coral-reef, known as Petoskey stone and apparently displays a honey-comb type pattern when ground into smooth shape. (the official stone of Michigan State you know?) I think Ill put a couple of careful cuts through it on the sawbench to see how the grain/pattern 'works'... Might do that tommorrow, 'Play-day 2'!

PLAY-DAY! yay!

Drew this Big Boy up last night & spent almost the entire day on him today. Hard work? Yeah, but more like play! :D

Ive nicknamed this guy 'R2-D-Tiki' -and those little 'berries' attached to he feet are gone now. Oh yeah, and he stands upright! More progress on him tommorrow, Ill get a shot of him standing...

All play and no (real) work makes Tama a Happee boy...

TamaTheTired-from-all-the-playing :)

Happy Happy Happy,
Not Fair, you get All the fun and Happy Daze, you Should be Working, Oh, but you ARE Working. Love the R2-D-Tiki, he has a Fun look about him.
I Know what you mean about the 'Box". Basically it is full of semi failures or major mess-ups, all representing started projects that came to a stopping point before completion for some reason or another. "I'll take the time to Fix it later" is the incantation as the piece is tossed into the "Box". Some of my better pieces have come out of that box. I too am kind of private about it and it is not on the viewing list whe I have guests.In fact I Shouldn't even be talking about it. What Box? I don't know Nothing 'bout no box. Box of 80? OH That must be that Tama guy, go ask him. :wink: ;

excellent work tamapoutini i love the traditional ways

Play days are good! Looks like you got some interesting stuff tom play with too mate :)

Thanks Ben: Ive been thinking about it & have come to the realisation that the only difference between a play day & a 'work' day is that on a play-day I am simply making whatever I want to. A small thing but a big thing...

Thanks for stopping by Marcus/Tiki Beat!

Hewey: Play days are the only way to work. Its been so long I'd forgotten.

Play day 2...

Managed a bit more on R2-DTiki, giving him a bit of shape & adding some details to the face & back. He stands!

And rescued another from The Box of... 78??
Another of the latest Tiki-Toki style; the smallest of this type yet. The tiki itself is about 7/8ths" (23mm) tall. The bulk of the work had been done & it was just a matter of finishing the tiki & a clean-up...

Not a bad days play. Bit quiet around here..?

Didnt get a chance to cut the petoskey stone yet, maybe tommorrow, although I have a date with a BIIG Girl that may just take all day...

You know where to find me.

Tama :wink:

Very nice work Tama, I love the variety. Glad to see you are getting some play days; that's important stuff! Now get back to work!

Most Beautiful stuff from your Play daze. I really love Both guys, R2-Dtiki looks sweet with his cute butt(JenTiki will Love this!)but the tiki-toki always seem to be my favorites, probably because I Know I can hatf it and go carve a bit, then wewar it the rest of the day. Thats CoOl.
I'm Happy that you have had TWO Play days, you Always need those, no matter what any one says.

Kia ora guys n gals. Another day of hard play...

Gman: I AM working! :lol: (never knew you were a Zappa fan..?)

BenZ: Now THATS some thing you should consider making for yourself; a set of jade detailing chisels - I would offer to make them myself but dont really know the ins and outs of wood chisels having not used them much. Just a thort..?

The BIIG Girl gets her defining features:

Just about finished wet carving

Dry-burred. Carving finished.

Heavy...

I was going to steal an idea I had seen on a piece of Flynnys: a double inlay. Mother-of-pearl arond the outside and a dot of blue paua in the centre...

Decided against it however & have gone with just the MOP (looked a bit much like a target to me!), the very central recess appears darker/in shadow anyway & looks a bit like a black pupil. I have these gluing at the moment & I think they are going to look great.

And remember this Manaia from page..? I forget & cant be bothered to go looking :lol: - anyway he dragged himself out of the box & onto the block...



I have an eye ready for this one too (just on the front) and at the advice of those Ancients have started carving some ribs on him. gulp

The BIIG girl should be all finished off tommorrow & I will keep going with this Manaia too - stay tuned and Ill fling some finished-pics.

Happy carving all!

Tama :)

Hey Tama,

The big girl is looking real nice - I liked the double inlays, but understand why you didn't use them. BIG girl - lots of stone and lots of surface area to sand though, aye?

The Manaia from Page ? was one of my favorites. It's nice to see it back on the bench. The ancinets want ribs huh? Are you starving your grotesque beaked creatures these days? Is a big black eye in store for this guy?

-G

Yes Tama, I'll Consider making myself a set of finishing chisels, however, My name seems to be the constant Bottom dweller on "The List" with everyone getting bumped ahead of me for one reason or another. Sure I'll add me to the list again. Even my poor dear Sherry is at the bottom although she IS Ahead of me there!

Your Big girl is definitely about to Graduate High school. Big Beautiful girl she is too, it's NO Wonder you have suitors Heaving themselves up and Out of "The Box". Did you not Wonder Why he all of a sudden decided he needed to be up on the bench? And I suppose you Blindly left them together all night Alone on your comfy work bench? You'll be having little Hei-maniki's running around soon now.( I Want one!) You Must learn to be more careful when you have those beautiful girls around.

What's the difference between a work day and a Play day? I Think it goes something like this:
You Enjoy the pieces you are creating on your play day.
You Feel GUILTY about enjoying the pieces you create on your work days! :) :) :)

"Oh, I Almost forgot. Page Six is where we find the birth of this manaia
And todays effort, a contemporary Manaia (bird-man/guardian figure, often seen flanking Tiki in traditional Maori woodcarving.

Take care y'all. TTT"

[ Edited by: Benzart 2007-03-27 05:28 ]

Ribs are nice!

WOW Tama,

What beautiful works you've done !!!
I especially love the manaia that is a figure we don't often see whereas it is an unforgetable figure in maori art.

Benjamin.

Hi guys. Thanks for the props!

Gman: Yeah, it was a shame that the double inlays didnt go ahead; they would have been a first. Despite the urge for something new I had to admit that it looked a bit 'too much'. Maybe next time...

BenZart: Thanks for hunting down the start pics of this Manaia (we're still on dial-up & it just takes sooo long!) Hei-Manikis?? :lol: I like the sound of those - perhaps I better hang on to the BIIG Girl for a few months and check that her belly doesnt get any bigger (although thats the look I was going for originally!)

On a far more exciting note: THE MAORI-MOAI ARRIVED THIS MORNING!!! He is just UNBELIEVABLY WONDERFUL!!! I LOVE HIM!!! I had to physically restrain the kids from tearing the package open (so I could do it myself!). My son Te Kohas' first words were "its doft", meaning he was amazed at the smooth/soft feel of it. That was something I wasnt expecting; it really has a silky finish. Even more amazing is the eeny-weeny detail and crispness of all of the elements. His fingers are even more impressive/lifelike in real life, and the ears/eyes/moko - ARRGH! I am just blown away mate! Thankyou so much! - And 'Baby-BenZart#1' is a cracker; how on earth did you sign it?? I find it hard enough to even READ it! :lol:

So far the MMMoai has followed me around the house and has overseen my morning routines. He quite like several vantage-points in the workshop but hasnt made up his mind yet. I think he is just happy tagging along with me at present & keen to help out in an Advisory postition; "a bit more off that leg, no not like that, Ben would have got right down in there and scooped it right out. thats better. now drop that shoulder a bit, etc..." He must have been paying good attention at your place Ben cos he sure seems to know what he's talking about!

*Ill save posting any pics for the Grand Unveiling/Pisco piss-up with Paipo...

Cheers Benella!: Its funny; I love the Manaia form too but just dont seem to make that many of them - I get the feeling there are few more in me though. After revisiting this one I am re-excited as to the scope/potential for exploration...

TimidTiki: Welcome, welcome. I am flattered to be the recipient of your first post. Ribs ARE nice! esp. bar-b-que pork ribs!yum. :lol:
How about a little more about yourself? Where are you from? Whats your Tiki-tale..?

C'MON PAIPO! No excuses now... :wink: hic

Happy carving all!
TTT :)

Tama, I'm Really happy that MMMoai made the trek saftely and so quickly too. Also glad you approve and are happy with him. The Soft Silky feeling finish is from Minwax Rubbing Polyeurethane, I am Totally HAPPY with this product. There are at least 6 coats on him with sanding or steel wooling in between. Don't let him boss you around, he may try to tell you his dad was a Maori chief too but Don't believe it.:) :)
HappyHappyHappy

Don't get any rock splatter on him now Tama....keep him pretty!!!

-G

wow, that is some crazy disign you got there. really cool. cant wait for some more creations you pull out

Great work mate! The big girl and the other pieces are coming along nice :)

Nice work Tama, I particularly like the Manaia although the lil R2D2 figure is neat.
Regards
Flynny

Hi all - as promised the BIIG reveal + an update on the latest Manaia piece.

Ben: you really spoiled me mate. I had a look through the disc of piccies this afternoon & they must have taken you 2 weeks, not counting the carving time..! Im also assuming you were the creator of the originals of the wee pewter critters? There is an unmistakeable BenZness to the eyes/brow/mouth on the zebra and he almost has a moko'ed feel to his striping! Land, sea, air - love them!

Gman: dont worry, Ill take very good care of him!

Cheers TDuddy, Hewey & Flynny!

A bit more progress on the Manaia. Ribs are good!...?

The BIIG Reveal...

"Wahine-Nui" 2007

(you know whEre to find her if you really want her: item #250099159899 :wink: )*

-Did a bit more on my Tiki-swap piece today & am raring to get stuck into him (Tama-fied Kava-thing); tommorrow belongs to the Post Office/bank/solicitor (just bought 3/4acres that back onto our property; a decent back yard at last! New "Tiki-hut/workshop" will be on the cards for later this year...) but I will hopefully get another crack at him before the week is over..

*Please excuse the flagrant sales pitch but this girl owes me BIIG-time...

TamaTheTiki'ed-Out :)

But wait! There's still one bit of Tiki left in me for the day...

Forgot to mention that I finished one of the 'heads' yesterday & am offering him as a 'TC-only' in the marketplace, ahem. :lol:

TamaTheTrulyTiki'ed-out, out... :)

Oh My, What a Lovely Lady, she is SO Beautiful I Can't stand it,( smiling and drooling profusely). Fortunately I'm on Sherry's laptop and not MY computer HeHe.
The MAnaia also is totally delightful and playful looking. Beautiful stone, as is the TC Tiki face, Look at that(more drool flowing full throttle now!)
I'm beginning to sound like a broken record now so I'll quit!

Oh man, Your Big girl is amazing, very neat and beautiful work. The head too, of course.
According to you, how did you learn to inlay ?

Bravo.

Benjamin.

Wow! Slurrrp. She is definitely one of your best (that you have showed us). Grrrrggle. I am very impressed with how finely you leveled all of her surfaces - tough to do on large piece like her I imagine. Gulppp. And the others just add to the drool-factor. Great work Tama! Must...go...get..towel.....salivary glands on overload....

Agree with everyone! Great job on these Tama, The Jade is top notch with so much light going thru too..

Amy

Wowwee! That sucker is a monster. You've got the jade carving down to a science. Awesome stuff. I want one!

Now THAT is art!!!

On 2007-03-28 02:31, Tamapoutini wrote:

A bit more progress on the Manaia. Ribs are good!...?

A bit of Rapa Nui influence creeping into this one? Different is good!
Still working a date to catch up, will be in touch soon....maybe combined with a stroll in your neck of the woods?

PS : seen the "circa 1775" bone fella on ebay? :lol:

Well yes, I think Ribs in a Manaia would be great.

The Postman came today and made me Sign for a package from NZ, Wonder what it could have been? It took forever to Tear Open the package since it was wrapped well enough to have transported a dozen Eggs.
Tama, the Ancestral Vessel is Really Beautiful and the Stone is just Spectacular. I'm sure I will have to bribe Sherry for her to let me wear it. Typical top notch workmanship too, I'll post pictures later, Thank you SO Much for that And the Beautiful slabs. Are there rules as to what you must carve with the Snow flake jade? :wink: :wink: Also I Love those little airline tikis, they must sell those everywhere, they'ry neat.
HappyHappyHappy

A small poetic tribute to the artistry and spirit of Tama’s tiki -

• My Tama Tiki -

I thought I felt my Tama Tiki
Tugging on its tether.

I looked at it and there it lay
As still as it could be.

I sat up straight and wondered why
It played this trick on me.

But just before I looked away
I saw it wink at me.

Ribs ARE good!

I especially like the color of the jade on the back view. It looks all creamy and swirly. I bet it's real heavy.

Hi everyone; thanks for your interest. Once again I find two days hae gone by without any carving done whatsoever, and now it is the weekend... Ah well, a couple of pieces all set for sanding/finishing early next week. Stay tuned.

BigBenz: You are always there for us & I know that your presence & encouragement are very much appreciated by all. I would just like to direct a warm paki-paki in your direction; thanks Ben! (dont worry, its not rude :lol: ) Glad you like the 'vessel'; it is partially derived from an old Maori cave painting of a human figure who has those chevron patterns in his heart-area. I think each notch denotes a 'generation' and is also seen in some older woodcarving. The chevron is an old device common to many Polynesian cultures. -Ill try to find a piccy of the cave painting...

Benella: Thanks for your comps. -I guess Im a self taught inlay'er. Like anything else its just a matter of having a go & aiming to do a better job the next time. Cant go wrong with that mantra.

Gman: Thanks mate. It was a whole different ballgame working on the scale of the Wahine-Nui and I think my saving grace was in knowing the form so well having made so many of them. You wouldnt believe how much handpiece work went into her!; I could/should probably have done a lot more with the grinding wheel but just didnt want to take any risks: slowly, slowly, catchee monkey...

Cheers: QueenK, Kahaka (got the Art down to a Science or the Science down to an Art?) :lol: , Tipua, Paip' (these bottles are tempting me; Im yet to officially drink a toast to the MMMoai...) & Finky (you'll have to ask the new owner* how heavy it is :wink: )

Timid: I knew it was you! :lol: (Timidtiki is my 'known' lurker, supporter an e:friend for some time. Not just a pretty-poet; he is also responsible for a few tiki-type creations himself including the little fire-agate Moai shown a few days ago)
C'mon Timid; show us your stuff!

*And my BIIGest thanks of all go to our very own Alohacurrent who may soon be requiring a neck-brace and/or walking stick (Ill carve you a nice one!) :wink:

Thanks again to ALL of you lovely tiki-types; you are the conversation that is so hard to find at home.

Tama :)

"slowly, slowly, catchee monkey."

Indeed!

-G

Wheeew!
I've just finished reading ALL the previous posts in this thread of yours Tama!
What a wild ride! I've been on an emotional roller coaster - I've fallen in love with each piece you've carved from birth to completion, only to find this love was unrequited and another man got the girl :cry:.
Only to fall in love again with another!

I've learned a few things on the way though, which is what life is all about.

I read that Benz was contemplating carving a hei-tiki from mexican stone on Page 4. Did that ever happen Benz?
Has anyone visited the site CelticNZ? Rather dubious content would be an understatement (but who am I to judge pseudo-history?), but here's a pic of something interesting:

The tiki on the left was apparently uncovered in Mexico suggesting pre-Colombian contact between Maori and Aztec (read Thor Heyerdahl anyone? I know you have Tama, nice Kon Tiki head!). I just thought it was apt none-the-less as it's a mexican tiki.
(the ladies on the right are northern egyptian apart from the bottom right lady who's Maori... ladies love them chin moko no matter where they're from!)

Oh, and Tama: The lovely wahine on Page27 - the BC one with that freckle... downstairs - THAT'S what I was talkin' about in my PM (when you're ready of course!) :D

Gman: 'Wise' words..? I think I have more 'why's?' than wisdom! :lol:

Tipua: I have seen that Mexi-Tiki and Tau-Iwi moko'ed chins before; spooky huh? Definately a family likeness. I have my own outrageous theories/ideas about History (Life, The Universe & Everything) - none of them backed up by anything more than a sense of adventure & a willing disbelief/suspicion of all 'accepted'/Gvnt/Science/Secular explainations... (who says Im paranoid? - and why do they want to know?!!) :lol:
Thanks for adding those pics, your imput is very welcome and you seem to find some great related things!
Your attration to Wahine-Ira (freckle) duely noted, although I cant promise to be able to replicate THAT particular detail! :lol:

Back to the bench...

Tama :)

On 2007-04-01 14:45, Tamapoutini wrote:

Tipua: I have seen that Mexi-Tiki and Tau-Iwi moko'ed chins before; spooky huh? Definately a family likeness. I have my own outrageous theories/ideas about History (Life, The Universe & Everything) - none of them backed up by anything more than a sense of adventure & a willing disbelief/suspicion of all 'accepted'/Gvnt/Science/Secular explainations... (who says Im paranoid? - and why do they want to know?!!)

Cheers Tama. I have to admit I am partial to the odd wild theory or two... and who knows, perhaps some of them aren't too far from the truth? I bet there was a lot more human migration here and there and sharing of culture and ideas in the past that was not recorded... Many mysteries still in this wide world of ours!

And remember Tama, just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not watching you!
:wink:

Pacific Islanders in the Americas makes a whole lot more sense than Amerindians in the Pacific. We native Americans were shore huggers mostly. There are some dragonfly and other petroglyphs in the ancient lava fields a few miles from my house that are identical to some Hawaiian ones. A few scientists have theorized, but we're pretty far inland... If that Hei tiki is fer real that's sum damn good proof of Maori sailing! Wouldn't surprise me a bit, whereas red headed viking indians from Peru colonizing the Pacific ala Thor Heyerdahl seems mighty unlikely...

The bird man with kava kava type riblets is very pleasing to the eye. With the green jade color, beaky protrusion, and the rib ridge outlined it makes my mind see it as a sea horse as well! The new tikis are Kewl dude (sorry, can't find any compliments for your "kickass" hei tikis that haven't already been stated)!

Yahey!

ST

To drown sorrow, where should one jump first and best? "Certainly not water. Water rusts you." -Frank Sinatra

[ Edited by: Sneakytiki 2007-04-01 22:22 ]

Hi guys n gals.

Tipua: Remember, they're watching you too... :wink:

Sneaky: Who knows how that Mexi-tiki came about but it sure does look like a Maori one eh? I would be very surprised if there wasnt travelling back & forth by many different peoples. Im sure there was an awful lot more to our Worlds' history than we know about. The reason we have so little evidence is because the population was far fewer & impacted much less on the environment, hence making retracing the journeys very difficult.

Paipo: I was contacted by a mutual US friend of ours this morning; at this moment digging out his tools & may soon be TCs' newest posting newbie carver? He's been promising me long enough. -I think he has a piece of jade for when the time comes but is starting out with bone. An apprentice for Gman perhaps? :)

A couple of new pieces this week, both rescued from 'the Box'. Ive decided to simply referr to it as 'the Box' now as 'the 80' is sometimes 'the 60-100' and I just feel like its time the Box had a proper name. Happy birthday 'Box'

First out of the box was this wee Kokopu variety wahine. She has some beautiful patterning that runs right through the stone & a warm honey-brown translucency. (almost impossible to see whilst all scratched up and dry like this)



*the magic WD-40

I was originally going to give her blue/green paua eyes but thought better of it upon seeing them in. The m.o.p is a bit more subtle & doesnt yell "look at me!" quite so loudly, allowing the earthy tones & patterns of the stone to be noticed.

All finished...

And this large-ish fella was buried very deep in the Box. He had been down there so long he had missed several stages of evolution (mine) & required some massive cosmetic surgery. Luckily he was a good solid chap with plenty of bulk to spare. I was too embarrassed to get a 'before' pic but you wouldnt recognise him as the same tiki. I feel a bit like a tattooist going over an old faded home-made tat with a bright, fresh new design; not a perfect job but an amazing cover-up & twice the piece it was. It is made from the same 'Sth stone' I mostly use today, but was a piece I aquired several years ago. I have always used the best stone I have available at any one time and this guy takes me back to when I was just a 'weka' and happy to get my hands on any stone I could find. (a weka is an annoying flightless bird notorious for getting into tents/packs & pilfering anything you dont tie down when camping) Remember Paip? :lol:

Still havent finished my swap piece. Knowing me I will get a pic of him at 11.45pm on Sunday night, looking straight down on him so the freshly glued eyes dont fall out. :lol: Stay tuned...

I have picked up another shop order which is going to take me away from anything Tiki for a couple of weeks, but in the not so distant future I have a couple of Tiki-commissions that have somehow sneaked through the barriers...

Happy carving all!
Tama :)

On 2007-04-05 02:52, Tamapoutini wrote:

Paipo: I was contacted by a mutual US friend of ours this morning; at this moment digging out his tools & may soon be TCs' newest posting newbie carver? He's been promising me long enough. -I think he has a piece of jade for when the time comes but is starting out with bone. An apprentice for Gman perhaps? :)

---

All finished...

Interesting....I have been waiting to see if he made an appearance! If you're reading this "mutual friend", get that handpiece cracking and sign up! I've seen your drawings and don't think you'll have any problems getting your carving career underway. You'll get all the feedback and encouragement you could want here....

As for that little lady, maybe it's just the kokopu (what is it about those freckly girls?), but the extra depth to surface area ratio on this one really grabs me. I think I still have a morsel of very similar stone to that somewhere...

PS: finally procured a few good chunks of some serviceable stone (of the green variety) at a price to suit my budget (next to nothing!). I should get some refresher lessons in pounamu technique to make the most of it!

PPS: We both posted at 2:52 am (see Q+A thread)...must be stoner hour!

On 2007-04-05 03:20, Paipo wrote:
PPS: We both posted at 2:52 am (see Q+A thread)...must be stoner hour!

*I noticed that too! spooky :o (stoner hour or the Tiki-wilight Zone..?)

T