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

you guyz are Freekin me Out, Stop it!!
Another new Pounamu carver coming on board?? Yippee
Tama I love these 2 latest findings from "the Box" and the lady is especially pretty, of course we haven't seen the whole other guy yet either. I'm just happy you are finding goodies from the Box. Thanks for sharing.

On 2007-04-05 04:44, Benzart wrote:
you guyz are Freekin me Out, Stop it!!
Another new Pounamu carver coming on board?? Yippee

Yeah, what he said.

Tama - I think this is a great thread - because It's really beneficial for us other guys to see your quality and the quality of the likes of Paip, Benz, JP, gman, pdrake, etc. Totally inspiring. All your guys' work overwhelm me.
Thanks for the show and the education.

GAP

Those two hei-tiki of yours are very nice!

That kokopu stone is interesting. I've heard it described, but I've never actually seen it before. I always imagined it being a lot greener, but it isn't that green at all - more a sort of khaki. Is kokopu a rare stone, or just not used much?

That wide-boy is cool too.
He does however remind me of a few bouncers I've had run-ins with back in my pub-crawling days, although your boy has all his teeth!

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

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This piece is perfect. You are a master at what you do. I can tell how you treat your lines. Wonderful.

JP

Wow, Tama! I am loving those two you rescued from The Box. That Kokopu is especially appealing to me. Why is it that I want to own nearly every piece you post? You are killing me here. Oh man....geeze...awww....aack!

-Gman

Yeah man, PERFECT

j'adore

Aloha!

Whilst we're kinda on the subject of forgotten human migrations (especially the Heyerdahlian theory of Amerindian travels to Polynesia) here's something else I found on my web-surfing travels:

Te Pekapeka-a-Tamapoutini :up:

and this little beauty from Mexico :down:

Pretty similar! That is apart from the fact that the Pekapeka's heads are the bird-like heads of manaia on a bat-shape, and the mexican heads are most likely that of a jaguar on the body of a serpent... But still!
Spooky!

Where do you find these comparisons?? -Actually I do know of this piece & agree there is strong similarity.
I am reading a Time/life publication at the moment where one of the authors has studied bark-cloth (tapa) & paper-making tools/technique and has found amazing similarities between the Meso-American & Sth East Asian methods. He argues that the knowledge came from Sth East Asia, via Polynesia, to the Americas... Perhaps an E.Islander took a holiday to Meso-America and came home with holiday snaps of the locals working on large stone structures too..?

Back later with a newly finished piece hopefully, but for now it's over to the Swap-thread to make or break Flynnys heart... :lol:

Tama :)

*Still havent heard from Flynny; proabaly still fast asleep in Pommy-land all full up from eating too much chocolate... :lol:

As promised, a freshly finished piece; 'Ribby' the contemporary manaia. There are more photos available of him out there, somEwhErE... :wink:

And for Tamas' threads sake, a quick one of my Swap piece (the Tamafied) Moai Kava-kava that is heading to exotic Devon for our man Flynny (dont look too close, promise?) :wink:

Boring ol' non-tiki production starts tommorrow to keep me honest for a few weeks, but I do have a few things nearly finished that might get a look in over that time too.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday. Happy Easter All!

Tama :)

Wow!
I love Ribby the manaia. I also love the placement of the plaited cord - it looks as if he's been muzzled! No wonder his ribs are poking out, he must be starving!
Watch your fingers around this guy everyone, he's HUNGRY!

I also love your Hei-Moai Kavakava. Flynny will be one happy dude!

[ Edited by: tipua 2007-04-08 23:26 ]

[ Edited by: tipua 2007-04-09 04:52 ]

Peb's got a new buddy and plans a welcome party!!!
As always exquisite work, I'm lovin the ribby piece, he's so cool, interesting placement of the suspension cord, I'm having a bit of trouble with one of my pieces centre of gravity!!
Most Excellent OB1
Regards
Flynny
A.k.a. Luke the Stonescraper

Tama, I Really LOVE your 'Ribby" guy, he looks like he is getting the Last lick out of the honey jar. It's great seeing new(Old) stuff from you too. Of course your"Tamafied" KavaKava man is new and Unexpected from you. It is really a great interpretation fo an excellent piece that REALLY Needs to be explored More here on TC. I Know it was a difficult carve and it was like Sticking your neck out, but you finished it up Beautifully.
Most Excellent work. :) :) :)

KavaKava? Nice . . . but he looks a bit JavaJava ODed to me.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_(coffee) -

Thanks everyone! Just a finishing day today, nothing new. I'll have to be making a start on the shop stock soon too, doh!

Timid: A Moai Java-java?: You mean like this guy..? :lol:

Tama

The manaia is amazing.
Love it.

Could this be the original world's smallest greenstone tiki? The spoon is 5 inches long which makes the tiki about 1/2 inch high.

Thanks Benella, Im pretty pleased with the outcome of the Ribby; its always nice to sucessfully complete something you've never tried before (phew)

On 2007-04-10 11:29, timidtiki wrote:
Could this be the original world's smallest greenstone tiki? The spoon is 5 inches long which makes the tiki about 1/2 inch high.

*You havent been right through this thread yet have you Timid? I forget what page it's on, but I think you'll find the record for Worlds Smallest pounamu Tiki belongs to ME! (10mm exactly!!) :lol:

Nice spoon eh? I have seen others like this but this one is particualrly well carved.

Hows your carving going?

Tama :)

Beautiful work...I especially love that Manaia...I'd like to commission one. I've worn one from New Zealand for years.

Tama,

That ribby is tops. Very elegant. Can monsters be elegant? Dunno, but this one is!

-G

ribby=stunning!!!!!!!

Te Kuri-a-Tamapoutini!

You breed some pretty awesome dogs over there across the Tasman sea! :D

WOW, I Love that War Dog!
Tama, I Wore our "Goldie Boy" on my cruise and got Comps from Many Countries people. Everyone had to comment on it, it seems, and he Loved the Attention. There were aussie hucksters on board who loved him and wondered how I had gotten him, like Who was I to have one of those, kind of attitudes. :) :) :)

Yeah! The war dog is really cool! I think my dog needs a tiki around his neck. He aint a badass though. Not like that one.

[ Edited by: tikigap 2007-04-14 13:13 ]

Hi All - Sorry for my absence; its been a week of everything except Tiki unfortunately. I am currently working on a couple of shop orders simultaneously and will flick a quick pic of this work when done; still at least a week or two away, bah!

BK: Check your 'hotcoffee' inbox later today...

Gman: 'Beauty in Ugliness' has always facinated me. I am often amused to hear compliments of beauty in regards to Tiki/Manaia/Taniwha, etc. Surely they have faces that only their Mothers could love..? :lol:

Surf n Turf: Cheers!

Tipua: Would you believe I have a large print of the 'War-Dog' hanging in my workshop? (well its true). The original is only postcard sized. The image signifies the 'Maori Battalion' - the Warriors going into bat under British command.

TGap: Ive been promising my wee 'Cashew' a Tiki for her collar too (although she wont look anything like the War-Dog! In fact, Id be surprised if she could lift her head up with a piece of that size! :lol: )

BenZart: So pleased you recieved good attention/compliments with Goldie! You dont want to take too much notice of those Aussies though! (only joking cobbers!) :lol: :lol: :lol: *Its a friendly (sporting) rivalry we have going on ever since Australia started producing decent Rugby & Cricket teams... (just think yourself lucky you werent a Kiwi stuck on the boat with them! Then you'd have been given a hard time) :wink:

Ill try to find something of interest for you soon. Cant stay away from Tikis for too long. In the meantime you lot enjoy your chippin/chizlin/whittlin & grindin!

Cheers
Tama :)

On 2007-04-14 17:00, Tamapoutini wrote:

BenZart: So pleased you recieved good attention/compliments with Goldie! You dont want to take too much notice of those Aussies though! (only joking cobbers!) :lol: :lol: :lol: *Its a friendly (sporting) rivalry we have going on ever since Australia started producing decent Rugby & Cricket teams...

Yeah, we Aussies can be quite the jealous types!
It has been said that there's nothing worse than an Australian on holiday, especially an Australian on a cruise! You just can't escape the bastard! :lol:

I think anyone would get jealous once they set their eyes on a piece from Tama. You're lucky you weren't thrown overboard leaving Goldie behind! :lol:

Thanks Tipua. We know there is a special comradere as well as the private rivalry dont we? Most of the world confuse New Zealand for Tasmania anyway - I was constantly being 'recognised' as having an Aussie accent when I travelled abroad (never been to Oz!) :lol:

Well as promised, very little from me for the past week or so & the forcast is for much of the same for the next couple too. My soul is sold to a couple of shop orders & that is that. Bugger*.

(blurry pic cos Paipo walked off with my camera/tripod-joiny-thingy after too many Piscos!) :lol:

That said, I have managed to pick away at a new guy. Im having my first experiment with Tang-esque eyes on this one.

*To escape the crushing pressure of two weeks 'real' work ( :lol: ), Mrs Terrible & I dumped the kids on the Terrible M-in-law & escaped for the weekend to a thermal hotpool resort, ahhhhh...... Its a tough life.

Tama :) :) :)

TTT,

The new guy is trick! I love the "new" eyes and the long tongue. I am also quite fond of the B&B work. We don't see that kinda stuff here so I find it quite appealing. Thanks for sharing.

-Gman

Hmmmm... New kind of tikis... very good, hope that lots of others will follow.

Benjamin.

Me rikey rikey VERY much!

Lookie, Lookie Lookie, Love this guy, Long tongue, Bug eyes and All. He seems to have a bit more dimension too. I Love it when you "Experiment" as the outcome is always away from the norm and usually Spectacular.
I, like Gman, Still Love seeing your Bread and Butter stuff because yours is usually so much better butter than you normally see, besides that "Stuff" gives you so much opportunity to do More experiments.
Carve ON!

On 2007-04-23 04:08, Tamapoutini wrote:
Thanks Tipua. We know there is a special comradere as well as the private rivalry dont we? Most of the world confuse New Zealand for Tasmania anyway - I was constantly being 'recognised' as having an Aussie accent when I travelled abroad (never been to Oz!) :lol:

I've been to NZ twice but I've never been to Tasmania! :lol:

I think the Aussie vs Kiwi battle royale is all in jest, and mainly reserved to the sporting arena anyway (and I just can't get into sport!)

As for accents, you and I can definately tell the difference between a Kiwi and an Aussie, but it doesn't seem many other people around the world can. Even the Brits can't! And they're our "mother country"!

This fella is awesome! I love the eyes! Vive le difference!

Interesting! I've noticed that my eyes also seem to pop out like that when I pull on my tongue.

Tama,

Beautiful pieces and the Tiki is looking good! Always nice to see you've posted new pix.

Nice work as usual Tama, lovin the new Tiki
Regards
Flynny

good morning Tamapoutini i really love this one im always keeping a eye on what you ar up to keep up the good work

Hi gang.

Cheers G: The current BnB work has turned up a couple of interesting new things this time; still not Tiki exactly but perhaps Carving (forum) worthy. Ill flick them up when they're properly finished off.

BIG THANKS TO ALL! who stop by & to massage me with your lovely words. Ive said it before but will say it again; it does feel a bit isolated being away from any sort of Tiki 'vibe', geographically speaking. Your comments help make the party-that-aint going on around here! :lol:

I knew I couldnt go without a tiki-fix! Shops can wait; bah! :D
Finished this guy

& another 'trad' that was destined to go to a local shop (I can I can't??) but has joined his buddy here on the slave market. :wink:

I also have a reasonably 'major' piece that I drew up last night & made the first stages of profiling today. Plenty of internal holes to drill first, but Ill try to get it profiled tommorrow & flick a pic. It is based on the large shell breastplates of various Polynesian Isles. A lot of work Im thinkin'...

See you tommorrow!

Tama :)

Wow! That new guy really looks like a ton of work. I like how his tongue and toes appear meet behind his hands. And his eyes....the new take on the eyes seemed to work out well, aye? At least I dig them! The new Hei-tiki is beautiful as well. Was he from the box, or was he a from scratch fellow? Sweet! Yeah, the stores can wait - we can't! Thanks for the candy!

-Gman

Hey G. Yeah, Im resigned to the fact that recent conversations have had me trying to take my finishing to the next level. Im definately spending a lot more time on identifying/rectifying levels, shape, and 'junction' points. This stage of production used to drive me bananas but I think Im mellowing into it more.
Attempting those eyes sparked a few ideas for other variations too; all in good time I guess. :wink:

Nice to see you hooking into a new one!

Tama :)

Hey mate! That experiment guy is very cool, nice work :D :D Loving your work from over here on the 'west' island.

Definitely a "Beauty and the Beast" match up if there ever was one Tama. Of course you will catch All kinds of Flak from your Traditionalist locals over there who Hate to see the old standards desecrated in such a manner as you have done with Mr Bug Eyes there. I think he is really an Excellent piece of work, from his buggy eyes to his long slinky tongue to his elegantly exaggerated feet. More importantly to take a stand that you are your Own artist and that you will be carving your mind and creating as you see fit. Your explorations will get you Nowhere but more highly skilled and capable of really turning a piece of stone into a Treasured work of Art.

Looking at these 2 pieces side by side makes me realize that we, or maybe just I, really need to be more educated on the differences of the different types of Jade and the qualities of each. These 2 are obviously 2 very different grades of jade and if I saw them separately, I wouldn't notice or be aware of that difference. Perhaps this is a topic better suited for the Stone Carving thread, but where ever it is, I Need to ATTEND and Learn about it!

Beautiful stuff Tama.

Yeah, I agree with Benz.
I'm all for the traditional designs, but I also love Tama's various takes and verves away from tradition. The amazing thing is that he manages, very successfully, to retain that beautiful Polynesian spirit imbued in his every creation. That's what you call a brilliant talent!

But what of tradition anyway?
I mean SOMEONE had to come up with the so-called "traditional" designs originally. They were an innovation then, why should artistic evolution halt for the traditionalists?

Tama, I'd love to see more and more of your own original creations. I'm sure you enjoy creating them more too! :)

Tama
Excellent as always, both beautiful pieces of Jade, my fav is the Tiki with the Marquesan eyes. My missus rang me and told me about a little parcel from NZ at home!!!!!
I reckon my swap piece has arrived, how lucky am I
Finest of West Country regards
Luke Stonescraper

Cheers Hewey, BenZ, Tipua & Flynny (hope you like the M.Kava-kava!)

Here's the breastplate/waka I started a couple of nights ago. Its a fairly tight/complex design so I drew it up on paper first & then transferred onto the stone. 3.5 x 2" approx.

Oh Lordy; what have I gone and started? Its projects like this that most often find their way to the very bottom of the Box, but not this time! This design is another contemporary 'fusion' of cultures; the shell or stone breastplates being used by many/most Polynesian cultures.

To me, the seven figures on this represent 'the Seven Sisters' (the seven stars of the Pleiades star-system, historically a popular cluster for Sth Seas navigation) The figures also represent the brave Explorers themselves & the co-operation/trust necessary to make such travel possible.

back...

Ive got to put 'these' guys down for a bit now. I really burned myself on them all day yesterday & just cant look at them properly at the moment. Thats the way it works sometimes; you can only do so much to a piece before its needs 'digesting' for a while. At the moment when I look at it, my eyes instantly go blurry. Ill know when its ok to work on it again when I instantly see what needs attending to on it! :lol: Promise not to let it sink into the murky depths...

Hope you likee!

Tama :)

On 2007-04-27 16:01, Tamapoutini wrote:
Cheers Hewey, BenZ, Tipua & Flynny (hope you like the M.Kava-kava!)

---

: Promise not to let it sink into the murky depths...

Hope you likee!

Tama :)

I likee and you better keep posting shots of it. How are you going to do the faces of the 7 sisters?

JP

On 2007-04-27 16:03, JohnnyP wrote:

I likee and you better keep posting shots of it. How are you going to do the faces of the 7 sisters?

JP

Man, you were quick JP! I was just away changing the title... :lol:

*Im not sure about the faces yet but have been pondering them. At this stage Im thinking quite minimalist/crash-test-dummy type... I want it to be quite obvious that this is a contemporary piece.

Ive also bounced around thoughts of perhaps adding a subtle wave/sea motif at the bottom of the waka - but then it also reminds me of a woven kite/flax gathering basket, so a woven-type pattern maybe..? Not sure yet, still blurry...

I did a wee bit more to the figures last night but not enough that youd even notice. Im supposed to be working on shop orders so I really do need to put him away for a least a week. But we all know that wont happen. Stay tuned. :wink:

T :)

I'm with JP, I LIKEE a Lotee. Seven cute sistah butts. I watch this in glee as I can see where your mind is Kicking You in the butt for starting this, Knowing it will take emmense amounts of time to do properly. However, when you are finished it should be a Rare beauty and if someone is lucky enough to snag it, they will have themselves an heirloom that will be passed down for generations. Seven Sistahs Indeed!

Tama, amazing!!!! I have been busy and just catching up....wow!

Amy

Respect