Von Tiki's Tiki trail along the El Camino Real

My carving has kept me away for awhile. Ojaitimo and I took a few road trips the last few months that I wanted to share with you all. On the first trip we found Zack's carving yard in the hills above Malibu. There was this hugh tiki laying there next to the road.
I've carved some big wood but this one, I had to meet the artist.
No one was around and we took these pictures and headed down to the coast in Malibu.

We stopped at this apartment and tried to talk with the owner but he was unavailable that day. Another trip.

[ Edited by: VonTiki 2007-05-08 10:04 ]

OH COME ON!!!
The suspense is killing me!!
Please don't say we have to wait for the next thrilling episode...

oh, did you get more pictures of that behemoth of a tiki?

Mrs Hoptiki here,

We drove by that Zack’s carving place last October on our way to a wedding at a private home. Didn’t have time to stop in. If I remember correctly it's north of Hwy 1 on Yerba Buena Road. I’m curious, who is Zack and what about this place? Anyone have any info?

Zack is a tiki carver who works at his yard on Kanan road that is about half way between the 101 and Pacific coast highway.

Thank you two for all info. Tim, thanks for all the nice pictures and thanks for venturing out and bringing us new stuff. By the way I have been to this place before, it is an unexpected pleasant surprise if you don't know it exists.

Actually this is Rio's yard and Zack carves there. Some of those photos are Rio's carvings. This place is at Kanan Road and Mulholland drive.
There should be more pics of the giant tiki that Ojaitimo took.

My brother-in-law got married in Malibu last year, (lucky bastard!), and we drove passed this place....we only saw the outsides of the building....had I seen a 20 foot Tiki alongside the road I may have missed his wedding! :wink: :lol:

Here are more pictures of our Tiki Trail that day. This place in Malibu on the Pacific coast highway had quite a few tiki at unbelievable prices. It is encouraging to see that tiki is so popular there.

Then we headed to Clifton's in downtown LA and here it was surrounded by these theaters and this unusual store next door.

After lunch we headed out to meet Tiki Diablo and decided that masks were needed.

I wonder what Tiki Diablo thought when the truck pulled up in front of the Mission Tiki drive in with us both wearing our masks?

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2007-05-13 10:24 ]

Great pictures....and the yard of tikis looks very intriguing. But the crowning glory is the masks....so becoming!!! :D

We arrived at the Mission Drive In at sundown and met Tiki Diablo who gave us the tour of the grounds where he has transformed a bland drive in to this incredible space!

Yesterday Von Tiki delivered this tiki to David Ellis who wanted him to carve it in homage to his dad Richard Ellis who was not only a great tiki carver but a pro surfer as well. He is seen in the beer ad. The photographs are of Richard Ellis during the filming of Waterworld that David was the assistant director for. He cast his dad in in some of the action roles. (How old would he have been then?)

He recently directed Snakes on a Plane and is currently working on his new film Asylum. Maybe he will do a Tiki film soon?

On 2006-07-02 21:00, Surfinannie wrote:
My late father, Richard M. Ellis, spent a year of his life, starting in 1962, decorating and carving all the Tikis for the Tradewinds Restaurant, at Wagon Wheel Junction, Oxnard for Martin V. Smith. more info. to follow.

On 2006-08-05 23:32, Ojaitimo wrote:
I found Tiki Central while doing a search for my own bar and came across the Trade Wind's thread by chance. She did a number of restuarants as the designer such as the Lobster Trap and the Ole for Martin V Smith who also built the Trade Wind's in the mid sixties, she collaberated with Richard Ellis who was the Tiki artist and someone from 20th Century Film whose name escapes me. This was my favorite place she was the designer for. I remember going to a large property yard in LA where she would look for items to use at the Trade Wind's. It had a boat and rickshaw among some of the items that came from the yard.

On 2006-08-06 09:23, bigbrotiki wrote:
In your picture, your mom is holding a Witco-made "Female G'nomie", and standing next to it, from the same manufacturer, we see a "Boy Puppet". I don't think the guy next to her is Annie's Dad, maybe the pic is not from the Tradewinds. If Richard Ellis spent a year carving there, there would have been no need for Witco, it was considered sub-par by the more sophisticated Southern Cal carvers. But maybe she mixed and matched.

The place with the yard where she got her decor could have been Oceanic Arts in Whittier, because Rich Ellis worked with them, but the boat makes it sound more like Trader Luke in San Pedro...or Sea & Jungle in Glendale, or Benson's, then in Long Beach ?

On 2006-08-07 03:01, bigbrotiki wrote:
"...Rick Ellis...since early 1963 he has created a family of some 50 figures like nothing ever seen before in Ventura County..."

I bet! To imagine that. And where are they now! How could they all disappear! Sigh.

There is a postcard out there of that above mentioned raised platform called the Tiki Temple. Sounds a bit grander than it is, can someone post it?...or wait, it's actually the same then the (better) photo of the Samoa Hut that Bongofury posted on the previous page.

Here is a link to the Trade Winds with a number of tiki by Richard Ellis.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=19144&forum=1&46

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2007-05-22 13:35 ]

cool!

my vacation pics are not so nice.
By me only rain and ugly woman.
and no tiki

nice pics thanks

Ojaitimo ~ WoooHooo! Tiki-rrific Pics. Mahalo for taking the time to post your pics :)