Conga....Wisconsin stuff!

Looking better every time you touch him. "The Shadow Knows". The shadow trick is an Old carvers secret from way back and shows you where the light falls off and different depths, lows and highs. Its all in the lighting, just like photography, the trick is to know where you need more light and where you can do with less. It's alright, I'm confused too.
Good stuff Conga.

Thanks GMan and Ben...many thanks for your continued support of my off-beat chizzlin'. I
appreciate it more than you know...well...maybe you DO know!
Well...this is how things wound up on the latest...and Gman...I just got done mowing the lawn!



Thanks to all of you who have popped in to take a look at the progress on this dude....he had
me confused for a while!

that's really nice. i wish i had a big, bass log to carve. it must be fun.

That headdress is Siiick! Nice work.

Very nice Conga! He has a wonderful presence. I agree with G....lot's of movement, and plenty of cutting edge Conga flavor! Another top shelf tiki to add to the line up.

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..he had
me confused for a while!

No, I think YOU had HIM Confused the whole time! Nice finish Conga.

Many thanks guys!
P Drake...come up to Wisconsin anytime and I'll give you a big chunk of basswood.
I got a lot of em in my garage. Nice wood to work with.
Freddie...the headdress just evolved as I dug into the wood to find the right
"spirit." Actually when the head started to skinny up I found some similarities with
some of your pendants...they're very cool.
Thanks Baba...he does look nice with his big cousins. I am working to create a
"wall of tikis" in the lounge...looks cool...I'll post a coupla pics soon.
And Ben...well...you are the best...always appreciate your feedback.

Conga,

That couldn't be any nicer. The finish is perfect for him. Fantastic work all around. I can't tell you how great it was to watch you continuously dig in that log, changing things up, and finding your true vision. It's scary work, but you overcame all of the hurdles with aces. This is truly a special piece and one that has brought a lot of entertainment and happiness to a lot of people. Be proud.

-G

Very nice, indeed! And that headdress IS a rocker!!!

Looks cool, conga. I really like how you worked the headdress.

Thanks a lot GMan, Surf'n'Turf and Raffertiki.
I am proud of this guy and I appreciate the compliments on the headdress. It's sorta
inspired by the tiki paintings of TikiShark, with the deep cuts and flowing lines.
Hey Raffer...do you still do a little carving along with your strip and other art?
You were doing some really cool big tikis when I was just getting started...and I loved
'em.
I needed to post just a couple pics of this guy without a flash...it was getting late in the
day when I posted the earlier pics

I go away for a little over a week and you finish a major tiki. Congastyle strikes again. There is something guiding you in creating these strange tikis that pull a lot of different styles and elements together and put them in a new form that fits very well.

Looks really Hawaiian and really Melanesian at the same time with the dot lines and dish eyes, subtle deviations from symmetry, etc. superb and original!
ST

Thanks for visiting Johnny and Sneaky. I appreciate the compliments regarding
the blended styles of this carving....that's exactly what it is. I started
digging in without any sort of plan or vision and just let things pop out of the
wood. It's a strange way to do things but this time I think it worked out....could
just as easily been a disaster!

Conga brah, you have a lot of patience my man. It shows in the details. Cool!

Things are moving along slowly around here....was working on a full body two footer till
the neck got too skinny and the head flopped off....started a five footer out of butternut
but I was lacking motivation...but I knocked off a wee little tiki over the weekend. Just
about one footer...

Edited the above to show a non-flash picture...better representation of true color.

[ Edited by: congatiki 2007-07-10 15:04 ]

Santa Cruz, Calif.?

Yea JT...making the California trek to catch a wedding at Santa Cruz...pardon my
ignorance of my California locations...but are you nearby? We will spend a brief
say at San Luis Obispo too.

Just peg that head back on and keep going!

Yea Johnny...That's the ticket. This is the guy so far....he became almost a dali-esque
looking tiki with the skinny neck...wanted something a little more abstract looking
(don't I sound just like a REAL artist...someone who KNOWS what he is doing?) and got
carried away. I think I will try to finish him.

Head looksd Great. Maybe you should put his head in his hands, you have the space all set up for it. He was just trying to get ahead! Cool stuff Conga. Love it!

This is one cool carving so far Conga! This could very well end up being one of my favorites of yours...

"Do not lead where the path may follow...go instead...where there is no path...and leave a trail."

On 2007-07-09 16:56, congatiki wrote:
Yea JT...making the California trek to catch a wedding at Santa Cruz...pardon my ignorance of my California locations...

Conga,

You might contact Will (SCTikiShack on TC) who carves locally in Santa Cruz. I drove out to meet him one time and he is a super cool guy and talented carver. Plus he's got tikis installed all over town - definitely worth the tour.

Chongolio also used to live in SC before moving off to Aloha-Land.

SC is a pretty unique coastal CA town - you'll enjoy it for sure.

Oh, and hey - love those last tikis you've posted! All in high-Conga style!! I need to check this thread on a more regular basis.

A-A

Thanks Aaron.
I didn't have ANY time to seek out tiki in Santa Cruz...other than a Hawaiian import
store near our hotel. I was aware of SCTiki but didn't have an opportunity to look for
him. The wedding reception was at the main ballroom in the Cocoanut Grove on the
beach..great spot with tons of character. It was a whirlwind tour that also included
San Luis Obispo and San Jose, but now I'm back in Wisconsin and ready to start chipping
wood again.
Thanks for the props on my recent stuff!

Hi friends. Some progress with "pencil neck" after returning from sunny California..slowed
somewhat by a nasty hook knife gash to my right index finger. Happened friday nite while
carving the face..just a little reminder NOT to watch tv and carve at the same time.
Learn from ole conga...be careful.

Conga, He looks Great, I'm glad you were able to fix him up. Nice job can't wait to see him all painted up.

pencil neck looks pretty happy. What were you watching when you gashed your finger that put such a grin on it?

CongaTiki-
That "pencil neck tiki" is wild! I love him. Is his head separet from his body. What i mean is he all one piece?
ray

Thanks Ben Johnny and Moondance.
Working on "pencil neck" is a poor substitute to being at CoonTiki II, but it's the
best I can do this weekend.
Moondance, this started as a single piece but the neck got too skinny and I had to
whack it off so I could finish the body, it was going to break off anyway.
At this point the head is not glued to the body...just in place with a dowell, but it will
be glued to permanence eventually.


Thanks for stopping by at Conga's shack to take a look.

[ Edited by: congatiki 2007-07-29 09:01 ]

Wow!!! Now I know why it broke off, jeeeez! You had me laughing so hard! Thanks for the support. Your carving did turn out really cool though!

Craig

Cute but, WICKED Smile, Cool Attitude and Excellent finish. Excellent job overall Conga, Whats next?

Close Encounters with the Conga's Mind - scary!

Thanks guys...
good to have you pop bye Tikifreak...keep chizzlin' away.
Funny thing Ben...I was really liking how this one looked with a blond finish (just sealer)
but that spooky smile was pulling me to the dark side...and things have taken a more sinister
turn.
You made me chuckle GMan...I see it too. Any similarity to Roswell is purely an accident.

[ Edited by: congatiki 2007-08-03 04:44 ]

Well it's been a month and I still haven't finished the "png baby."
Buzzy would have knocked out fifty of these in the same span...but I'm gonna
put it down pretty soon.

This guy will be all wrapped up with a few more finishing details and then it's
on to something BIG. There I sorta know what I'm doing.

Tik or not...here we come!


"Baby PNG" is happy so I'm happy...I hope he makes some of you happy too!

WOW! I thought it was done before when it was a natural color. Nice finishing touches!

Craig

Thanks Craig...The paint is a little "nod" to some of the painter-carvers from
the past...perhaps most notably some of the Oceanic Arts stuff. I did like the little
bugger in the lighter sealer finish but something was telling me that it needed to
be somewhat dark and spooky. Appreciate your visit...I like what you have started over
in your thread.

hello...tiki (or my abberation of it) is alive and reasonably well in Northern Wisconsin.
Have struggled with lack of motivation the last few weeks (partly due to an actual live gig by
the Mensters which required some practice time). However, I have been working on a few projects.
One is a wall plaque in cedar....another is an actual tiki (I hope) made from basswood...and
the third is a tall butternut tiki. See ya soon.

Lookin cool Conga!!!

thanks Tikifreak...appreciate the visit...and I like what you are doing with your Tang!
Getting excited around here...I thought I forgot how to do a tiki.

Conga, Nothing much slows you down does it? I Really love how your last "Broken Necked" guy came out looking like one of my favorite cartoon characters, "Calvin" with Hobbes. He has that wicked smile and that mischievous look.

Hey Ben...I wasn't real familiar with Calvin and Hobbs but I did a little google check
and sure enought...they do have a similar BIG grin. that guy got a little outta hand with
the paint and all...musta been one of those nights with either too much or too little rum.
Thanks for popping over to conga's korner.

Go Conga! There's a lot cookin over at your carvin bench! This one looks big. Get us some more photos up!

I need more Conga Corner Carving pics. It's hard to know what you are woking on? Three, maybe four pieces on your bench now? Are you having a hard time focusing, or are you on some vision-quest? Gman confused......

Congabrah!
Howzit?!?!?!?!
Love all the pono work! Havent spark your posts in awhile, always fun to see! I love the devlish grin on da kine pencil neck... And the paint job is dope!!! Looks like it was painted with palm brushes up a river named sepik! Love it! Thats da kine tiki you have in your bedroom so when you wake up in the morning, you open your eyes and see that smile! No way you could have bad days waking up looking at him!!!!

Smile!

Hey guys...thanks for popping in at the Conga Korner...
Surfintiki...the guy posted above on this page is about a five footer...progressing very
nicely (I think) for an actual Conga-TIKI. Going to dig a lot deeper after just one cocktail
tonight....will post some weekend pics.
GMan...nice to see ya....after a couple of weeks searching I have finally found inspiration for
several pieces...three things in progress now and a couple more in the deep recesses of the brain.
I have a carving demo in two weeks at a local lumber mill...I wanna have several progress pieces
so people can see some full blown wood removal...some detail carving...and some finer hook knife
work. I did it a year ago and started from scratch on a half log and only scratched the surface
in the five hours I was there. It was a hoot...they are expecting around 700 people this year
which is a lot for such a small town (8600.) They do a really cool "forestry field day" thing
with furniture makers...artists...logging suppliers...etc. Actually the free breakfast is what
attracts the people.
And Kaha...my buddy....thanks heeps. I thought I really missed the "tiki boat" on pencil neck...
but I dig him...so what the heck. He didn't generate a heck of a lot of commits (bad joke..sorry)...
so it's really nice to have you "spark" on him. We're gonna tip a couple in your honor later
tonight.

Gotta love holiday weekends. Lots of time for tennis and tikis.


The feller above is basswood and i am having a little trouble with my cedar wall figure,
the freaky tiki. It has a thin hollow strip running the length of the wood and we are
in the facial reconstruction phase right now. Pictures at 11.

Way to be Conga! The Bass wood guy is really taking shape. Not sure what can be done with the other, but I'm sure you will figure out something real wikkid for him - you always do! :)

More pics this weekend?

-G