Polynesiac Carving a Tiki for GEICO on SUNDANCE!! Pg 7

I'm too lazy to find the other thread of stuff and I think many of the photos are gone anyway...so I'll start a new one!

I think most of you have seen these but I'll post them anyway.

This is a pendant I did for the Sams Seafood last hurrah. It's based on the sam's seafood logo tiki:

I cast something like 52 of these and hand painted them all.

This is another pendant that is based on an awesome carving by (chiki)tikidiablo owned by mr. and mrs bongofury that resides at their most beautiful home tiki bar The Rincon Room. It was made for the re-opening celebration for the Rincon Room on ITD august 12. (I just noticed the date in the photo is wrong...doh!)

I cast 25 of these for the celebration, all hand painted and numbered. Unfortunatley not everyone was able to purchase one of these who wanted one, so I started on another run. (message to those on the list - I've run into some plastic difficulties, but they should be done soon and I do appreciate your patience I'll be sending out an email shortly about what you would like to do) Sorry, but they're all spoken for.

This is a recent-ish redwood carving based on an old coco-joe tiki trinket:

and finally I've been spending the majority of my time playing with my balls:

Thanks for looking!

more to come....

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2012-04-26 11:13 ]

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2012-04-26 11:20 ]

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2012-05-17 13:21 ]

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2013-06-10 14:24 ]

[ Edited by: polynesiac 2013-07-03 18:01 ]

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2013-07-03 18:09 ]

Very cool stuff! It's always a pleasure to see something new from you. :)

YES, It's about time we see some of your top shelf stuff, It's been a Long time. Be seein ya' soon.

Wow, Man! Lookin' good! That carving is top notch! Still got to have me one...

Really nice work Polynesiac, let me know if you make any more pendants available. I love Coco Joe's stuff! I have a small collection of it in my studio. They had some very talented sculptors making their stuff, the detail is incredible.

nice stuff polynesiac. thanks for sharing.

Always enjoy seeing your work. Thanks for showing more.

Those pieces are too COOL for SCHOOL!

Mahalo for the kind words!

Finky - thanks, bro I hope you're enjoying Hukilau. Looks like you got resin casting down. PM if ya gots any ????'s

Ben, yes too long. Carving has (unfortunately) taken the backburner to all the lights. I'm REALLY looking forward to the carving seminar (party). THanks for the kind words

Kahaka - you da man!!! you're in San Jose?!?!?! I didn't realize that. My mother in law lives up there and we go up sorta frequently. We'll have to hook up for a drink sometime!

Paipo - thanks, bro. I'ma big fan of your stone work, great carvings. I'd be honored to have one of my pendants not only fly to NZ, but be a part of your collection. I, too, love Coco Joe tikis. I've downloaded as many pictures of the different ones as I can find. I try and infuse their play/take on tikis in my work as much as possible.

Pdrake - thank you, I think I'll be seeing you soon, no? I'm looking forward to it!

8ft - Thanks my man! you carve up anything over the summer?

LLT - THANK GOD. 'caus I didn't want to pay for university for these guys! thanks for the inspiration!! - I guess I missed you up at the Bahooka the other night, but I saw your paintings and they are fantastic!

Kool stuff man, very nice. :)

Great Tiki carvings, thanks for sharing.
I wish I had that talent....Mahalo!

Those pendants are tops! Great works!!

Aloha!! and thanks for the encouragement. More pendants on the way, but I thought I'd show a little bit of what I've been up to.

I'm just about done with my "Kaiku" lamp, short for "Kaikua'ana" which means older sibling (of the same sex, so in this case older brother). It's a rather late birthday present, so i want to shoot it out as soon as possible. The first shot is of it all lit up with a temporary shade, that will be sent with the lamp until the real shade is done. My brother works as a lawyer in Dallas, and has all sorts of balanese/south pacific masks and art in his office. He told me this one was going to sit on his desk.

The next image is a close up of the carving - if you look at the base you can see the carved/painted name and some designs along the side.

I've always been obsessed with getting my carvings as near perfect to my vision as possible and that eats up a ton of time, especially when I NEVER achieve that goal. I'm always taking a little more off here or there or whatever. Plus, I give myself only an hour a day after work and a few over the weekend to carve, which means the more anal I am, the less I get done. So as I was carving some pendants, I decided to do a "quick carve". I gave myself 30 minutes (which is still too long in my mind - but MUCH shorter than usual), a small scrap of rosewood, no pencil for lines and nothing to look at. Here's what happened:

Not bad. not great, but not bad either. I was done carving the tiki in about 20 minutes, so I had a little extra time to add some of those chin lines and scallops at the crown. I think I'm going to cast him and see how he looks as a resin pendant.

And this is what really eats up the majority of my carving time:

My Balls!!!! This was a completed order for a company that outfits tiki bars, located in whittier. Soon, you will be able to see, touch, fondle AND purchase my balls from the same establishment. Tea bags are extra. These 12" diameter globes are heading down to a rather well known tiki establishment in Atlanta Georgia. I've changed how I play with my balls and cut (ouch!) a 4" hole and frost the inside, rather than the outside. This way they can fit regular sized light bulbs. In case you're wondering, they were ordered without electrics.

THanks for looking!

Nice stuff, it's great to see some new work from you.
You should go pro with your carvings - they really are some of the nicest I've seen, but in the meantime I'll make do with your occasional postings. Please keep me in the loop with the pendants!

Yo Poly, That lamp is Really Tight, what a Lucky Brother. Excellent quality as usual with a little cleaner detail. (Hook knife used more??)
Your 30 minute tiki is really good too, that Rosewood is pretty wood and Very hard.
Ofcourse your Balls are the Best. A Company in Whittier huh? Wonder who that could be??
Thanks Poly!

Hi polynesiac,

Your floats are very cool looking and you seem to have overcome all the issues I have read regarding the cutting... well done. I also love the tiki drum player, very sweet

Amy

Aloha and thanks for compliments!

Paipo - thanks bro! that means a lot coming from such a fine artist as yourself. I'd love to go full time, but I'd be worried that it wouldn't be a stress relief anymore. Certainly something to think about, and maybe those really nice and patient people who waiting for a carving would get theirs sooner if I were full time! Got some more pendants coming out of the mold shortly...

Ben - It's always great to hear from you. thanks for the praise on the lamp. This is one of those pieces that I spend way to long on, but I'm glad with how it turned out. It's carved out of redwood and I started it before the hookknife demo (!), so it's all dremel, but I made sure to get the lines as crisp as possible. The rosewood I was going to use the hookknife with, but I could barely scratch the surface of the wood, so I just switched back over to the dremel and had at it. I think I need to get some softer wood for the hook knife. Ben, I hear that place in whittier has been around a while....

Queen K - thank you. I've found a method that works for me and I'm glad that I can produce these for people. That tiki bongo player was a version I did of one of tikibiablo's (www.tikidiablo.com) tikis that resides at the rincon room.

Aloha!

Aloha!

I've been making some tiki ornament/pendants:

These were oringally carved in rosewood, but these are the molded, hand cast, hand painted off spring. I try and make a different ornament every year to accompany my gifts. These are not for sale, but there may be some left over. I'll post over in Marketplace if there are.

Here's a better view of Kaiku all finished:

He was shipped off to dallas yesterday.

and I'm cross posting this image taken by humuhumu ( from the hulas santa cruz thread: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22081&forum=2&start=0&16 )

This is a picture of some of my floats up and running at Hula's in Santa Cruz. I drove up a bunch of these for citibeach and he really did a nice job positioning them and decorating his new tiki bar. (WHen I drive them up, it gave me an excuse to cruz over to the FI parking lot sale, catch up with all the cool nor cal tiki peeps AND see the great white at Monterey!!!)

More later!

Great Balls of Fire!, Those Really look Nice. love the ornament too Poly :)

Those glass balls really do look great!

I wanna tiki ornament/pendant...awsome...

I'm still interested in a trade for one of dem globes. I'll start working on something and see what you think.(I had intended to do a whole bunch of "showing off your balls" jokes but thought better of it).
The pendants are cool, nice solid looking style.
Cheers.

Hell Yeah!! fBalls wants on that ornament wagon. Lookin sweet!

Aloha amigos!

I finally finished up the tiki I started WAY back at the Oki, Oki in July of 2006. I tell ya, I think I'm finally getting the hang of carving fast. He's called "Tiki Polyboskiablo" because both Danny and bosko influenced the design (and chopped a bit on him too). I was going to put a wee, fat belly on him, but danny suggested a skull instead. Being one to never follow peer pressure or suggestions, I carved a skull in a tiki tony kinda influenced way. (I already ripped off bosko and danny in the design, so why not add a little tiki tony too?). He stands a little over three feet tall:

A close up of the skull - I like how the painting turned out.

The kon tiki pirate I did a while ago got cast and painted for TO 6 ( a limited run of 10), but I decided to try some different colors on the pendants, so I re cast some and painted them up:

Kon Tiki Pirate:

Big nose tiki (no real name for this wee fella):

And finally here's a picture for the increadibly patient f-balls. coming soon!!! (not quite may, but soon!)

Thanks for looking!

(I already ripped off bosko and danny in the design, so why not add a little tiki tony too?)

Who could not like it? All those influences in there. Throw a little Crazy Al in the mix and Kirby would have been all about it :wink:

Thanks Teakey! Kirby actually had his mitts on this guy too and offered some input, so I guess I should put his name in there somewhere...how's about...

"tiki kirpolyboskiablo"!!!

Your style RULES it, Polynesiac. Definitely got to have me one, one of these days. Keep it up, man, and more pics more frequently!

Kahaka

Well it's About time you got that tiki finished. It looks great as well it should knowing your skill level. Nice to see you post Any tiki Poly! You might learn how to do this one day :lol:

I love the "tiki kirpolyboskiablo". Great style and cool paint. keep them comin.

Cool carves Poly! Post more when the baby tang is finished!

Nice work. Luv that tiki with the long eyes - that's a killer look! The pirate pendant is really cool. The skull and crossbones on the eyepatch is a really great idea. Would make a great full size tiki I bet.

The pirate pendant is really cool. The skull and crossbones on the eyepatch is a really great idea. Would make a great full size tiki I bet.

This picture is for you bigT!! It's an older carving from my old thread with dead links. thanks!!!

Kahaka - same for you bro!! more pics of those sweet lamps! where up at the FI lot sale?

Ben - thanks for the comps, this guy was a little too long in the making, but I'm pleased with the result. I finished your piece too, but I'm a little embarassed to post it. I've turned it sideways, so the side you carved is only showing!!! I need A LOT more practice with that hook knife

Aloha - muchas gracias! more tikis from everyone!

tfreak - You betcha! with patience there will be several versions of this wee fella!

Thanks everyone!

Jim, good seeing you today, all I can say is that tiki is ALL YOU . Now where are them baby Tangs?

You forgot Barney West! To me all your big fellas look like they could have been carved 40 or 50 years ago, but you also put some nice flourishes on them that plant them firmly in the "revival" era. I guess you're channeling the vibe in a similar way to those guys. Needless to say, I like them a lot!

On 2007-10-01 18:58, Polynesiac wrote:

The pirate pendant is really cool. The skull and crossbones on the eyepatch is a really great idea. Would make a great full size tiki I bet.

This picture is for you bigT!! It's an older carving from my old thread with dead links. thanks!!!

That's freakin awesome!

Yo, Poly!! That baby T is shapin' up nicely! Cant wait. My Kirby painting needs a 3-D counterpart. That last tiki you just finished looks great. Mad props on the older pirate tiki. The way the bark makes the beard/hair, looks killer. Keep choppin', Bro!

OK, I guess I'll start posting old, Dead-link pictures too, :lol: Yours look pretty great Poly!!

Since ya'll are talkin bout the Good ol Days...

Probably my personal favorite:



I reallyreally like this guy

Polynesiac Rocks!

Buzzy Out!

WOW buzz! thanks for posting those pics - I haven't seen some of those carvings in a while. thank you for the comps!!! that tiki table is one of my favs too. I liked it so much...I kept it! it's in my living room and always surprises people when they take a closer look at it. I still love the tiki I got from you - you got skillz, brother!

Danny - good seeing you too bro. thanks for the encouragement, I'm heading to sears this weekend and am going to start ANOTHER hobby. 'cause i don't have enough already.

Paipo - thanks a million! that's an honor that you see some Barney West in these tikis. I've tried to soak in as much mana from the carvers from the 50's and 60's as I can. I really admire your work too and am looking forward to adding one to my collection. Summers coming for you! how's the float lamp coming?

Ben - ever since the old hosting place switch, TC lost tons of great pictures - I'm sure many of your older posts have lost their pictures too. I was going through the original "carving thread" the other day and was saddened by the loss of those images. Great stuff in that post.

FBalls - I'll be molding the baby tang this weekend...we're getting close!!!!!

Thanks again for the compliments!!! more updates soon!!!

Sweet Stuff Jim!! I always love looking at your work!! Like Danny said:"More Baby Tangs"

Thanks Scott! sorry it took me over a year to respond to you....

Here's a few things I've been carving:

a 3 foot Tangaroa:

a 4 Foot marquesian:

some detail shots. The little squishy skull:

design carvings:

3.5 footer, "Kaleki" which translates to Grace - the last name of the customer. It was a gift by his children, to remind him of his heritage on Hawaii:

a 4 Foot Hawaiian:

A pendant that I cast and use in our summer classes at the Aquarium. We discuss a little about navigation and talk about how people found their way around before GPS. This, of course, leads to TIKI PAINTING! We take the cast and paint it up! (this summer we are going to use that crayola clay and sculpt our own tikis!):

A little beachcomberish lamp. I've made a few of these already. I've had good response so far:

WOAHAOAH!??!?!? BABY TANG is DONE!!!! Now, the idea was to make a mold and cast a bunch of them and make lamps and stuff from them. That never happened. I totally screwed up the molding process TWICE and during the second round of cleaning the little guy, I just gave up the idea. Hell, I'll just carve another. At some point. It may take a while, though:

And here is the new thing I got going on. I'm doing a series I call "RESPECT" - where I pay homage to the carvers of the 50's and 60's that have helped to inspire this tiki resurrection. I'm using construction waste wood for the basis of all these carvings. I've decided that I'm going to try and not pay for any more wood (!) (like for signs and 4x4 carvings - palm is always free) but only use wood I find from construction sites, the beach, etc. Anyway, here is the first one (still in progress):

Can you guess which carver I decided to pay homage to first?
I'm actually kind of bummed I didn't realize about the Kona art show - because this guy would have fit in nicely. I haven't carved the bit yet, but you'll see.

That's it for now! thanks for stopping by and looking!!!!

Polynesiac - putting the "F" back in "ART"

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2009-03-03 16:30 ]

This is exactly what TC needed..an update from the wonderful world of polynesiac.. It was getting boring around here.. Im one of your biggest fans dude.. keep on creating and postin...kirby

Milan Guanko?

I was thinking Andres Bumatay.

nice stuff man,
hope to see ya sat at the mug book event.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Jim, good to see some work by you again!

Really missed your creations here... it has been a while.

But it is also great to see that you haven't lost that great style and wonderful finish to your work!

Keep up the great work... and above all have a blast doing it!

Great work Polynesiac, really love your Tang, Marq and Baby Tang.
Really nice use of color, especially on that cute little Baby. It has
been a long time, good to see you back.

Oops. New guess on the Respect tiki. Richard Ellis?