Lake Tiki - 8/23/2013 - Red Cedar

Aloha Lake!!!
It looks ike youve been busy my friend. Very nice lineup of tikis, Aloha , Mooney

Cookin!

I think #6 in the line up did it!

He looks a little out of place.

Book him Dano!

Wow Lake Surfer you do some very nice work.
Nice line up! you are a regular tiki carving machine.

BigT, surfin, Mooney, BK, BooBen and seeksurf... thanks for the compliments!

BigT... I figure random cuts on the tops keep 'em interesting... tends to catch your attention more. Tip: You can square a bottom pretty good with an angle grinder most of the time.

surfin... I'd need more windows. :wink:

Mooney... I need to get busy again soon... been slacking a bit lately.

BK... cookin with fire!

BooBen... that's the one. :wink:

killer stuffs

Hi,
i´m a newbie here and I must say, you have put up a nice row there. I´m really enjoying your stuff, also the hole tiki-bar thing.

As one says: Fortune favors the bold.
Keep it up.

tok-tok

Benz and tok-tok thanks for the compliments!

Half or all of that row of tikis will be raffled off on November 5th at The Tiki Terrace Anniversary party outside of Chicago.

Some very lucky people will go home with some nice carvings. These guys are full of mana.

Sunday I leave for SoCal and I'll be attending the Bali Hai Tiki Mag art show. Looking forward to meeting some of my favorite TC artists that night and others in attendance!

(I'll have some carved contraband with me that you can pick up for a steal. Midwest prices!)

Wanted to give a shout out to all the great folks I met in person at the Bali Hai show last Friday! Also to those who purchased one of my tiki idols. Mahalo! It was a good time and I had a lot of fun over the 4 1/2 days I was in SoCal. Got some surf in and some sun and just soaked up the culture again.

Thanks also to BenBoo and Mrs. Boo for the goodies you put together for me! It was great to finally see the studio in person.

Hope to be back out in 2-3 months for more sun, surf and tiki!

Back in the saddle again... sort of...

Been California Dreaming, had some good surf last week, some sun, palm trees...

Now its back to reality... 40 degrees, cloudy, bare trees. Hard to get motivated.

Foundation Tiki Bar called and they needed a panel for the men's room. It will cover a window that just has a piece of plywood on
it now. Like a good tiki bar should, they like to keep out the daylight at Foundation.

Because its in a men's room means that it is out of sight, so Don said keep it simple.

Brainstorming on a really neat idea with Foundation... look for that here soon when I get going on it.

Edited:broken link

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2007-11-16 01:06 ]

Nice!!

Clarita... thanks for the compliment!

I'm spending a lot of time designing next year's work lately and sorting out photos for my ongoing portfolio.
I've come across some of my favs that I realized I hadn't posted when I got busy. These are a year or so old, but I thought I'd share them.

Custom carved pole for Kahuna's, Pewaukee Lake, WI

Finished... with some other custom orders...

Big Poles... bound for a bar in St. Louis...

Custom tiki fountain for Kahuna's

Support poles for bar awning... Rendezvous, Kenosha, WI

One of my little guys lived at the lobby table at Trader Vic's Chicago...

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2007-11-16 01:10 ]

Sweet looking stuff Lake!!

Top class !
Wonderful carvings you tried to hide :wink:
What's the stain you put on the big tiki that we can see on the right of the second picture, just behind the pole ? Because the color and the grain you've gotten is simply beautiful.

Benjamin.

You da man, brah!

Great stuff. Love the big poles most of all.

Lake, I love the carved pole...that's something I've been wanting to do.
I hear ya on the motivation factor. Mine drops to nil in the winter. It's good though, my right arm gets to heal. (Calcific Tendonitis + some arthritis)!
That's a great idea, to show some of YOUR favorites.

A lot of very inspiring work.

You can tell by looking at these carvings you really enjoy creating them. It is a treat to see so many posted at once. I hope to see that Trader Vic tiki living on the lobby table at the new Chicago location soon.

Hi Lake Surfer, great stuff! The big poles and the tiki fountain are realy pretty. Mahalo, Kai

Great stuff lake. I simply love the Pole carving going on
Nice work.

Thanks everyone for the comments on the recently posted work! Work continues on this big project for Foundation and then I have to get started on orders that are coming in for holiday gifts. Thought I'd pop in for a bit and say hi.

Pappy: I love the poles a lot. Lots of work, but impressive when finished. When I get long straight logs in I always save them in the hopes they will become poles for someone.

surfin: go for it! Carving a pole is a nice drawn out process that you need not rush if you don't have to. You can carve them as detailed or as simple as you want. the end result is always stunning. Winter slows my log carving a bit since there's not much room for anything over 6 feet. I concentrate on mass production of small items for the next season's vending opportunities. I hear you on the arm... that and my back gets a break too. :wink:

tikidreams: honored to inspire. There are a lot of artists here and in the tiki past that I draw inspiration from also.

Johnny: They were a joy, and many of them groundbreaking for me. I did some poking around and if things line up right I may get another opportunity to have some more of my work in the new Vic's.

Kai: I look forward to viewing your new work in the future... your carvings and energy are very motivating!

seek: thanks much... keep up the great work on your tiki!

New stuff.

Surf Tiki!

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2009-05-08 00:33 ]

Almost tropical outside.... 18 degrees.

A Christmas order begins...

You lucky dog Lake, it's 11 degrees BELOW zero here. What a difference
200 miles makes.

Nice clean log, but I see couple of nots showing there?
Whats the wood? Stay warm.

Conga... when its cold it cold. Anything below 30 all feels the same these days. I'm hoping for a thaw by Christmas.
Carving was tough tonight, as the muscles are already sore from shoveling snow every other day. Hope you are staying warm up there.

Seek, Knots? No worries. All part of the log. They just get carved through, sanded and become part of the piece. Though, this bugger did check a whole lot more when I brought it inside to the warmth. There are ways to work around that too. The wood is Yellow Pine, from a 9 footer I have in the garage.

2 1/2 hours knocking around with this one and we've got a rough carve. Some cleanup tomorrow than a sanding. It comes in at around 32" high and will be a small end table for a friend's girlfriend. Toying with an idea of shells, sand and resin on top, sort of like my home bar top. Not figured into the price quote but I have free reign with this design, so maybe a good time to experiment. I've got a bunch of resin available.

More soon... things have been busy in the studio. I have two shows coming up at local tiki bars and gift orders.

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2007-12-06 20:53 ]

Woowhoo! Man lake you moving. Looking good!

Looking very good, Lake.
Waiting for the new pix of this one (and other too !)

P.S: thanks for explaining about the knots because I have a lot in one of my new log.

Benjamin.

Another custom order done and ready to go... nautical/pirate/tiki

10" high by 40" across.

Thanks guys for the compliments. :)

Benjamin... about knots... don't let them deter you from using a log. Sometimes we can't be too picky when it comes to carving wood. Carve the best you can through the knots and then finish up with an angle grinder to smooth 'em out.

Stain is drying on the table tiki... pics as soon as its done.

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2007-12-07 14:08 ]

On 2007-12-06 20:52, Lake Surfer wrote:

2 1/2 hours knocking around with this one and we've got a rough carve.

man, 2 and a 1/2 hours!?!?!? you're a machine!

with just chisels too? those cuts are so clean and sharp!

nice work.

Harro, thanks. I just put some tunes on and have-at-it.

Here's another one of my favorites from this year... a Kona Style guy... 5 feet tall and pretty thin...

I like the new surf board stuff - very unique. The thin man is nice as well.

That Kona is pretty sweet looking, totally recognizable as both Kona and Lake. I am impressed how you can take something and make it your own.

Hey Lake,
Oh my god did you say 18 degrees? We had a cold snap down here last week and it got down to a bone chilling 67. It was a hot ass day today at 82. I actually got a sunburn today raking leaves in my yard. I would like it to chill off a little but not what you have. The carving is looking sweet. Glad to hear you are busy Tiki money is the best type...

Johnny, thanks much! I've been enjoying your latest creations also. The drum looks like it was quite the undertaking. Hope you're staying warm on the other side of the Big Lake.

Mr. Barefoot, I would gladly take your 67 degrees right now, and Hukilau can't come soon enough so I can see tropical palms and coconuts. Raking leaves here is a distant memory, as whatever is left is buried under 14 inches of snow. But let's think happy thoughts, like maybe we'll have a thaw by Christmas and it might hit 40 degrees here one day.

Thanks for the compliments! I'm digging the whole bar set up you've created! You're branching out into new stuff and that's always great to see evolve.

Speaking of new stuff... The little tiki table nears completion...

I finished up the staining and finish on the outside and started on my idea for the top of the tiki. It will more than likely hold a picture or a vase or something but I wanted to do a little something extra with it.

I did the same concept as I did for my bar top... this time making it look like water, sand and shells sitting in the top of the tiki. The top was routed out to make a depression for everything to sit in. The resin is still drying and by Monday afternoon will have hardened. Hoping for delivery on Tuesday. It turned out pretty cool considering it was the first time I did something like this.

[ Edited by: lake surfer 2007-12-10 10:52 ]

:o :o :o

This one is simply amazing. Wonderful ideas for the top with the shells.
Very good things you've done with the knots that seem to be scars on the tiki's face.

Bravo,

Benjamin.

Nice Lake, that is a real Thin Man.

Great idea on the shells hum? I have lots of shells hum?

Benjamin and seek, thanks much! The resin finally set up after a day, but delivery is delayed because of a snow/ice storm we had Tuesday. I had a good day to get some more carving done in between snow removal jobs. I've got two shows this weekend to get more work done for and I'm juggling various Christmas orders.

Sunk the chisels into some more of this cedar I love so much. Various sizes from 8 inches to 21 inches...

Lake i ran into you on the net before i found TC.
You do some nice work. Are you a full time carver?
What got you into tiki carving? was it the surf connection?

seek... thanks much. :)

Part time carver and part time Graphic Designer.

I haven't seriously counted but I'd take a guess that I've carved 200+ tikis in all types of sizes since 2002. Blows my mind.

Lately carving has led to doing bar and restaurant interiors. Some personal bars and homes also. Those are fun.
I also sell at tiki related events and various retail outlets.

You nailed it on the surfing aspect. I'm a longboarder and love the scene at San Onofre. A nice mix of surfing, tiki and South Pacific culture influence. Still feels like the 50's there too. After carving my first tiki I was drawn further into the cultures of the South Pacific. I try to stay true to as much of it as I can while mixing in my own style. I discovered Polyneisan Pop Culture further down the road and enjoy it also. That led me here.

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2007-12-13 00:46 ]

Nice tiki :D The resin top is a cool idea.

hewey, thanks!

I delivered it the other day and the receiver was stoked! She has placed an order for a custom made bar with the same top so I'm pretty stoked also. :wink:

The resin thing is a great idea. I watched it before in your postings about the homebar.

This is a nice pattern on the wood, what kind of stain is it? Did you sand it again afterwards or does it come out as a character of pine? And I guess You used some kind of poly for the sealing instead of wax.

Hope, you can recreate a bit in between.
tok-tok

Checking back in... I'm finally all caught up after a rush of Christmas orders. Some fun new stuff to show as soon as I get pictures of it.

tok-tok, thanks! The resin is a challenge for me still. I thought I had it figured out but it really wants to keep leveling itself. The surface you pour on has to be completely level. The tiki had a slight lean so there was a little overflow, but fairly easy to deal with.

The pattern you see comes from the natural Yellow Pine grain. Smooth sanding and a little torch work pops it a bit more. The stain is an Early American color.
Satin brush poly with some satin spray over it to reduce the glare. Most customers want the poly coating, though I am steering some towards oil.

Diving into my love for the Kona Style, I finally finished this Ku wallhanging that I started back in June. It got lost along the way and I decided to pick it up again.
A very hard piece of premium board, so everything took a few passes to get to the right depth. 16" tall. It is over in the Marketplace up for sale.

Hey Lake, nice piece! Will miss you this NYE!

Take care and stay warm!
Scott

Typical Excellent tiki stuff from you Lake, MErry Christmas.

Scott and Benz, thanks and Happy Holidays to you both!

About to wrap up a custom order for a fellow surfer. His girlfriend is surprising him this weekend with this and I wanted to do something special for the piece. He's got an A-Frame wave breaking right on his chin. Just have to carve some tapa pattern on his head dress and he's ready for pickup. Very heavy and hard piece of ash, but the finished surface is really nice. Left the tool marks to give this one a vintage look. 24 inches tall.

Got a custom order for Zebra print on one of my Exotica Shields. The customer's living room has Zebra print chairs so these are a perfect compliment. I'm used to doing leopard print, but I've taken a liking to the Zebra too and plan on using it again in the future.

And I just finished up this Tang mounted on a woven background with hand framed bamboo. About 24" high.

I've got 40 feet of custom moulding to carve this week and then I hope to do some work on my Trader Vic's Marquesan pole that I've had for 2 some years. :lol: