Babalu & Hiphipahula's New Mug

Happy New Year 2008! ... "Hiphip's" Bird of Paradise"

I was so impressed by Tiki Artist Babalu's (aka Rick Henderson) mug "Man o' War and "The Bird" a few months ago I had Babalu twist and turn some ideas and make me up a one of a kind for myself. I received the mug in the mail, opened it and it was AMAZING! That "Cardinal Red" just took my breath away, I knew it would, you don't see that deep true shade often in mug making and I knew it was an extraordinary piece of art.

Back in September of '07 I knew Christmas was coming faster than we ever count on. I was on the search for a "Custom Mug" I could gift to a few collectors that went WAY out of their way this year for me. These collectors never seize to amaze or surprise me. When I could not make a event or just because I said "wow I like that, it suddenly appeared. One collector in general just covers every ones ass in the good deeds she does that are done out of the Love of Tiki everyday.

The clock is ticking, and because he is Brilliant, I got in touch with Babalu, I knew Rick was the talent I wanted. I had this picture in my head all complete. A "BIRD of PARADISE" a twist on the "Bird" So we chatted, and Rick knew instantly what I was envisioning. I told him, "It has to be about the things I love, I am a Landscaper, I love color, plants, birds, nature. I love the Ocean, Tiki, Sweet Cocktails and MUGS! Oh, and I'm Irish, I need a Shamrock on it somewhere".

Many chit chats later we had what needed to be done to make it truly of it's own and limited to 5 never to be made again. Incorporated are the things I love, nature, the ocean, color and tiki. I dig the lil' tiki peeking through, Babalu's signature "Man of War" also peeking through those tentacles, a headdress that mimics the plant and a ever so sweet nectar drink and a Shamrock.

So 16 Glazes later, No Bull and No molds for these fine flocks of feathers, the headdresses are too delicate therefore no 2 alike. Thanks to the talent of Cammo as well who was in on the whole process and made these lovely hang tags or cards and they are Fabulous, Mahalo Bradha...
So no further ado... Hiphip's "Bird of Paradise" By Babalu ... Cammo's right, Babalu is a Genius and I thank him a Million Mahalo's!

(This is where I hope Babalu steps in and explains the whole process, I would like to understand it better myself :) )

[ Edited by: Hiphipahula 2008-01-05 11:17 ]

:o D'atz a winner Hhhips BOP! Superb colorwork on da glazes Babs... YOU sir, are Capt. Fantastic!!! :D

So THAT's what Babalu did on his Christmas vacation!

These were all hand sculpted, hand glazed, fired & designed by Babalu, and sit on top of a Man O' War base that again was from a hand-made mold; poured, pulled, resculpted, fired, glazed, fired again, and often re-glazed and re-fired (AGAIN!) all by that Babalu guy. There's probably 15 hours of work, minimum, on each one.

I think it was worth it; these are the coolest 'mugs' I've ever seen.

what a guy huh...lol

In-Fricken-Credible!
The Man-O-War in itself is a treasure
but this just is off-the-hook!
Man!
Kelly,you just really know how to prod and challenge the artist
to create something beautiful and unique! Right on!
Babs,you Sir,are an Odd National Treasure...
:)

The audience just voted, and these mugs get the TROPHY!

Here it is! It's engraved, (around the bottom, it's hard to read in this photo)

"In Loving Appreciation of an Outstanding Achievement in Tiki Mug-U-Facturing & Artistic Astonishment, Presented to Babalu, 2008"

WAY TO GO!

Just back from the Chop...that was fun!

Whoa Kelly...such kind words. You is one very "Hip" lady in my book!

Mr. Jones...your the man among men...thank you boss.

LLT...Thanks man, It makes me feel "great" when a true artist, such as yourself, enjoys the work I do.

Cammo...Dude, I know your only saying all those nice thing because you think my Mom's hot, and you want to see more pictures of her. :)
I did put some time into these guys sure, but I don't think was 15 hour each, still hey, thank you Cammo, you've been a really good friend to me.

Hip Hip, It was a great pleasure to collaborate with you on this project as well. Truly, the biggest reward for me in this whole endeavor is that your so happy with your new "flock". Would it be a flock, or a grouping? Not sure what one would call a gathering of wild jelly fish creatures with bird heads wearing tiki pendants. Can you imagine such creatures floating around in the ocean making strange birds calls to each other? :) I was sick all last week and posted up on the couch watching "Planet Earth"...best darn disk set one can buy....anyway, I learned there are 42 different types of Birds of Paradise in New Guinea (the bird, not the plant)...these are some wild and strange looking, way cool birdies.

Let's see...what to explain about the mugs?....

Well, as you mentioned, I used 16 different premixed, store bought glazes on these guys to get the color effect. Of course, a few of them were only used marginally in the places....for those of you that like to play in clay...here was my chosen palette.

Laguna brand - Sunburst yellow

Duncan brand Translucents - Cherry Red, Miami Pink, Pumpkin Orange, Sun Yellow, Plum Blush, Royal Purple, Grape Splash, Galaxy Blue, Bluegrass, Leaf Green, Sea Mist Green, Walnut Brown, Black, White, and finally Clear.

The one on the far left of the top picture I took for Hip Hip was the one that was my test firing, or artist proof. It was from that one that I made the choice to add to the pallet a little.

Kelly and I decided to "go" on this project in like mid November. Kelly very much wanted to get these birds to their new owners by Xmas, but with all the traveling I had to do prior to the holidays, I'm afraid they were a little late making that deadline. To the new owners...sorry for being late guys.

Cammo, Thanks for taking on the cards brother...they turned out sweet. The Bird of Paradise drink recipe on the back of the card was thought up by Hip Hip herself....

I did a little research to come up with some direction on the little birdman tiki mask on the side of the mug. There are some really cool images out there to pull from....I knew, however, that I did not wish to copy something verbatim, so I pulled a little from here and there and tossed a little Babalu in for good measure.

I only fired these guys twice...the bisque firing, and the glaze firing.

Anyway, not sure what else to say, except, Thanks again Hip Hip for for making this project possible. I very much look forward to our next endeavor together.

Peace!

Schooled by the finest.....Capt. K and Master G

[ Edited by: Babalu 2008-01-05 17:37 ]

I thought this picture turned out pretty good...

Words fail me.

Thank you, Kelly. This is one of the loveliest, most thoughtful gifts I've ever received.

And thank you, Rick. Your talent constantly amazes me.

Wow! This is beautiful!!!

Babalu, that is so awesome! I love it, very cute and different!

Kelly, you should've brought this last night so I could take a lookie-loo!

Rawk on Babalu!!!! :D

It was there, Kate had hers in the car, sorry you missed it, sometime soon we will all get together here at the house & you will see shelves of mugs...I hope :wink:

On 2008-01-06 13:43, Hiphipahula wrote:
It was there, Kate had hers in the car, sorry you missed it, sometime soon we will all get together here at the house & you will see shelves of mugs...I hope :wink:

Poopoo! Should've told me! :P

Yea! A get together would be rad!

You think we can get that band from last night? :lol:
We'll mosh! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

lord, that band, I still doing the emo irish jig :lol:

Mindblowing! The colours are breathtaking.That little tiki mask works really well - the eyes and the overall shape remind me of the cowrie shells used on PNG masks.
I'm lucky enough to have one of Bab's special manowars (also with a bird head) and it's one of my absolute favourite pieces in the ol' mug collection.

These are absolutely phenominal.....great work on the glazes and the colors are awesome....Great Job!!!

I love the blue and purple jelly glaze, the new masks are really nice, and the birdy heads are just weird (in a good way)!

Thanks for all the nice words people...it's pushing me to the next. I'm now thinking that I might give it a go on a few tiki drinking bowls. Best to you all!

Schooled by the finest.....Capt. K and Master G

[ Edited by: Babalu 2008-01-08 06:53 ]

Babs, the details and gazing are amazing....you are a master!

Beautiful....simply....beautiful.....

Damn, I may have to commission a "Cheeky Mug"

On 2008-01-08 14:07, CheekyGirl wrote:
Babs, the details and gazing are amazing....you are a master!

Beautiful....simply....beautiful.....

Damn, I may have to commission a "Cheeky Mug"

:D that makes me happy too....

Babalu, maybe you can explain the process, since they were all hand made, did you make all the feathers up first ? did you just do a head at a time, what came first? We spoke just about everyday and I received pic's all along the way but wish I could see the process these artists go through live and in living color ya dig.... :roll:

Sure Hip,

They are not completely handmade...I took the slip casting and added, or hand built, similar low fire clay on to that. Every single square milometer of this casting was re-textured for you. I normally let the slip sit in the mold for about an hour before I pour it out...this gives the mug a nice thickness in my opinion. The Hip mugs are just a little thicker than the normal as I wanted extra stability in the body of the casting to be able to hold up to the application of additions. Each head was done one at a time. I started each by adding the beak. then the feathers were added one at a time and textured as I added. The Key was to dry them out a little slower than I normally would so the work would dry evenly before firing...Here are a couple of pictures...hope this helps you to understand the process a little better?

Thanks Cheeky! I would be honored to do a Cheeky mug sometime :-)

The pictures really help, every picture tells a story .... thanks

I dig that birdy head too - kitschy and cool at the same time! The colors add to it's uniqueness too....

Aloha Sam, good to hear from you!

Thanks for jumping in Sam to comment...Your work really blows me away!

WOW - These are great. The color is popping off my screen so I can only imagine how gorgeous it looks in person. Good job guys...

mg

i'm very proud to say i'm the lucky recipient of a bird of paradise. kelly pmed me recently asking if i still had the same address. a few days later a box from her showed up. having seen kate's and kelly's birds on ooga-mooga, i dared to dream there might be one inside. i was thrilled when i saw it was. the glazes are awesome. the sculpted feathers and tiki mask are highlights. rick did an amazing job of bringing kelly's vision to light. mahalo, kelly, for thinking of me with this wonderful gift. peopo like you are what make tiki central and ooga-mooga so fun.

I saw Kelly the other day and got to take a close look at the mug. It's beautiful and the attention to detail is amazing. Also has a substantial solid feel to it. Great work, Babalu!!!

I'M NOT WORTHY!...but O'sooo appreciative of the beautiful gift bestowed upon me by such wonderful peapo'z!! :D

Babalu, you sir are an awakening force of creation...we are very fortunate to have someone of your talents most graciously share with ohana. :D
Sistah K, peeps like you are why I joined TC...your passion for collecting is second only to a warm generosity of aloha. :D
Mahalo'z both and I will covet this treasure... 8)
~Jonesey

Nice Picture Jonesey, damn,,, Now if you would just shoot pic's for your collection & get them posted :D , you have a most awesome collection, amazing pieces. Great to hear from you KTD, Jonesey, Trader Tom & smgleason, Thank You :)

Thank you all of you for chiming in...it makes me feel wonderful that you like the work. It truly is the amazing spirit of aloha that exists within Kelly that made this all possible.

On 2008-01-06 08:06, Tiki-Kate wrote:
Words fail me.

Thank you, Kelly. This is one of the loveliest, most thoughtful gifts I've ever received.

And thank you, Rick. Your talent constantly amazes me.

I have no words today, I'm really glad I did this project a few years back with Rick. I'm glad Kate loved it. I remember Kate and I were somewhere and in a drink we were served were these big 'ol straws and we looked at each other and said " B.O.P. mug straw, perfect!" We are tiki geeks....... Hey thanks again even today Rick... it even means more now

Awww, that make me feel good.

Thanks for the straw story Kel. :)