Conga....Wisconsin stuff!

Damn Conga, we're all getting slammed. Glad to hear you're alright, and the trees came down in the woods. At least they won't go to waste.

7 inches of rain here and counting... a huge complex heading this way now.

Hope you make it through everything alright with no more damage, someday this weather will decide to move out.

Totem looks great, tiki or no tiki!

Go Conga! Wrath of the Tiki winds!

Yes, the wind gods are good to you. Looks
like some fine carving wood.

conga your area is making front page CNN HOLD ON!

Daayyum Conga that pile of wood is to Drool over. Just get a bunch of us carvers up there drooling and the logs will slkide right down to yor back yard. But then will take a year to dry off.
Your Totem is really looking Respectable. You should join the totem pole forums as I'm sure you would fit right in there too but on second thought we don't want to be sharing you with no other stinkin forums.

Mother Nature delivers! --and she says here's your logs to carve. Good way to take advantage of an otherwise unfortunate situation. Nice new carves too! Hope to see you soon!

It's raining logs! Nice! How sweet to get plenty of clean lumber right out of you own backyard, and without butchering any trees. The new totem is looking pretty damn smooth too.

As Gman would say, "debark seal end now!" Looks like you will be busy for awhile.

Hello friends in tiki. Have made a little progress here at Totem Central.
This has turned into quite a project, it's holding me back from getting back
into South Pacific carving. However at this point I have decided to keep pushing
ahead. Thanks for looking, do you see any "tikis" yet?






Really enjoy all the great stuff being posted, hope ya all enjoyed
a great weekend of carving!

Yes Nice work conga love this guy the size
and so much going on.
Tiki on the sides?
Nice work makes me want go get going on a pole.
Maybe a PNW tiki mix pole.

Conga, I Swear, You are One Mixed up soul. Tiki, Indian. New Guinea, Alien, Spy, What else are you I'm forgetting? Looks like it's ALL Coming out in this piece. You are another one the Ancients Love to Visit, Often too. and I'm sure they are never disappointed when they come a the results are always so strange This has some of your Best , most finished detail of Amy of your earlier pieces.This one gets you respect from all the art Lovers. Hell, You got it ALl coverd: Izzit Tiki??? Yes :)
Izzit Indian as in Tlingket Totems, ,,,YES..
IZZIT PNG?????Most definitely.
ISsit that ah,,ummm Thing, Yes totally Yes.
Izzat surfin

Love this stuff, especially the FISH! It's Tiki! It's CONGA-TIKI!

(More FISH! Looks like the fish should be smoking a cee-gar.)

Darn! I wished I could see pictures on TC right now :( I can't wait Conga...the work "sounds" great from what I am reading...

Yes, It suits you well. Excellent work as usual. I Knew you were up to monkey business up there, Come on in out of the cold.
Is there anything you Can't do?

Mahalo to all.
Benz, you are too funny. I am trying to fit a lot of stuff into this, as
you pointed out. It sorta reminds me of the old Johnny Cash tune "One Piece
At A Time", about the guy that builds a car piece by piece, "It's a 55-56-57-58-
59 Automobile." It's a tlingit-tikified-png-northwoods totem pole.

Seeks, yea it's fun attempting to fill the spaces and voids with figures,
still have one spot at the bottom that needs attention, maybe tonight.

Babalu, thanks for popping in, no pics? Hope you get some soon, things are
working fine up here.

Thanks for the props on the fish Cammo. He was just gonna have a slit mouth
but the ole hook knife was just pulled in deeper and wider. Maybe under
the influence of the "ancients" :)

But still a lot of work to be done, I need to do my best sanding on this
one, and there are way too many deep corners that need my attention. I
was hoping to get it finished by the 4th of July so I could get it into the
fancy schmancy tourist store that I mentioned ealier. I'm not even going
to be close, but I think I need to keep it for a while anyway.

Happy carving to all.

edit--p.s. to Ben--It's not cold up here anymore, temps have been in the
80s and 90s, less rain and wind, hey it's summer. Cold and shitty weather
will probably return in about four weeks.

[ Edited by: congatiki 2008-06-25 04:34 ]

Hi there.
Happy Fourth of July, Fifth too!

[ Edited by: congatiki 2008-07-05 16:14 ]

That turned out nice Conga!!! Nice stain w/ a bit of color, very cool!!

Conga,

You just added a smile to my otherwise crappy day. Thanks for that my friend. Beautiful work on a very intense project. There is a lot going on there for sure. I could pick that out as yours from 100 similar carvings. I wanna see some old island work from ya soon......

-G

Oh, and that is a butt-stink of wood too. Nice score. Didja debark it yet? That should keep you busy (and your wrists in ice) for a while! :lol:

Show us pics once you have it cleaned and stacked.

-g

You finished that out beautifully Conga!

I got mad Congas going off in my head! Sir, you just RAWK the Northwest! Fantastic.

Well it's about TIME you quit goofin off and finished that thing...he Looks Fantastic, I, too, Love the dashes of color you have added. The finish is great too butr the carvingis just plain Excellent. Lookin good for an old mans work :lol: :lol:

That's awesome! That is UNIQUE! One of a kind! I like the subtle color to tie all parts together. It's like a Northwest, Maori family totem-tiki conglomeration! Nice work.

Many thanks Tikifreak, GMan, Heath, Babs, Benz and Surfintiki, always
appreciate your support for my whittlin'. The NW Coast totem was a fun
project but at almost six weeks it sorta kicked my butt.
GMan, the tree mess is just about cleaned up, I'll have to post a few pics
of our major wilderness project. Most of the wood was cut into firewood
pieces cuz I already have soooo much carving wood stacked in my garage.
And Ben, another reference to Conga as the "old man." Just remember that
you are not the only "ancient one" around here :)
At any rate, a side shot of the totem and another pic of something I started
yesterday. Anyone recognize him?


Thanks for visiting.

Your New guy looks familiar but I can't place him.
Heard you got another new bike or is This old news

I guess you are Still a 'Young'n" around here no matter what they/I say :lol: :lol:
Why can't I remember that guy with the funny hat?

The totem came our very nice, you gotta be proud of that one. So what's next out of those thousand logs that were delivered to your place as a sign to carve?

Another top notch tight carve job there Conga! You should charge admission to your tiki bar up there in the Northwoods, you'd be the next best draw to Lambeau Field.

I also love the hints of color. They really help your carving pop.

The totem looks really nice and exceptionally crafted. Purely traditional can get a little boring but you have just got to love the originality of your work. Another great piece. What's in your next tiki's hands? Can't wait to see the next photo's.

Very Nice conga this is a pole to be proud of.

I just returned from the Quileute Indian Reservation and
met a tribal elder that would melt for this sucker.

I have been looking a the NW carvings alot sense i got back.
I will be carving something local soon i hope.

Better catch up, been busy chopping logs and cleaning up after the aforementioned
storm.
Ben, ever since I got that new bike you been pickin' on me. Thanks for
dredging up that old picture so people can see how tough bikers are in Northern
Wisconsin.
Johnny P...I will have to post some pics of the log piles. Almost all of it has
been cut up into firepit size chunks. It's a fun project but it keeps me
away from carving.
And thanks for your comments on the totem LakeSurfer, Tikilizard and Seeksurf.
I really enjoy studying the NW styles. I'm just a pretender compared to some of
those guys.
But I still am pretending to be a tiki carver as this rascal will attest.
He's holding a bowl...

Your totem turned out great! The new guy is looking fantastic as well. Looking forward to more updates. :)

Wow Conga! The totem is awesome! I just got back from Alaska 2 weeks ago, and yours could pass for any of them up there. Have you been to Alaska? It looks like you have first hand knowledge of totem poles. Great stuff!

The Johnny Cash song was about a Cadillac! (One piece at a time).

And GMAN's right - we wanna see pictures of the cleaned wood pile.

The pic from Benz is pretty damned funny!

It's good to be back...

GAP

[ Edited by: tikigap 2008-07-17 17:26 ]

Hey conga, that totem is crazy nice! I noticed the high surfaces are pretty smooth. Do you spend much time sanding the crevices and corners at all?

Hi Guys.
Thanks Savagedaddy. I will have a lot of free time to carve this weekend,
will get some progress pics up over the next few days. Appreciate your
comments on the totem.
Hey Big T, also thanks on behalf of the totem. I don't know if you saw the
outdoor pic of the totem, but I spent way too much time sanding, and it was
really difficult. I had some crevices that were really tough and I just
gave up, but I would say 90 per cent of the whole project is sanded smooth.
And Gap my ole' coontiki buddy, nice to have you around and posting again.
I will get some weekend pics of the wood piles. The "backyard" project has
taken on a life of its own. It's a little over an acre that was insanely
overgrown with brush and crappy trees, not to mention the 20 or so trees
that got knocked down in the storm last month. Stay tuned.

Getting close...I'm calling him "The Wise Man."


Sorry 'bout the ugly shoe GMan, my wife insists that I thrown them
in the garbage. They were in the garbage two years ago but I pulled 'em
out.

Smooth, smooth Basswood creations Conga!

This guy is cool, he's got a bowl of Kava waiting for his guests!

All kinds of tikis hiding out in your yard, a very aged and wise Tangaroa just to the right.

You should see my carving shoes... should have gone in the trash years ago!

I think since we've shown workspaces, we should show carving clothing next. :wink:

Thanks Lake, nice to know that other peeps have crappy shoes for carving
too:-)
We could have quite a fashion thread if we post our carving get-ups. I
generally just carve in shorts and a t shirt, and of course the shoes. But
when I use the grinder I look like I'm scouting for toxic waste.
Little update--mood lighting

Yeah! That looks killer! You're still adding more, looks great.

Looks awesome so far!

No, we don't want to have an anti-fashion contest, lol. I think we all have an old pair of old shoes like that. Must be a guy thing. :wink: I call em my "yard shoes". My oldest, ratty-est, sneakers worn for mowing the lawn, working in the garage, carving, etc. :D

So....for you guys who like to see logs...a few shots from the Northern
Wisconsin jungle...mostly the result of the high winds about four weeks ago..


Several log piles are visible in the top two pics, they are not different
angles of the same pile and there are probably six more comparable piles
spread out in here

And then this fella pops up again

A little stream runs through the property in the "jungle area" and I wanted
to take some pics (I call it my little Sepik River) but the Wisconsin state
bird...Mosquito...was out in force tonight.
Hope ya all had a great weekend..thanks for stopping in.

Cool stuff as usual Conga and this last guy is Right up there , I Love the tats.
Your place is gonna start to get a Strange reputation pretty soon IF it doesn't Already have it.. "Man have you seen the weird things that old fart has all around his house? Kinda scary huh?" I can hear the neighborhoods kids now! You should invite them all over for lunch one day?

Conga,

Cool shooo shot. I hear ya about old shooze, they fit better than the new ones. I say keeps 'em. I like your wiseguy. Very cool idea and you kicke dhim out in no time! Are you running out of room in the Conga lounge yet? Might be time to start working small?

Aloha Conga!!! Boy , you've got some realy sweet carvings happenin my friend.Keep em comin, Aloha, Mooney

Sweet. Back in the South Seas theme! I bet it took a while to hollow out that bowl. With that stack of logs you'll be carving for years.

Nice carve conga wise man ROCKS! Looks like the bowl is
a little friendly offering thing.

Friendly offerings, but he does an evilish look in his eyes!!

Experimentation time in the Northwoods!
First of all, thanks a lot Benz, GMan, Mooney, Johnny, Seeksurf, and
Surfintiki, always honored to have you guys stopping over at Congas.
I've had a couple of cocktails and I'm getting sentimental and all,
but it means a lot to get the attention of you guys.
Anyhoo....
This latest guy was supposed to be a Conga version of the "Pearl of
Wisdom" so I need some light eminating from the bowl. Only problem is
that I did the carving before I started looking for a light source...so
it's hard to find anything that works.
So...one idea is just putting some flowers in the bowl...

The other idea is to use rope lighting covered by the flowers...


I need to find a way to hide the unnecessary rope lighting, we'll see what
happens.
Thanks again, I must head back to the laboratory!

Now that is "Hot'n'Crazy!" Nice job Conga!

Yes, the light is so cool conga.

I have been looking at the PNW carvings allot.
I'm gonna have to do a local carve soon.
Love your PNW pole you did last.