BenZart...MaoriChief, Glass pendant Update Today

Hi Benz,

Nice finish on the maori head that is a very nice piece.
The green of your piece of jade seems very clear and looks beautiful, can't wait to see what wonderful art you'll take out of it.

Benjamin.

Hum the jade looks like a mint!

Im sure you will make it look incredible.

THanks Ben Hopefully it's the good stuff :P

Surfin, Thank you too, Sure I'll be ablr to do it if I can keep him out of my Box
I'll have to let the Kiwi expers tell me about how I got screwed with this Burmese jade??

Rock-head........

On 2008-08-24 21:00, Benzart wrote:

NOW for something new. I Started a Jade piece yesterday and wasn't going to post it because I'm not sure it's real jade. It was supposed to be Burmese Jade and is real Pale Almost white with faint greenish color. It is Heavy and hard but a small piece,fairly translucent too and 42mm X30MM X 15mm and is a piece I bought for someone who thought they wanted a dragon out of it.

*"Hi Ben, it's Tama.." I wish I could help you identify the stone but simply dont know. Not nephrite thats for certain, sorry the news just keeps getting worse on that job. Hopefully you can pluck a pearl from it!

:)

Actually I think it was called jadeite if I can remember (doubtful I can :P )Thanks

i believe it's bowenite.

On 2008-08-26 11:54, Benzart wrote:
Actually I think it was called jadeite if I can remember (doubtful I can :P )Thanks

It certainly looks like Burmese jadeite - the sparkly crystalline appearance and chromium green streaking are good indicators, but as we all know, looks can be deceiving. Insert standard "send it to me for examnination" gag here

Burmese jadeite , is that a good thing.

On 2008-08-26 15:00, teaKEY wrote:
Burmese jadeite , is that a good thing.

It is for the owners of Burmese jadeite mines.. :lol:

*As far as I know jadeite is quite a bit rarer/scarcer than nephrite & accordingly the good quality stone commands a much higher price. With either stone though, quality (degree of fracture & desirability of colour) is everything. For example the same carving/workmanship may sell for 2-3 times the price if the stone is highly desirable and alternatively, the price may need to be halved/slashed if the stone turns out to have serious flaws - thrown in the sea even..

Certainly do your experimenting on cheaper/lower grade stone, youll sure appreciate the difference when you graduate up!

Keep us posted! :)

Thanks Perry, Paipo, TeakeY, and Tama, Well I sure didn't pay much for this little piece, it was 99 cents and 6 bux S&H so I can't complain, but I can get river rox for 5 bux for 25 pounds :P
After reading the recent Jade postings and the Jade Country Sizzler, I'm pretty much stuck on the fact that there will not be ANY real and quality jade available here unless 1 you have deep pockets and 2 you have Connections somewhere :D, AND, IF I were to Get some of the Good stuff by accident, would I Even Know what it was?
The Book, JADE COUNTRY, Can be found HERE and
HERE

If you are into jade and want the book that will teach you about Drool then this is it.

A-men brother!

Hey Benz, when you finish that nice jadeite piece, let me take it off you hands for a cool :D $12.99. LOL :D I added the S&H just so you can send it to me. Oh well I can dream. I guess it's time for a :drink:

Where are the pics Ben?? :)

KS

Surfin, Thanks for the "Amens" I needed that! :P

Tikipaka, Welcome to TC and thanks for visiting my thread, I'm sure we can work something out , $1299 is a good start :D :lol:

KS, Thanks for the reminder, Pix? What pic's?
Oh Those? or These?

myspace

[ Edited by: Benzart 2008-08-31 01:42 ]

wow - I like them! Cant wait to see the progress shots!!

Keep it coming!

KS

On 2007-07-11 17:15, FreddieBallsomic wrote:
I checked the pix of the jade Moai in Marketplace and deeeaaamn there is a ton of detail(moko) on that guy....impressive as always.

Ben's OCD comes in handy huh? lol!

Hey Ben! What's going on down there? :wink:

Port St. Lucie

Hmmm.

Thanks KS, I Appreciate the props, I have Pic's to post but they are on my computer and I'm not there rite now so in about an hour I'll add more.

Thanks Hodad, I Think? :), How do I get More of that OCD? (wheres the meerschaum?):lol:

T-Gap, Man what a coool surprise, haven't seen you 'round these parts in awhile. Whats going on dwn here, Obviously we have more than our share of Weirdness here, Hell they let m\ME in so That should say something! :P :D THANKS

I'll post pix later this morning.

OK , Here as Promised

Sorry no update on the jade piece

Oh good! Another little masterpiece on the way. This will be fun to watch as you add your magical layers of detail.

Always Spectacular ART coming from you ben,Aloha your friend, Mooney

Sick Benz ,he looks like a alien space god thru the light.

Thanks Johnny, I Hope gets even half as good as you think!

Jimmy. How 'ya BEEN? Great to hear from you. Thanks for the kind words.

Seeks, Thanks, Yes these guys Certainly DO Look different with a back light!.

I'm not sure if I can do any more on this guy for awhile with our friggin' storms coming. They have Unpleasant things to say about IKE so I'll be needing to put up the shutters here soon and ntighten down everything.
Heres todays update.

woho - Fantastic!!

more more more

KS

Very cool Benz!
i love it when you give them some pearly whites, the tooth detail is awsome
looks great!!

Wowzashazowza! I'd've said more (or at least something more intelligent) but I found myself momentarily speechless. You're getting these things carved down pretty thin. Do you have to use a micrometer or something to insure that you don't carve completely through the piece?

Good luck with Ike. According to some of the computer models, he may just barely lick the FL. coast and give you guys a little spook and then blow east back out into open waters--fingers crossed!

Thanks Shaman, You just say that about All my stuff, I think You're prejudiced? More in a few days :)

Duddy, Thanks,, you know these guys Gotta Eat too, it wouldn't be fair not to give them a tooth or two. I DID have a strange feeling carving teeth from a big tooth!

Howland, Thanks, You're too FUNNY! Carving these guys out thin is a habit left over from the jewelry days when U did use a micrometer to get down to 1mmthickness for gold and 2mm for silver with 3mm for pewter. For This stuff(bone/tusk) all I use is a goose-neck lamp to see the thin and thick spots. Where the light showing through is bright I stay away from and only carve the dark areas.
Thanks for the good luck with Ike and it MAY be working as today they say it will cross south Miami. Of course tomorrow will be another landfall and Sunday they may find it fizzled in the Caribbean somewhere only to start up again and whollop New Orleans as a possible cat 12o who knows?? :P
I See Hannah heading your way this weekend , a minimal storm now but may gather strength to hurricane ststus, so get ready to Hunker down and ride it out. :D Heres hoping she isn't much more than a bother!

Yo Benno! Tighten-up man, Ike's got a plan for youz!

I love those teef you put on this last guy...only you could get away with them chicklets in there......I love it!

Be safe. Lemme know if you need a place to go. I can tell you how to get there :D

HEy GMAN< CHICKLETS?? They are only 1.5mm big? How can theys be CHickletts? :P :P You Funny guy, Also funny about IKEster, you should watch yo back doe. HE BE Commin' for 'ya :)

Welllll, Since sir IKE has totally befuddled the weather prognosticators and has them in a spin with them now thinking Ike is drawing a bead on Key West. You or They KNOW no hurricanes actually Hit key west so It MUST me going elsewhere and since it isn't coming to the treasure coast it must be heading for New Orleans, They ALL Love going there. Anyway since I heard all that I decided I could work a bit today so here is a little progress on the wart Hog pendant with the Chicklet teeth. He Says it it in repairing to Bite me real bad for making Some obscure comment about him earlier.I'll git him tho Hahahaha I have the toolz!!
Heres the update.

Ahh, another great masterpiece!

Thanks TikiPaka, where is everyone Thanks for your kind words.Here is todays update have finished the top of the head and the big ears, Man this guy must have Sharp hearing wit dem eas Tomorrow I figuah out what to do to dem Eyes, Dey bheen Houndin me fer daze now, do dis,, no, DO Dat, Nah Do Diss hea and thatta theeaah o I finnaaly got nif foun out wat da eyes gonna be do
ai need ebony rods fo da eyes.
Heeah







AND HERE He Is with Back light
Enjoy

myspace

[ Edited by: Benzart 2008-09-08 19:02 ]

Masterpiece, I swear... I see a masterpiece.

Will there be a wonderful box too ? :wink:

Benjamin.

Thanks Ben, You Seeing things again? Maybe need your glasses checked? :P Not sure about a box for this one he may Need one, you'll know later. He is Almost done I think a few more days and he'll be ready to go.

Wow Ben! I've been so busy in the studio lately that I haven't been able to make the rounds to well. These wart hog bone carvings you are doing now days are just TOP SHELF buddy...DANG! The translucency of the bone is really sweet! Keep on bringing it Master Ben!

Thanks Babalu, Yeah the translucence of the bone really blew me away so I enhanced it by Thinning the bone way down

Heres 2 days worth of work including Ebony eye inserts, not cleaned up yet but you can see the effect.

nice! Ebony eyes with red (bloodwood?) inserts. That is some detail work.

Yeah, those eyes look really cool!!!

Oh my friggin god~! Ben. Are you kiddin me!?! AhhhhHHH. Tremendous achievement happening right here.
The eyes.
I guess this Bone-head only has eyes for wood. or is it wood for eyes.
sheesh

SPEECHLESS

ks

Thanks Johnny, You are pretty close, Either bloodwood or pink ebony and I think pink ebony but don't know for sure. I figured you would just think I forgot to remove the "red eye" from the photo :). Leave it to you to notice every little detail :P .

T-Freak, Thanks, I only hope they finish up as well as they started.

Yeah Surfin, I was only Kidding, it's All done in Photo Shop just to confound you :lol: Yes I Was first thinking about black jade for the eyes but wood seemed easier and better for inserting red dots. Thanks!

KS, Thanks you said a LOT with that one word. :D :) :P

The next part ( the facial adornment) is All or nothing, Living on the edge with this stuff. The Spirals are so easy to blow out and trash the whole piece. No room for error here as a slight slip banishes this guy to the deadend "box of 80" to live out his life as a glaring b-Zart f&*$-up and never to be seen again. So No more pix till that is done!

Wow....beautifully intricate. Fabulous as usual. :)

Good luck then Benz

Holding my breath here for you - dont take too long :lol:

KS

Well Thanks VampiressRN, I Appreciate that, welcome to my pace here again.

KS Wwelcome to you too, Thanks but Please don't hold your breath, I'm not finishing that quick.

Here is about the Last update
since this guy is just about FINISHED HOORAY heres a few photos or ten

Its like a different tiki now. Beautiful and the tooling make it look like a material other than bone and a size other than it is.

Well that is really nuts. And you talk about my spooky pictures.
The second picture is going to give me happy happy nightmares.

AMAZING benz!!!!!!