Would really like some feedback

Aloha!
Tyler from neptune beach here. New to the forums and trying to get some feedback from some folks that know the subject. I am a sculptor down here in florida. I've been a chef for 20 years and have done some ice sculpting - now working in palm wood (i've always loved tiki art since I grew up on the beach) I have a new website set up at http://tikisbytyler.com Someone please respond - I need feedback!
Here are a few samples:

On 2008-09-23 13:47, tikisbytyler wrote:
Aloha!

...............................

Your style looks familiar...

In my opinion, tiki and the Grateful Dead are not something that should be combined.

It's clear that you, like most in Florida, have been exposed to the Mai Tiki style of Wayne Coombs. If he saw your work, he might come after you! :wink: Just never put a pineapple on the forehead. Wayne really hates when people do that. He started doing that first.

That said, your work looks like a lot of other Florida carvers and all goes back to Wayne. If that's what is selling, okay, but, you should really consider a different style. No goofy teeth and lips. It's all very old for us here. The same face on a log with some little thing that makes it different from that one, be it a team logo or other symbol. It's been done to death.

If anyone here is going to buy a carving like that, they'd go to Wayne and get the original.

[ Edited by: Swanky 2008-09-24 09:47 ]

You obviously have some great carving skills! I do agree with Swanky though, the designs have a "I've seen that many times before" look to them. That's not to say that they look bad or ugly, they certainly do not. Borrowing design queues from the work of others is an excellent way to get started in a new artistic endeavor, but branching it out into a new direction is what will really spin people's wheels around here :) Hopefully the critiques of your work won't turn you off of this place as it has so many others :P Good luck!

I was gonna say something, but BK said it much better here.

I think this says it best also, so I cut and pasted it here. Swanky nice touch, very educational not confrontational, I like how you defined the Florida "style" When I put up soccertiki's picture I was going to say something like how Jimmy Buffet of you but that would be smartass when he wanted real feedback.

On 2007-09-03 23:31, Basement Kahuna wrote:
My tips (as one of the better-looking old guys): Get on Amazon, purchase the Book Of Tiki, and purchase some general books on Oceanic Art to get inspired. This is a must if you're going to call yourself a tiki carver. Get down to the molecular scale of tiki, the ancient Oceanic Art. The embryo from which this all grew. Take it higher and learn the traditions. Polynesia is the wellspring that you want to draw from. Now-there's a million tikis out there stuck in "faceville". You don't want to get stuck there. They're a dime a dozen, twenty guys in every coastal town doing them for a fast buck. A million takes on takes of takes of takes, if you get my drift.Half of them will be in the landfill in 15 years. It's merely the surface of what's out there, and whilst a good way to practice or get the feel of carving, you -really- need to imperatively attempt the most intimidating thing you're willing to tackle right off the bat. Push, Push, Push. You want your carvings to stand out. Plan the most over-the-top thing you can think of, buy your materials, draw it out, and go for it. You know if you can carve, one can clearly see that if you're getting the right results after a couple of trys. Don't be timid, don't stick to faces, learn Oceanic art, and don't hold back on trying anything.

Carve what you feel ..The old ladies on the forum always like to spill there coffee on the Florida carver!
GO RAYS!

I am not going to be one to ever criticize someone's carvings because I do not carve myself. However, I am willing to offer feedback when asked. You've got obvious skills. There's definitely talent there. I can't add much to that Basement Kahuna quote, but I do wholeheartedly agree with it. Dave (Basement Kahuna) is one of the finest tiki carvers around today. Listen to him. Dig through the TC archives and read his posts. And talk to Benzart, GMAN, tikimecula and others and study their work. These guys have mad skills.

Do you see that Tiki on bananabobs signature? That is a mid-century carving that he restored some years ago. The style is fantastic. Very creative and highly stylized. I would LOVE to see someone carve more like that in the Bumatay style. I find that to be more art (eye of the beholder of course) and less "roadside tiki". There's nothing really wrong with the style you're carving in. It has its place in the world. But I don't find it much related to either traditional Polynesian carvings or classic Polynesian Pop. And, as has been said here many times before, that style of carving is a dime a dozen. I see them everywhere in Florida.

Keep carving. Participate in the TC carving forum. Study the classics. Challenge yourself. That's my layman's advice.

I wanted to inject one more thing into this conversation. If you talk to Wayne Coombs (highly recommended - his showroom is in Cocoa Beach), he will tell you that his signature style Tikis (the common ones with the big teeth, big lips and pineapple on the forehead) are the ones that fly out the door. Tourists snap them up. But if you dig a little deeper in his shop, you will see some wonderful designs he has done (carvings and paintings) that carry a higher "art show" price. So a decision to take the high road in Tiki carving doesn't mean you have to stop making what sells. Look at Oceanic Arts. Same thing applies to them.

I want to preface this by saying that I myself am not a carver. And having tried it once or twice out of sheer curiosity, I have a real appreciation for how difficult it is, and how much talent it takes. You have some talent, that's for sure!

My only advice would be that it all completely depends on who your target audience is. The audience here, I feel, is very different than the audience that would most appreciate this style of work. If you sell these roadside in Florida (where I lived for over a decade, so I feel confident in saying this), I think you would do really well! Especially down in The Keys, around the Daytona Beach area, any beach town, or any area with tourists. I suspect that perhaps the majority of those most attracted to your style of carving may not be die-hard "Tikiphiles", per se. They may not be customers deeply passionate about the history of Tiki, or the roots of its traditions within. They may instead just be people who enjoy a fun aesthetic for their home or backyard, and who enjoy sipping a sweet frozen margarita from a mix while cranking up the Buffet and having their friends all come over for burgers on the grill, luau decorations from Party City, and a really great time.

And personally, I don't think there is ANYTHING wrong with that. I think there is room for all different kinds of love for Aloha. Besides, those who love the drink mixes and the Buffet have money too, ya know! Their dollar bills are just as valuable as ours, and are worth the exact same amount. I just think that, perhaps, you need to just figure out who you would like your target audience to be. Then ask THAT audience what they think, and you may get a completely different response than you have received here.

If this is the style of tiki carving that you feel the most passionate about, and you feel the most happy doing, stick to it. Work your passion. You may have to alter who you promote your craft to, and your target audience may, as a result, change. But just do what you most love to do, and the right audience for you (and their pocketbooks) will follow.

Good Luck!

On 2008-09-25 07:04, TikiLaLe wrote:
Carve what you feel ..The old ladies on the forum always like to spill there coffee on the Florida carver!
GO RAYS!

"There" indicates a place as in, "I live here not there." It is the opposite of "here.""Their" is the possessive of "they", as in "They live there but is isn't their house." Here you want to indicate that the house belongs to them. "They're" is a contraction of "they are", so that to say, "They're over there in their new house" means "They are over at that place in the new house that belongs to them."

Old ladies drink tea, know how to spell, and mostly, LIVE IN FLORIDA!

On 2008-09-25 21:13, bananabobs wrote:

On 2008-09-25 07:04, TikiLaLe wrote:
Carve what you feel ..The old ladies on the forum always like to spill there coffee on the Florida carver!
GO RAYS!

"There" indicates a place as in, "I live here not there." It is the opposite of "here.""Their" is the possessive of "they", as in "They live there but is isn't their house." Here you want to indicate that the house belongs to them. "They're" is a contraction of "they are", so that to say, "They're over there in their new house" means "They are over at that place in the new house that belongs to them."

Old ladies drink tea, know how to spell, and mostly, LIVE IN FLORIDA!

did anyone NOT see THAT coming?

BananaBobs...try some decaf!

On 2008-09-26 12:58, TikiLaLe wrote:
BananaBobs...try some decaf!

Ding dong the witch is dead, the wicked witch...

On 2008-09-26 04:20, TIKI DAVID wrote:
did anyone NOT see THAT coming?

I'm sorry, were you asking to dance again?
The last dance got me too hot, I need to cool down a bit.
Let's sit this one out and try some other day.