Tikisbytyler - Carvings From Neptune - Lono and pals

WHEW!!!!

Back from the festival. What a lot of work that was. Only sold two small pieces, but at least I sold two! Sold the Hibiscus from page 1 of this thread and the character study with an arrowhead shape forming his nose from the previous page. Very low turn out at the festival. Less than 1/5 of what was expected.

Oh well, chalk it up to experience! Did give out a ton of business cards and got a taste of carving in front of a crowd that knows nothing about tiki. As soon as I find the camera I'll post pics of the set-up.

Thanks for stoppin' in!!

Tyler

Well my pics from the festival suck. No good action shots, Only one panoramic of the tent & it wasn't decorated yet. Got 1 of both my girls though, hangin out with Lono eatin pistachios.

Also had my first website generated sale today!!! Sold one I've been hangin on to now for 12 yrs.
The lightest color one in the background at the far corner of the tables. A guy in California googled tikis & found me! By the way, if any one is interested, PM me. I am always trying to reduce inventory to make room for new creations!!! Let's make a deal!

Thanks for stoppin in.
Tyler

Nice body of work you've got now, Tyler.
Keep it up!

Whoa!!!

I think I drifted off, there.

Wait.. What year is it?
Man have I been a slacker!
How bad is it when yer too lazy to sit around & carve tikis?!?
So I got my tools out after a few months of dust settled.
Knocked out a couple quickies today.
Not my best work, but warming up for a 8 footer I just knocked the ferns off of.

Thanks fer stoppin by y'all.
Good to see so much beautiful work around here.

Tyler

I like 'em! Just knocked these off today, huh? Just like that. Hmmm, not too shabby! You probably did these in the same time it takes me to mow the yard. Sheesh. :lol:

Yes nice work for just knocking them out.

You gots some serious talent Mr Tyler when you want to apply it. Man you get Smooth finishes and nice Clean detail lines and fine finishes. All your works deserve that level of detail.
We gonna see you at this upcoming Hukilau? I'd sure like to see your stuff there! C'mon Down!!

you knocked them out today??? ok now i feel like a slacker! really nice. i feel lucky if i can knock ONE out in a week. keep knocking them out!

bd

Nice recovery, I like the expression a little brutal of these tikis, it really feels especially force content ...

Thanks BD, Seeks & Big "T". Didn't mean to sound pomp or anything. Now I feel like an ass.
The 'ol carvin bug just bit the sh!# outta me this morning.

Ben, coming from the master, I'm honored. Thank you for the kindness.
Really want to come to Hukilau! However unless I sell something soon I may need to sleep in yer shop r sumpthin. Lemme know if ya got any suggestions! I still want some lessons in the small stuff, too.

More later this week.
Redneck art show in Palm Valley this weekend.
"Valley Trash" they call it.
Might as well show.

Tyler

jeez, didn't mean to make you feel like an ass, if i could produce like you do, i would definitely shout it out to the world. keep the chips flying and keep putting it out there.

bd

gotta agree with the others , your carvings are really IT!
saving my money for another one ...
and cant wait for the snow to melt up here so I can fire up a chainsaw myself.

On 2009-02-24 21:03, tikisbytyler wrote:
Thanks BD, Seeks & Big "T". Didn't mean to sound pomp or anything. Now I feel like an ass.

Nah, no worries man, you didn't come across that way. Just wish I had the talent to work that quickly. :wink:

Aloha, y'all!

Picked up a new ECHO last night!!!
4 lbs. lighter than my old saw, easier on the joints & top mounted handle & throttle (climbing saw???)
more power, more rpm's
...grunt, grunt ugh woohooooo!

sorry.. I think I got some testosterone in my eye.

Sooo... a new Moai is born since I had to get out and play with my new toy:

Stain & finish tomorrow,
Maybe give the little beast another workout.
(the saw you sickos!)

Thanks fer stoppin in.
Tyler

nice one!
never used to dig these shapes but lately they are gettin to me ,and this one is smooth!

tyler, great job! the moai looks great. congrates on the new echo. the dremel works great on small pieces but i definitely have to get a chainsaw for the bigger stuff. keep the chips flying and i look forward to the finished product.

bd

Whoah!

You definately have the "real" Moai soul going with that carving. You can feel the mystery even at this unfinished stage just staring right at you.

Aloha!

Marcus

Excellent start there Tyler. This Moai is already looking Alive!

Nice! Wow great shape, look and everything.

Ahhhhh, a boy and his new saw! Brings a tear to the eye! :lol:
Came out GREAT! Let's see some final money shots!
Are you going to get a different carving tip for the saw?

Well thew only pic I got after the final sanding, stain & finish was on the display table at the art show yesterday right before someone snapped him up! Also started another tall moai for a commissioned job. A lady here in town is using three of my sculptures as supports for a bar she is building. Anyone out there have experience in this? I have a few questions if so. Here is a shot of the table from the show and a progress shot of the new moai.

Thanks fer stoppin!
Tyler

Man that's awesome, just finished it, and poof! Sold! Except you don't get to enjoy him for a while first!

On 2009-03-01 09:58, surfintiki wrote:
Man that's awesome, just finished it, and poof! Sold! Except you don't get to enjoy him for a while first!

Yeah, that's the trouble with this whole set up. I really get attached to some of them and they sell too fast. I really liked that guy. (sniff)

On the bright side, I also sold the tall Florida style with the turtle in his head and the one on the ground beside him with the squinty eyes before the day was out! made a trade for another one not pictured for some nice pottery and one for an etched megalodon sharks tooth with a redfish in it! (Beautiful!)

More soon!!!
Tyler

What a great selection of carvings. I see why they are flying off the shelf.
I think im to selfish to sell mine right now and i would be working
for 50 cents on the hour at my speed.

Wow! These look REALLY neat. I love the fact that your youngest daughter is taking such a liking to all those tikis.

Aloha!

Marcus

Thanks to everyone for the kindness.

Surfin, where do I locate carving tips for chainsaws; I haven't had any luck. Just using standard cutting bars.

Aweulekuula, I have great respect for your work, I've been checking your thread. I appreciate your words. My oldest loves the tikis as well, she requested one for her own studio at her mom's house.

Seeks, Don't ever speed up. The quality you produce blows me away!

Got going on the sculptures for the bar.
This one is by request similar to the first Ku image I did.
The customer wants the back to be cut in at 90 degrees so that it can be built onto the corner of the bar.
She wants to be able to put a necklace on it similar to the one on my website, so I had to do some fancy cutting to make a channel for that.
Had to alter the proportions from front to back to allow for the large opening.

More soon!

Tyler
I'm starting to think I didn't charge this lady enough!

Anyway, I'm almost ready to start sanding.
Check out the shot of the negative space in the back; it's kinda eerie!

Feedback/suggestions please.
I have to cut two more the same way.

You are really crankin it up! I'm glad to see that you're having success with your tikis. Chainsaw carving is huge and there are many sites dedicated to the artform. Chain bars, motors and grinding tools are easily found just do a search for "chainsaw carving". They will not be tiki specific, but the process is the same. There are alot of cool videos on youtube.com as well. Hope you can make it to Hukilau this year - you'll fit right in.

Nice start, looking forward to seeing the finish on this one.

Your on fire don't stop! This guy has some great lines.

The back is fine from what i have heard it should
limit the cracking up front.

Go to the echo shop and see if the have the carving bar for
that type of saw. I have a great little carving bar for my little
stihl.

A little late on the update, I've been out with bronchitis for almost a week.
So these are the three that will make up the ends and corner supports for this bar.
The "florida" style got a kind of abstract blue crab with a couple of implied facial features worked in.
Trying to talk the buyer into a dark stain on the Ku, but I don't think she's going to go for it.
She wants the finishes to match as closely as possible.
Really enjoying the Moai shape lately, been adding more & more subtle curves.
They can really get a lot of expression out of a few lines.

This one has nothing to do with tiki, but a fun little (paying) carving project.
Just a simple sign 32" x 10" in cedar for the front door of a local business.
At least the guy wanted a skull, right?

Thanks for looking!

Tyler

Gearing up for two art festivals next Saturday. Luckily one of them is happening right in front of a local shop that carries my work already, so I don't actually have to be there. The lady that owns the shop is going to be set up out front, just going to take 6 of mine out with her. The other one is another one where I can carve on site & set up a tent with finished carvings close to where I will carve.

Here are some progress shots:
One just rough cut, two burned waiting to be sanded, and one sanded waiting to be finished.
The tall one is being shipped to New York on Tuesday.
If anyone out there knows anything about working with a third party sales company out of state, please PM me.
I have some questions about handling/ packing charges/ taxes, etc.

sorry about the photo quality, they are phone pics.

Well, trying to get back to some serious carving,
but been caught up in smaller items that I can pay the bills with.
Buncha little ones for the local art fests:

If the weather will ever lighten up around here, maybe i can get crankin' on the two 7 footers i've been staring at for the last 6 months.

Got a few pics back from the bar installation.
Three of my tikis are used on the corners of the bar.
Hoping to get some more shots of the rest of the set up soon.
The bar stools the customer went with are like individual swings suspended from the ceiling!
I'll try to get some better pics when she has the grand opening party.
The construction contractor sent me these.

Thanks for looking!

Shipped off six this morning to a resale company for their showroom!!!
They aren't ready for any high end stuff yet, but its a start.
These are the ones headed to them:

Also got started on something a little more interesting for a local lady that performs weddings on the beach here looking for a more traditional look.

She wants to be able to use him as a kind of podium to support the couples vows to each other & relevant papers.

He's about 45" tall in the center with a 25 degree incline.

Just stripped & roughed in the head dress shape so far.
Couldn't get any decent shots of my sketches; too light & my camera sux.

Updates soon.
Thanks for stopping by!

Quick update.
Got some of the body roughed in.
Feeling good about this one!
My daughter decided she wanted to show me a few things, too:

Come on teaKEY - chime in with yer wittiest comment here:

Nice collection of stuff. I dig the way your Aku Akus look, they remind me of Paul Bunyan (in a GOOD way) for some reason.

That new one is lookin' good!

Love the little girl with the chainsaw

Thanks, tea. I think she may be my best work to date.

Don't worry, the saw was cold. I just thought it was funny the first thing she did when her mom brought her back there to look at the new one was put on my glasses and pick up the saw.

nice work on all you tikis, I think your little girl, need some safety Equipment on before you let her started it up! it's a must when my dogs(only kids I have) what to help out. they look good in there hardhats and safety glass, but have a hard time hold the saw.

http://kiltedtiki.com

[ Edited by: KiltedTiki 2009-06-01 17:35 ]

Great stuff Tyler,that latest guy is start'n to look pretty
darn kool!

More nice tikis Tyler, how do you get your guys to show so much personality?
Love seeing your daughter learning to carve tiki already!

looking good the bottom fella has some killer cops going on.

Looking good. Remember safety first - she should have some gloves on! My kids are the same way. So I put them to work - either sanding or sweeping. They lost interest quickly!

Alright, so I'm working on this piece that is already partially paid for, I have a new occupational license for a small business operated out of my home, and one of my neighbors called the cops to complain about my chainsaw at 1:30 this afternoon.

The cop that came out called the city to see if my business license was valid and they told him that they expect me to "conduct all business related activities within the dwelling". So if I continue to get noise complaints they will revoke my license.

Anybody out there ever deal with anything like this???

In the short term, I still have to finish the carving I am working on.
I have a couple of gouges & chisels, but not a ton of experience with them.
Any chisel & mallet carvers out there got any tips for an old newbie?
I also am posting a pic of the few tools I have and would appreciate any suggestions on "must haves" to allow me to continue working in the meantime.

On the bright side this should force a steep incline in the quality of my work although it will come with a severe decline in speed!!!

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

here's a problem solver .....but I'm not sure if the jail time of permanantly deafining your neibors is worth it, you being a family man .
anyway you have a mallot so you take an ice pick and ........
hope it works out for you !
you've done some amount of chainsaw work allready whats changed recently?

Sorry, I have no experience with noise complaints. And whats wrong with using tools during the day?
But like you said, your work will improve. Just tell the customer he/she is getting a better piece of work but it needs a little more time. Keep your tools sharp and search the forum for tips on carving. And keep having fun!

That sucks! Go talk to your neighbor and try and work out
some deal on when you might be able to make noise.
Otherwise start swinging the mallet.