New stuff added!!

Sweet carve dude!!!

That's an excellent carving. Very good photography as well AS. You should consider entering those images in a photography contest. Maybe Grog could convert them to "Velvet". Sweet!!

beautiful carve. you couldn't ask for a better background if you paid for it yourself. great sunset for a great carve.

bd

Nice personality on that one!
I like it when they come to life like that!
:)

Dang! That's so colorful it looks like a cartoon...Ahhhh how I miss those Florida skies. How big is he Tom? Looks 3 footish? Just a good classic carve, with lots o' personal style! Excellent!

Glamour indeed! Nice color, interesting base. Got any closer shots? So what color stain do you put on Cypress?

Thanks for the great comments - the background is my backyard. Homegrown, tropical and dry as a bone at this time of the year. The Bird of Paradise is blooming and I wanted to do more with it. The photos were interesting - I started at twilight and kept coming back every 10-15 minutes till I got the right light. The really nice ones were taken when it was actually dark out and the light ones were taken at twilight. Contest - no. I may offer prints if anyone is interested?? I don't like doing closeup detail, because then you can see all of the flaws. Here is the full rotation and other fun photos for everyone to see more. The wood checked in the perfect spots after I was finished carving - almost like I planned it that way!!

[ Edited by: AlohaStation 2009-02-23 17:35 ]

Yo, Tom, That Cypress Really makes you look Great! Nice wood and Incredible work. I remember lots of Nice ccarves with that wood, you need to get as much as possible.

A very nice creation, plenty of character (and the perfect lighting didn't hurt either)! The cypress is kind to you.

Nice Job Sir.

Beautiful work, Tom.

Classic Aloha Station style, with some great wood tones in there.

Envious of the backyard... just a whole lot of cold snow here for another month... no tropicals until June!

tom, that's really nice. i'd like to add that to my collection. :D

hope you're doing well my friend.

Really well, even without the background setting. The relationship between the size and details is a great work....very smooth..

Wow! this guy is the bomb! Nice classic AlohaStation look
great expression Fantastic!

aloha

great optical illusion you used there. when i say it at night or twilight the piece appeared 6 to 10 ft tall. yeah closeups show all the flaws and the only person that sees those flaws is the person carving. don't be so hard on yourself, the piece looks great.

bd

YOU do wood...GOOD! :D

I love the combination of the warm grin and the folded hands. It just gives the tiki such an inviting and even "homey" feel, very warm. Awesome work!

Aloha!

Marcus

Has it really been almost a month since I last posted. I guess I should get off my ass and start to share some of the stuff I've been working on.

First up is an illustration that I have been playing with for some time. Just for fun.

I have some wood stuff done that just needs to photographed. Coming soon.

Quite Awesome Tom. I want to be in that scene right now!

Cool Stuff AS, her Pendant matches her bellybutton!
About time you showed up around here, we thought you were off cruising the tropics or sumpthin'.

I spent a lot last week surfing which is rair for South Florida. Mostly choppy wind blown crap but it got me in the water. And unlike my northern TC brethren the air was in the 80s and the water is the mid 70s - beautiful. Well I promised some wood stuff so here goes.

This is a tiki that I'm not happy with. Carved in Cypress and stained with Dark Walnut. Bad choice. The Darks are too dark and the lights are too light. Oh well, there's no changing it now. Let me know what you think.

Next is another chunk of cypress finished with a different stain. A blend of several cans, so I will never be able to get this color again. It kind of has a green tint to it. Started carving but never had a plan and this guy just kind of emerged.

I've got a couple of pens that are almost finished as well but they need a few more coats. I should have those to show this weekend.

Oh come on! It's not that bad!
In fact, it's really good! Both of 'em!

^Agreed

Both "bad" stains are making the wood look almost like monkey pod. Not a bad look at all!

The detail on that skull is great, Tom.. Whats the sizes on these?

Tom, I really think both carvings are top notch!

Don't worry about the stain, they look fine.

We're our worse critics sometimes... many times I'll show my wife something and she won't even see the same thing that bothers me.

I think your end grain stained darker in those areas where you carved a slope... it has happened to me many times on certain woods.

:wink: And damn you and your tropical surfing conditions! :wink:

Let me jump on board and say I like both of 'em too. Your toothy tikis
always have a "livliness" that is missing in a lot of toothy fellas,
it's like the wood is trying to say something.

the grain on the dark tiki is just wonderful. don't see why you don't like it. and seriously anything with a skull has me sold.

bd

it stinks.

:lol:

send it to me.

I think Surfer is a tad bit jealous of your carving conditions. I think the Walnut stin makes the wood look like some wild tropical Exotic wood, Way cool carve. Also, the mixed stain has a Really nice glow to it, I Likes it! Wwe need to see More. Also the Molokai Illustration is too cool too!

I think what the dark walnut stain stresses really the contrast grain of this piece of cypress, for me it is a success...The second is yet more succesfull, maybe because he wear better this strange smile AS style...

J.

Thanks for comps everyone. Its not that I hated it - I just wasn't happy with the way the Cypress took the stain. Live and learn. The Cypress carves really nicely, but does not like the dark stain. I still have quite a bit of it to carve.

Lake - you are exactly right. The end grain absorbed all the stain and the more vertical grain deflected it a bit. Cypress reminds me a lot of the White Pine with the very contrasting grain.

Freddie - The skull guy is a little over 12" and the darker one is 24"

I am taking next week off and should have some time to carve!! I still have a 15' root ball that needs to be finished!!

Hey Aloha! You're TFlounder over on d.a.! Really good stuff! I need to pick up some knives, your work is inspirational. Can't wait to see more!

Yes I hear you on the dark light one, but the skull fella
is classic work!

mibjaba - yeah, I am usually known as Flounder but when I signed up here the name was already taken. So I became AlohaStation!!!

Here's a little something I've been playing with for a while. I started out making the Ku. It was too big to be pendant and too small to be a stand alone tiki. Drilled a whole in his head and whipped up a mechanical pencil to complete it. The top is a push button mechanism for the pencil lead - it also has a cap that covers the eraser. The picture is of my daughters hand - so the proportions may appear big. The pencil fits nicely in the hand and writes excellent.

Here's my other little side project . Its a 13' rootball - the tiki is maybe 8'. It needs to be burned and sealed and its ready to go.

Great looking pin holder! Love the look on this guy
like he is one tough sucker.

Hair ball is cool. Man you have so many carves in work.

I like the Aloha Station it reminds me of David Bowie's album
Station to Station

Awesome root ball! And nice "Ku who has a pen"! Very original...
Have you turning and carving the pen?

Yeah, Love the Pen And Pen Holder. You continue to Amaze me Tom, but I think you and that Hair-Ball could use a Haircut. :o

SsweeetT carves AS!!! Any chance of turning that rootball into a pencil? Maybe a clone of rooty into a pen & pencil set???

Keep stokin' fires of creativity braddah! :D

Hot damn Tom!

Beautiful detail in the latest pen, and a great idea!

The pineapple carving on the pen and the posture and sneer on the tiki are wonderful!

So many great elements all tied in on this piece.

And the rootball, great work!

I wish I could get ahold of one of those... but alas, no palms in the Frozen Tundra!

I do have my eye on some trees on the lakeshore that fell out of the bluff, If I can save some of the root structure I can come close to a Northern version of the rootball tiki.

Keep up the great work... very inspirational!

I love the pencil holder! That's a powerful shape- nice and blocky. Looks about a three pounder- am I close?

Aloha Tom!!!You really have it giong on my friend!Your style is really Kooool and the line's really flow together.Love the pen holder and the rootball looks Smokin.Always nice to see your carvings!!! will pop by every now and again,Aloha, your friend Mooney

laojia - Yes, the pens and pencil blanks are turned on a lathe and then carved.

Seeks - "station" came from a Bill and Ted's movie. Remember the 2 guys in heaven that built the robots! Yeah - I know, what the hell was I smokin? But I came up with my screen name in like 5 minutes - now I'm stuck with it.

TJ - I like the pole as well but it won't work was a pen - its just too big!

LS - There was a guy I saw somewhere that actually did the tree root tiki. The thing was massive. The memory isn't telling me where I saw tho - Alabama maybe?? I can hook you up with a log if you come to Hukilau??

mijaba - 3 lbs - not even close. The entire pencil and holder are only a few ounces. Its carved in home town Mahogany.

Mooney - holy crap where have you been hiding??

More coming soon. I am off to Weeki Wachee and Homosassa Springs for the next few days and I will post up another pen when I get back. Mermaids and manatees - woohoo!!

[ Edited by: AlohaStation 2009-04-06 14:51 ]

Here's a crappy cell phone picture of the finished rootball. I will be posting this in the Marketplace as soon as I get some decent photos. PM me if you are interested. He weighs alot, but I am willing to negotiate delivery in Florida.

Awesome carve !! What would it cost to get it a few miles down the road to Boca. Just kidding. I am sure it weighs a ton. He needs a name like Elvis or someone else with a lot of hair. BUFF

he should be named Wayne....:wink:

Where are you located Tom? I'd love to come check out your carvings. I'm in Sunrise near the Sawgrass mall

[ Edited by: thegreenman 2009-04-13 15:55 ]