PalaPala's latest mugs! win a free mug ! Killa Drink custom mades and OTR's. now on etsy.com!

Hey everyone - here's my first attempt at a reproducible mug of my design. Love to get some feedback from you all - if all goes well I should be able to market these on ebay in the fall. This first one is a human skull, but I plan to use the same pineapple with dog, cat, monkey, and bird skulls. Let me know what you think!
This mug holds 8 oz of your favorite poison, and fits comfortably in the palm of your sweaty little hand...

A bit about me....

I live in the Seattle area,and we are just getting to know all the Tikinestas in the area. We have attended the last 2 home tiki bar crawls.I have a mug collection on Ooga- Mooga at http://www.ooga-mooga.com/cgi-bin/all/collection.cgi?mode=gallery&user_id=329 .

My husband, Lopaka and I have "the zombie hut tiki lounge" in our basement.you can see pic's of it, and us on http://yako.homeserver.com/tikilounge . I have been learning ceramics, and have begun to do mould making for slip cast mugs. I'm very proud of my first "Death apple" mug, and am looking to refine the glazes and design.

My backround in tiki culture started in L.A. in the early '60's, when my Mom and dad would take us to "The Luau" restaurant in Bevery Hills, California for dinner on a regular basis for a rumaki and pork rib feast.Dad would get his Navy Grog, and I would be ecstatically absorbed with the over the top kitchy Polynesian decor.

A trip on the Matson line cruse ship to Hawaii when I was 9 was such a revelation, that it coloured my vision of what paradise should be to this day .I guess I'm a senior member of the tiki movement, since I was involved at the first go around of the love affair all things Polynesian. My Grandma and grandpa had what they called "the lanai" it was a beautiful room in their house
full of Hawaiian and kitch memorabilia. great stuff!so, my family tradition continues with me.

Mega Mahalos,
PalaPala

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-07-22 09:19 ]

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-07-22 13:13 ]

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-09-08 21:07 ]

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-09-09 09:06 ]

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-09-09 09:10 ]

Very Cool! It's fun to create ceramics! Great Job! Cheers! Gogo

I like it a lot. Nice pineapple yellow glaze. The fez tassels, the small string end, is a nice touch. ONly one suggestion to make it better, take it or leave it, is a little more "depth" to the opening, the leaves. The slightest thickness to the middle of the leaf or the tiniest of texture. Just so its not a slab cut. A slab is a more dead object verses getting a little more hand worked shape. ~tea

Very nice! (good call TeaKey). Can the pineapple crown be molded & slipcast or will you cast the pineapple and add the crown?

oh very nice Palapala! Welcome! love the little fez-skull!!

Hi PalaPala...welcome to TC. Your home is beautiful and great collection. We are Tiki sistas...since I see you have a girl Tiki from Bill. I just got my VampTiki from him at Oasis. :) Keep posting pics of your ceramics...love the pineapple.

The pineapple part of my mug is a casting of a pressed glass vase. the leaves at the top are the "neck" of the vase, so, when I make the casting, I cut and folded it to look more like a true pineapple.I have been at work at creating more images to use on the front... So far I have an evil kitty and a monkey skull...I think I might create a dead drunk moai, too!
BTW...I'm changing the name of this mug line to "dirtnapple".what do you think?
MahaloZ,
Pala

Aloha all -
I'd like to introduce my two new mugs. These are first in the run and I'm still playing with the glazes. So hopefully for your pleasure and entertainment, presenting, Uke-to-pus (the somewhat twisted love-child of a ukelele and an octopus with a little tiki seasoning thrown in ), and Maui Onion ( don't cry for me, polynesia ) . And as an added bonus, a dirtnapple "goodbye kitty".

I'm thinking about making these available exclusively to Ooga Mooga and Tiki central-ites for a while. I have no idea how much to ask for them at this point; what do you think and/or offer?

Mahaloz, and Enjoy:

"Love to get some feedback from you all..."

The pineapple has a cool look to it, I like the leaves, and the glaze is especially nice. But I don't care for the decorations you add onto them. For me, the decorations distract from the design.

I wonder if a plain pineapple mug might have some appeal to others.

Or maybe not. Some of the artists I like on TC no one else seems to think much of.

Hi Pala, I love the vintage looking patina you get on those 'Dirtnapple' mugs. Makes them look like they've been around for a while. Great job! :)

Thanx, woofmutt and Mr. 3 P!
It would be easier by far to just make the Dirtnapples without any press molded additions, just the body of the mug itself..Maybe I'll slip cast a few and see how they do...The glazes on the mug are exclusive to the art school I work out of, and I'm never sure how they'll fire out.
Sometimes shiny, sometimes matt, or a mix of the 2. Glad you like the look!
I'm really proud of my Uke-to-pus, and I think I'll try some of the same glazes on one.
I like the matt look a lot!

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-04-13 15:32 ]

ummm I hate to say this because I will never hear the end of it from Ruzic.
But.....I just got it, the light bulb just went on, I had the dirtnapple revelation

Dirt nap
pineapple
dirt nap ple
dirtnapple
ooooOOOOoo
thats clever

https://tikicentral.com/uploads/3734/44e0b79e.jpg

[ Edited by: Sophista-tiki 2009-04-18 07:59 ]

hi!

Your pineapple mug is just great,and to woofmutt's post, a plain one would be cool too.

Great job!

amy

Love the Uke-to-pus mug... It kind of resembles the Aloha Jhoes duk-duk logo from palm springs. Very polished and professional looking. Keep em coming!

Ohhhh...and I have no idea how much I would offer (cause I'm poor AND cheap, so I don't want to set some cheap standard for your work) but if you start selling your mugs, I'd love to purchase one! The green glaze on the uke-to-pus is awesome!

ok ohana - Here's the latest mugs fresh out of the kiln. Love some feedback, though i'm pretty happy with my Maui onion with the little green stem crown; its a lovely shade of semi-matte brown.

( Lopaka noticed that the small shot glass used to lift the mugs up makes it look like the mugs are floating on a magnetic repulser field - Its really a magic Rum transporter, so that the mug never empties! :) ( demonstrations available )

Here's a Uke-To-Pus with a transparent bottle green glaze over a dark brown stain with a semi-translucent purple inside.

This one was done with calcium carbonate stain and then transparent matte glaze over the basket weave body of the mug. Inside is translucent green.

These colors and stains are identical to the dirtnapple mug. Transparent browny gold with a brown stain, a bottle green transparent on the details and the inside.

Dirtnapple plain and simple with no added press molded details.

Dirtnapple glaze without the green with a brown stain underneath. No little onion crown.

This is my favorite of the moment. Semi - transparent matte brown, with a darker brown stain underneath. Semi-translucent green on the onion stem crown. I like the detail of this, cause it gives it a more "onion-y" quality, and a nice little straw rest into the bargain.

Hi Pala! Nice work!! I like them all and especially love the pineapple. You have many talents!
(ps-I'm still working on ideas for your 'evil' diorama :) )

Question to all you artists and mug lovers out there: What do you think of this "mistake" - that happened when I put too much copper stain on the mug body, then put transparent matte glaze on top? It fired kind of interesting and blotchy with a verdigris quality like its been undersea for a while. Does it look cool, or should I stick with a solid tone? Happy mistake, or horrible twist of fate? You be the judge...

bottlecrowns and Uketopusses!
Beautiful!
Quite a happy Accident on that last one!
Jot it down and wait til the right piece sings for it!

Super cool mugs Palapala!

Hey Palapala - I like the mistake mug, but maybe you could have a different color with the turquoise in the spaces around it? It would look great with a pale watery gloss blue or really pale lemon yellow...

(Babalu is always making little tests on bent pieces of pottery to try different glazes, then you write the glaze name on the back.)

Jeez, missed alla yer May posts.

Dig the "Dirt Napple" sans ornamentation. Very strong.

The onion design is also strong, the face is good and I really like the way the opening looks with the greens. Really cool design and a clever take on a Hawaiian icon.

The glazes in general are really cool and I like the color combinations.

Thanks for the feedback!
Ken-I'm listening for that Muse a hollerin' all the time!

Mp-thanks, too.

Wooffie-your suggestion to make "naked dirtnapples" was a great one, and thanks for the Maui onion props!

cammo-the copper stain I used that ran is an interesting way to color ceramic works...If you just leave it plain, without any glaze on top, It stays a dark kind of matt brown, but if you glaze over it it goes green-blue Verdigris, so, when the transparant glaze ran, it left that brown unglazed look behind, so I could'nt do a different color in the brown spots unless I reglazed and fired again.
More mugs to come!

here's my latest mug..

(I got this text from http://www.art-pacific.com/artifacts/nuguinea/sepikriv/sepikmid/yentmeri.htm)

This style of Sepik River female figure is originally from Yenichenmangua Village.(1) Their carvings are usually plainer with no body painting. Tambanum Village carvers recently began making this primal woman. They often decorate her with their clan designs. One version has bat wings.

She is sometimes referred to as hewe-meri or two-kina meri because of her split-leg stance, but she is actually a protector of women. Her traditional name varies from village to village depending on the language group. She is said to have great protective power over women. If she sees a man abusing a women, she can turn him into woman. People will tell of hearing a story where this actually happened in the recent past.

Powerful female figures are common in clan stories. Many creation stories feature a woman who gives birth to the first members of the clan. She often discovers, or is given by a spirit animal or bird, the knowledge and tools that the villagers will need to survive in the jungle. A typical saying is that women had the power or discovered the knowledge, but the men took it from them.

I'm still playing with the glazes..And I've decided to put actual eyes on her, I've been told She's pretty creepy, as it is! She's the first mug I've done that's kinda serious..but I hope she appeals to men and women alike..now you can feel that your drink is safe from evil!
BTW, I've decided to sell my mugs for $35.00 each, except the naked dirtnapple...that one is $25.00..

Make me somthing Tripical. You know,a mai-tai,with 3 shots of rum!
Is it just me, or do whales look like they're built upside down?

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-06-27 11:17 ]

Here's my latest efforts. I've been playing around with High-Fire glazes.

I'm not sure I like them yet, the glazes are simply not as vivid and

they don't seem to want to stay in one place.

The mugs for Lopaka and Digitiki and my niece are low fire.
if anyone wants a custom mug, PM me!
$35.00 each for a custom killa drink,
$22.00 for a naked dirtnapple.
I'm up for trades or negotiation, if you've got a good story to tell!

High-Fire Naked Dirtnapple:

High-Fire Custom Killa-Drink kinda bleed-y and scary...

Side View custom mug for DigiTiki

Front view custom mug for DigiTIki

My Husband's custom Killa Drink mug

Killa Drink in soda blue glaze for my niece's High School graduation ( Berkeley High - yes, we are contributing to her upcoming delinquency )

Make me somthing Tripical. You know,a mai-tai,with 3 shots of rum!
Is it just me, or do whales look like they're built upside down?

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-07-22 13:22 ]

I just hope you didn't let her get behind the wheel after downin' that whole mug of guacamole.

Palapala, your high fired naked dirtnapple reminds me of one of my favorite summertime treats - grilled pineapple :)

Nice work! Good luck with your high fire ventures.

I just had a bad feeling about my post...since I'm hoping to sell some mugs, do I need to put that info on tiki marketplace, or is it ok to just mention it here?
Oh, and Woofie, she did drive after, and there was an unfortunate but delish rear ending of a dorito's delivery van... Oh the humanity!

Make me somthing Tripical. You know,a mai-tai,with 3 shots of rum!
Is it just me, or do whales look like they're built upside down?

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-07-22 13:31 ]

Get a separate thread going in Marketplace. You can link back and forth but ideally you should post images over there.

Some people come here to shop, some to admire art. Quite a few people only check their favorite forums.

Here's my first non custom "Killa drink" mug that's for sale...

they all start out
with a blank banner on the back, and I put whatever seems right on it...this one has "Okole Maluna" which is Hawaiian for bottoms up.

I want to know from you all what OTHER silly stuff I should put on the banner for selling on Ebay and etsy.. here's some that I've thought might work.

I'm with stupid(arrow pointing up)

Tiki trollop

I'm with the band

fill drink repeat

If anyone comes up with somthing that makes me laugh for one to two minutes, I'll make one for them and send it out free!

Let me know what your fevered little brains come up with!

bump!
what's your tiki-drinking mottos?
win a mug to help me create cool banners on my new "killa Drink" mug!

[ Edited by: palapala 2009-09-09 20:46 ]

On 2009-09-09 18:10, palapala wrote:
bump!
what's your tiki-drinking motos?
win a mug to help me create cool banners on my new "killa Drink" mug!

Hows about "Down the Thatch!" -c.2009 TikiJoesOcean (some serious tiki-pun there)

& thanks again for my "Uke-to-pus" Palapala! Keep churning 'em out!

-Andy
http://tikijoesocean.com

good start! slightly lewd, and a nice reference to Portlands fabu Tiki lounge!
Mahaloz, and keep 'em commmin'!