nukke's clay play - new mug in the work

If you're in Israel and want tiki mugs for your home-mixed cocktails, glass cabins or whatever, here's what you do:
a. Spend a fortune on an airfare ticket, then go to Tikifarm's yard-sale/ Pay extra in the Kowloon for their Hurricane glass/ forget about the electricity bill that needs to be paid upon your return home and convince yourself that if things get really bad, that Bosko mug can be solf for profit on ebay.

b. mail-order. Pay for shipping twice as much as you pay for the actual mugs while making calculations in the lines of "it's a birthday gift for myself in lieu of the New Year giftcard from work that can be used for daily grocery shopping".

c. take ceramics classes. Pay each month the sum of a bi-weekly order from Tiki Farm. Waste time on failed attempts in all stages of the process. Come home with things you dare refer to s "tiki" until you return home and see the creations of fellow Centralites in the Other Crafts forum. But you love the teacher, like some of your classmates, enjoy some quiet time after work and eventually learn to like what you do.

So--- here's a sample of my work.

This mini shot glass is one of my first attempts on the Wheel. I carved/ added parts based on/ inspired by an OA carving pictred in The Book of Tiki page 143. White clay, glazed with Tamaku, given to Bigtikidude.

My first series, named Pisa Luau cos it's as straight as the Tower of Pisa, based on a wooden statue pictured in The Book of Tiki, page 186. I made a plaster mold for it and stamped slabs, hence the varied sizes. Made 6 of these - one was given to my brother, one to my brother-in-law, the third got lost in the mail (I suspect it never left that dingy p.o in University Ave, San Diego :/). White clay. Made another mug with this stamp using yellow clay, that's been through bisque firing, and planning to make a few more, planning a grape-purple glaze for them.

this bowl looks so much better in real-life, I swear. 4 differet types of clay, standing on 3 Tahitian-style tikis, each holding a skull. Height: 11.5 cm (4.5"), diameter: 17 cm (6.7").

and a closeup on one of the feet:

that's it for now. More to come whe glazing/firing's done.

Keren

[ Edited by: nukke 2009-05-29 09:30 ]

[ Edited by: nuKKe 2009-06-30 12:49 ]

[ Edited by: nuKKe 2009-06-30 22:48 ]

[ Edited by: nuKKe 2010-04-10 12:31 ]

Good job. GROG especially like the bowl with the multi-colored clay and the Tahitian style tikis holding skulls. Those ceramics classes are paying off.

[ Edited by: GROG 2009-04-18 09:39 ]

those r nice lookin mugs-sweet glaze job! :drink:

thank you, GROG and annamarikitiki.

Here's a cell-phone shot of the first batch of my Moai series, nicknamed The Levayevs, after one of Israel's financial tycoons, whose facial features are as wide as this bunch's.
They went in the kiln of Thursday and are supposed to come out sandish-brown if I recall correctly, the liquid, pre-kiln colour and texture of the glaze is lava-like. It was so awsome I had to take a souvenir shot and almost didn't want to burn them.

Very solid work - much better than airfare and then not having enough for your bills. I also like the multi-colored clay, very interesting.

dcman

NuKKE, the bowl is way cool! Keep doing what makes you happy, keep improving your skills, keep looking for new inspiration - HAVE FUN!

Im diggin the moai styley!

:sheckymug:-noyes

the Moais are home and they're soooooo cool! Here are a few glamour shots

the glaze is stone-like, pinkish with hints of green. Here's a view from the top; you can see that these babies call for straws

here's a whole bunch of them

and for scale, with a Moai swizzle stick from Archie McPhee

4 more classes are left til the teacher's maternity leave. I plan to make a couple of other Moais (and finish my plaque for the PNG art swap by then, finish some non-tiki smaller projects and maybe sculpt a one of a kind mug, if time permits.
thanks for looking!

That stone glaze turned out great, well done (beautiful eyes too :wink:)

Good stuff!

thank you :wink:

those Mugs are very kool .

Love the Moai! :)

Nukke, I love those mugs. Great expressions and I love seeing them all together.

Hey nuKKe- You kicked butt on that bowl! I love your colors, and the moai are full of character- Cool stuff!

Hey NuKKe
those Moai are very cool.
can I buy 1?
:wink:

or are they for your house?

Jeff(bigtikidude)

On 2009-06-03 10:35, bigtikidude wrote:
Hey NuKKe
those Moai are very cool.
can I buy 1?
:wink:

or are they for your house?

Jeff(bigtikidude)

let's take it offline :wink:

thank you all for the comments about the Moais. I'm happy to say that a couple of weeks ago one of the gang landed safely somewhere in the US and handled a portion of Mai Kai Barrel of Rum, so I've been told :wink:
Here's my piece for the Tiki Art Swap that's taking place here in the forums.

It's a ceramic wall plaque made of red (background) and white (carved bit) clay, adapted from a wooden plaque-shield that belongs to a friend's mom, who was PNG's honorary consul here in Israel. Her apartment is filled with amazing Oceanic art and artifacts. My friend had promised me a play-date with her mom in a couple of weeks - can't wait!

Very cool nuKKe! You going to take and post pictures of the PNG goldmine?

Cute Moais
and this PNG Swap piece is most excellent!
GIRL POWER!

On 2009-06-30 12:48, nuKKe wrote:
thank you all for the comments about the Moais. I'm happy to say that a couple of weeks ago one of the gang landed safely somewhere in the US and handled a portion of Mai Kai Barrel of Rum, so I've been told :wink:

Oh, you mean this one....... :wink:

& very nice piece for the Swap!! :)

Hey NuKKE,

That Swap piece is just breath taking!! Two thumbs waaaay up :-)

I like that piece a lot! How about another pic or two from an angle?

[ Edited by: 4WDtiki 2009-06-30 15:51 ]

On 2009-06-30 14:00, croe67 wrote:

Oh, you mean this one....... :wink:

& very nice piece for the Swap!! :)

Yes! Thanks for posting!

thank you, MDM (it's already there), LLT, Babalu and 4WDTiki.
I haven't taken pics from other angles, as there is nothing to see on the side.
Oh, I wanted to show you this -

(sorry for the pic that really doesn't do it justice). Grandma Malka finally gave up and gave me this wall piece that she carved. In the mid 1990's my grandmother started takig woodcarvind/ sculpting classes at the senior citizens' community center in her neighbourhood. Her tutor, she always tells forbade them using reference images. "Work with your imagination and with the wood", he said. This is one of her first pieces, carved in 1995. Born and raised in Tel Aviv, I don't think she knows what tiki is (she's been to Florida in the late 1970's, but couldn't confirm a visit to the Mai Kai (as opposed to my maternal grandparents who've been to Hawaii and to a Benihana restaurant, evidence is here). It is neither 'pure' tiki nor African, but I've always loved this slim and smooth piece and for a few years I've been nagging her that I want it. She refuses to part with her work and it took alot of persuasions from my uncle, who noticed my fascination with this piece, but eventually she gave it to me.
Grandma stopped carving a few years ago, due to neurological deficiencies and now lives in an apartment filled with wooden glory - from kitchy bamby pieces (she managed to sneak a reference image once!) to neat abstract-modern creations. This one greets whoever enters our living room - mostly the cats.

Long time no updating and I've got plenty of excuses in hand. Here are the main two:

1. In July my ceramics teacher gave birth to a beautiful baby girl (whom I had the honor to nanny for a couple of months in the winter) and took a maternity leave for a few months.

2. For someone who makes her living off of the internet I'm really lousy when it comes to actually uploading pictures.

I haven't been making many tikis this year, but until I actually take pictures of completed projects, here's a progress shot of Cook's Loot, a series inspired by a sculpture taken by Captain Cook on his expedition to Hawaii It's HUGE and the mold is so heavy that I am discouraged by it. The first bisqued, underglazed, double-glazed duo went in the kiln for the 3rd time on Thursday, but here it is, fresh out of the mold.

nuKKe, good to see your work again. Sounds like life is full! Cook's Loot is a hoot! Hope you sell it for lots of cash so you can buy your own kiln :)

Cook's Loot- what a great name! Can't wait to see the finished pieces.

On 2010-04-10 19:03, MadDogMike wrote:
nuKKe, good to see your work again. Sounds like life is full! Cook's Loot is a hoot! Hope you sell it for lots of cash so you can buy your own kiln :)

LOL - looks like I need it, because my teacher's closing down the studio in a couple of months; she's doing the escape to the country thingy and while raku sessions are planned, it cannot be compared to the weekly classes.

:o
WOW!!!!!

That looks just AMAZING - a very original & cool design for a mug!

Oh, and welcome back :D

Hey nukke haven't seen your thread before, cool style!

Aloha, Nukke! Your moai mug completed its journey today, safe and sound; it's a great addition to my collection!

Is sure dig the authentic tribal art vibe you've got going.