Conga....Wisconsin stuff!

we had a huge cold front blow through here as well on saturday. had to break out the leathers cuz it dropped into the high 50's at night and the high 70's during the day with clear skies. i'm still shivering. hope the weather clears for you and you can get your feet wet on a board. good luck.

bd

Cool snowy moai!
and the big conga Abelam turn out excellent!!

Tikifreak...always appreciate your compliments. I'll take credit for it
but most of my ideas are stolen, I just throw them together in different ways :)

Clarita...many thanks. I really enjoy your candles and recent carvings,
very cool stuff. These Abelam style carvings are among my personal favorites
of "authentic style PNG". I'm glad that a few people like them.

Hey Big Daddy, I finally think the snow is finished for several months (maybe 3).
All of the white stuff is finally gone and it's supposed to hit 80 today.
Yahoo.

Now I just have to think of something to carve...I have a nice 8 foot chunk of
basswood waiting for some attention.

The recent carve turned out great! The paint does add to it without being too much. This spring has been a wild ride, but it looks like summer is starting to take hold.

A big log carving is next???

Nice "Snoai" there Conga, you can throw him on the back of your bike and bring him on down too as Hee needs some Good Florida Sunshine too!

Conga, The amount of paint really enhances the piece, you used just enough and let the carve show off all your fine work, really amazing!

Thank you for the nice comments on the yard :)

Amy

excellent work keep it up

Better catch up on a couple of things around here.
Johnny...I've been keeping my eye on a big chunk of basswood, waiting for
it to speak to me. So far I can't hear anything, a minor case of carvers block.
I'll get over it.
Ben...no snow in the forecast till August but keep that extra bedroom reserved
for me, just in case :)
Queen Amy...many thanks again.
Marcus...thanks for visiting my little spot over here and for your endorsement
of my latest effort. It means a lot to catch your attention.

On 2009-04-21 05:04, congatiki wrote:
Many thanks Ben, Seeks and Babalu! I am always motivated and inspired by
your works and words :)
Well, what a state that I live in! In Wisconsin it's either "frost on the
pumpkin" or "Snowy Moai."

Snowy Moai, oooh baby, we gotta go now!

Oh Man! Hat's off to ya for carving in this weather! Yuk, is all I can say.

Ahhhh, Springtime in Wisconsin Surfintiki, no more snow, so you can leave
your hat on :)
Any respectable property owner would have spent all day cleaning up
the yard, but I spent the day messing mine up.

This is going to be another PNG influenced fella, I guess that's
what I do. But I also have a couple of other things started...

And then we have a big 9 foot chunk of basswood in the garage, I think
spring is gonna be fun.

Helloha, by northern Brotha!!!! Glad U got time to do some carvin'. Its all lookin' Great!! I spent the day cleaning up my yard, but as I got to the back of my house.... I stumbled upon a small snowpile...How shitty is that..... ANYWAY..... I did manage to chop up a few lil ones. Lookin' forward to touchin base with you soon... I will be coming thru to Wausau several times in the next few months.. Hopefully we can connect... Keep doin' your thing...
freddieB

Looks like this Fella is also very happy to have found the spring in your garden...Nice carve!

J.

Nice happy spring carve with a spring smile.
Ow it fills good when the leaves grow back.

I'm glad spring it's showing up at last, it's true the last tiki has a nice spring smile on his face, now TC may go back to have a lot of action!

I wanted to ask you, if you don't mind, how do you keep the logs, so they won't rot with the snow and all. do you debark them and seal the cuts and have to wait a lot to use them? or you work on them and wait to do the final details when they are more dry? or it depends on the kind of wood? I'm asking because here autumn it's coming and it's very very damp, but i thought if you can save the logs with snow and all maybe i can too, benzart told me to just use them green (it's ficus) but I can't use the 5 of them right now, so... just wondering :)

Thanks Laojia, Seeks and Clarita. Yea, sure is nice to get outside and carve in
nice weather. For the last several months its been indoor carving and then outside
in the cold for sanding and finishing up.

Clarita, I really don't do anything special with my logs other than keeping them in
my garage until I use them. I generally buy 4-6 basswood logs and toss them in my
garage until it's their turn for chizzlin'. Some I get split into half logs and
others are full round. The last few carvings are from pieces that were cut last
summer. I usually like to carve right after they are cut, still a little wet inside,
it's just like carving butter.

Most of my carvings are sorta moody, but I like the fact that my latest feller is
happy. He's gonna get a lot happier too!

Mess up that lawn!!! ha ha, forget the neighbors!
Where do you buy your logs from?

Aloha Conga! I likes the shoez in the pics ....they kinda look like something out of the Robin Hood :lol:

We need more Conga carving pics. Bring 'em on man!

-G

Gman, I'm glad you finally noticed the shooz, they were included in the shot for
your benefit. They are my painting/staining/carving/lawn mowing/lounging shoes
that my wife has tossed in the dumpster TWICE. They are really comfy and they
don't reek too bad unless you are close :) I have been piddling a little bit on
a few projects but progress is slow. Pics soon.

Sorry for the late response Surfintiki. I get a lot of my wood from these
guys.
http://www.logandveneer.com
They hold a huge "Forestry Field Day" every september, which is a big deal
up here in the northwoods (largely due to the free lumberjack breakfast that
they serve...people ARE cheap you know). I have done on-site carving there
the past few years, lotsa fun. I also have several customers (I sell cars/trucks)
who provide chunks of wood for free.
Stay tuned...pics this weekend.

lookin' forward to those updates!

snoai moai looks pretty dern cool. Especially with all that white stuff. :)

Your PNG carvings are still some of the most amazing carvings I've ever seen. Do you still keep them all and have them in your lounge?

The 9foot basswood log sounds exciting!!!! spring will be fun fo sho!

Many thanks Polynesiac, and thanks for keeping memories of my big
PNG pieces. I still have both of them, one guards the house, and
this one keeps watch over the Conga Lounge

And it was great to finally get some time for serious carving today.
I still haven't touched my 9 footer, but I made some progress on this
fella


And I'm working on a mask for the PNG swap in the "other crafts"
forum

And I'm working on a big bird figure and trying to get my
Whizzer motorbike started

Other than that not much going on around here.

Youz a bizzy boy. Cool bike. Thanks for the pics.

I always like to see pictures of your Lounge.

The latest carves are rocking, somebody is going to be happy with the PNG swap.

Have to wonder though, "haven't touched the 9.. and trying to get the whizzer started...." :)

Any more exotica been recorded now that the lounge is above freezing?

JP

• JP

[ Edited by: johnnyp 2009-05-24 03:17 ]

Conga!

This guy rocks!

Love the animation in his stance, with his head cocked sideways!

Nice work!

An the other stuff 'aint too shabby either! :wink:

Glad you're having some great weather to work in!

Not too bad down here either... some sun, some clouds... average around 68.

Nice work Conga! Diggin the new guy.

Holy cow Conga, you've been busy! Still carving that basswood, I see!

Ya Hum, that nose and eyes are on fire!
Nice Nice Nice!

Good good stuff! as always! Cheers to summer weather!

Many thanks Tikimecula, Finkdaddy, Seeks and Surfintiki. Made
minimal progress with the happy feller this week, but I did manage
some headway with the PNG "swap" mask. Still a lot of finishing to
do, but here is he

Keep up the incredible work guys, see ya later this weekend.

Yo, Conga, Love that PNG Mask. Seems it didn't take you very long at all to give this guy life, Well done.
Your other guy is gonna be great, with some new "Conga Wrinkles" added to make us sit up and take notice. You are certainly entering a new, higher level of craftsmanship here.
I think the Conga lounge is about to Overflow with tiki and as a quick remedy you should lighten the load by sending a few select pieces to my house, I'll select later thank you! :P :o

Hey Conga, whats new, Love your new PNG Mask...........

Thanks Ben. Turning cold up here again, thinking about Florida:-)
I could show up at anytime with a whole bunch of carvings on my back.

Anyway, nasty here today, time to work on basswood while the Menster Dr.
Ves services my bike.

Sweetness from the land of the north branch of the Sepik riverl

JP

Thanks for visiting Johnny. Hey, you making any headway with that Lono?

Man what a Sweet HAPPYHAPPYHAPPY Face, I Love this guy Conga.
Well Hukilau is this weekend so c'mon down, get some real sun'n'fun.
Bring the chizzels too it's a Working weekender.

I love coming to visit in here! Ahhh, the mind of Conga...

I see your keeping the North Country on fire as always... Keep posting Conga - your a TC Treasure!

are all treasures ancient?

jusskidding :lol: We love you man.

cool bike.

Thanks Babalu and GMan, you are making me blush. If I am a treasure,
then I am certainly ancient:-)
Well, after much deliberation I have decided that my latest figure
is finished. You all know how I like to fiddle with paint. I was
considering something very minimal for accents, but decided that he
is so happy that he doesn't need it. In this corner, 40 inches high,
12 inches wide, 6 inches deep....."Hauoli Hauoli Hauoli"

I also finished this mask for the swap, hope somebody likes it :)

He's 11X25, pine with shell eyes.
Thanks for checking in, Peace Out.

Conga,

Nice work on the new guy. He does look very happy...and he should....he gets to hang out with one of the koolest catz at the Conga Lounge!

Is that mask a type of self portrait? If so, I think your ears are bigger.

-G

Hey....you pickin' on my earz? When did you see 'em? Ross Perot and that
fella in the white house now got nuthin' on me.

Love the swap piece with his shell eyes, but the Happy face guy is the best, He is SO Lovable and looks like he has the nicest personality around. Anyone who looks into his eyes Surly must become immediately happy!

Conga, You're OK!

You're okay too Ben.
Thanks, he does have a happy vibe. In fact I was going to name him
"Happy Happy Happy." I didn't because you have that trade-marked right?
He's so happy he reminds me of you :)

Conga,

Some beautiful and creative pieces coming out of the Northwoods.

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine even though the temps are not very summerlike.

Keep up the great work, you are the inspiration for my latest interest in PNG.

I see how much fun you are having with it and that's what its all about!

Nice work you pulled out the old creative gene on this
guy. Nice job on the mask.

On 2009-06-10 16:42, congatiki wrote:
You're okay too Ben.
Thanks, he does have a happy vibe. In fact I was going to name him
"Happy Happy Happy." I didn't because you have that trade-marked right?
He's so happy he reminds me of you :)

(sniff) (blushing)
Thank you Conga!

Thanks Lakesurfer, Seeksurf and Benzo, the happy guy appreciates your
support :)
Ahhhhh, summer in the northwoods, FINALLY. I have been chizzlin' on another
big chunk of basswood, looks like it's time for Conga to carve a tiki!
Pretty minimal progress so far, pictures soon.
Now get off the computer everyone and get back to work!

Alrighty then. Over the weekend I found a little time to poke around
the back yard to select a new chunk of carving wood

Not much to choose from but I did select a nice chunk of basswood

And after about four hours it's starting to resemble something,
perhaps a tiki of some sort

I wish I could post a lotta cool pictures with sunsets and everything
but this little update will have to suffice.

Some really nice shape coming out down there.
Maybe some sunset shots next time buzzy or i men conga.

Yeah, Really looking cool, like maybe he's gonna be a Conga Tiki or sumpthin!

I like "Hauoli Hauoli Hauoli" a lot he is very cool!! :)