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Paipo's Stone Tikis V2.0 - 2011

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B

Beautiful, Paipo, I just couldn't help myself either.
Nice!

BD

BE - YOU - TIF - ULLLLL.

bd

P
Paipo posted on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 10:44 PM

Grapa, Jen, seeks, Ben, big daddy - thanks! I have a few tricks up my sleeve to get that soft finish, mostly it comes from slow, careful and painstaking clean-up. The level of detail in the form of these last two meant that it took days instead of hours this time. As always, feel is as important as the way it looks, and the idea is for the unworked natural surface to be indistinguishable from the carved areas.

So, yeah, I went back on my word (again!) and took Kae back to the bench for eye surgery. I loved the stone band that made the "pupil" as it was, but on this style of tiki you have to follow through the whole way, and it just looked unfinished with that big blank area. Yet another session, more hours added to the massive tally, but this time....IT IS DONE! phewwwwww

I thought I'd better downscale my next project,as my patience for mega-tikis has well and truly run out for the time being. Started this little fella which is a remake of an earlier design, but he ended up taking ages too! I can't win! I couldn't get a good pic of this one no matter how many I took - trust me, it looks much better in person. The stone is very dark, more or less black, with a slight metallic tint. Guessing it's composed of some type of very hard mineral sand. During the roughout it was virtually impossible to see what I was doing with the water on it, along with it being extremely hard, so the cutting was slow. What was meant to be quick and easy became challenging and time-consuming.

The tongue is a natural jade pebble - here is a shot of it in situ before I picked it up :

The big argillite pebble Kae is carved from was picked up on the same walk, and possibly the black stone above too! (Gets a little hard to remember when you have thousands of 'em lying around).


[ Edited by: Paipo 2009-07-10 00:01 ]

You keep topping yourself, Rhys.

Freakin beautiful work!

So smooth, so clean... so, so good.

wow....just wow.....I want one.....I want to carve like you.

BD

i second pct. wow.

bd

kae
i won't lie
looks better
with the new eye!
:lol:

and the jade tongue boy
looks like it was worth all the work!

Stupendous Rhys!

Dude, that's sick!

I am totally in love with your carvings.

And I want to wade into those waters to pluck those beautiful pebbles. What a delightful daydream to put into my head on this Friday morning.

Thanks for this posting.

Jen

Looking good!

More excellent work! I agree the inlaid eyes are much better. I really like the jade tongue design!!

J

Fabulous! Kae has such character now with the new eye!

Your carvings are outa sight....Super nice detail and excellent symmetry!!!

B

Ghost page?
PAIPO, it looks like the extra time was time well spent. I don't see anywhere you could improve your Kae at all, nothing at all. He is just an Excellent Paipo Piece typical of your perfection and high skills.
Of course the green tongued monster is great too and holds his own though well overshadowed by Kae.
I think you should turn right around and do 2 more, Strike while the iron is hot so to speak, Time be damned, who cares about time anyway?

L

Incredible detail on KAE! especially on the deep of the mouth... Really really beautifull work!!!

And when I see this one, I've also the tongue who pend... :o

J.

OMG!

S

Delicious!

bump-a-dump!

R

Awsome to see your work expand and grow like this bro. Keep it up :) Everyday i want to push my limit of imiganation and i see stuff like this and my mind grows :) Thnx

P
Paipo posted on Wed, Aug 26, 2009 7:24 PM

Thanks for the replies, sorry for the lack of action. Things have been a little crazy round here the last month or so. I'm still lurking and still carving - in fact I sent some work over for the Tiki Island 3 show at the Freaky Boutiki Gallery. On now!

These two are Rapa Nui influenced, and also both use Rapa Nui obsidian and bone (from the beach here) inlays as was the fashion back then. The first guy was made especially for the "Tiki Island 3" show and the turtle was finished just recently. I decided to make him when we were looking at an animal theme for the swap and although the theme changed I went ahead and made it anyway. There is a beautiful example of one of the original carvings it is based on over the mountains at the Canterbury Museum and it is easily one of the nicest pieces in the entire place. Unfortunately it is not often on display, they have no home for their Oceanic collection so it's a matter of waiting until pieces pop up in the foyer cabinet or an exhibition.

Stone Tiki #71 - Tohunga


This guy has a serpentine double headed manutara (sooty tern) cranial glyph that wraps around from front to back. It's pretty hard to make out unless you are holding the piece in your hand and can turn it around.

Stone Tiki #73 - Honu


This one also has a manutara. The engraving on this stone was very difficult as it's full of these little cavities where softer material has been eroded away by sea and sand. It also has a big waterworn chip out of it. I actually picked this stone because of these qualities rather than in spite of them! I like the weathered look.

OK, there's something missing here...#72? I had to stop and think for a moment.

Stone Tiki #72 - Rua Manaia

The paua cabochon eyes really fire up when you move this piece around. I'm constantly amazed by the qualities of this shell and the endless ways to use the colours and structure.

B

Great Pieces Paipo, Really happy you took the time to post these here. I Know FB has really been eating into your time so it's doubly nice to see you here too. Your stuff has a quality not seen often Anywhere, I'm Awed!
I Love the eye in #73 and I Know how hard it is to get those lines engraved so perfectly, I've tried it,, You DO it!. Excellent.

So whats missing from #72. Love those eyes too. Yes the cabochon shape does magic things to the paua or the other way around, it's the Paua that does the magic to the cabochon.

L

Still some masterpiece from you!

On 2009-08-26 19:24, Paipo wrote:

These two are Rapa Nui influenced, and also both use Rapa Nui obsidian and bone (from the beach here) inlays as was the fashion back then.

Stone Tiki #71 - Tohunga

You're almost ready for a new interpretation of moai KavaKava! The eyes are very well run... for mine I also try bone and blackwood (no obsidian here!)
I imagine the difficulty for the cranial glyph, very hard to make nice curve on one end rounded... like the tangata manu on #73.

J.

T

Super nice stuff Paipo. Excellent design and execution. This stuff must look really great in person. Lots of neat shapes on #73. If you look at just the mouth from the pics you posted, it resembles a leaf shape. Really cool.

TheBigT, I can verify that Paipo's pendants look great in the pictures but are absolutely gorgeous in person!

a trio of AMAZING!
All three are so unique
Honu-with it's 3-dimensional quality and whirlpool of mystery
and Rua Manaia ...it is no longer a stone
it's something powerful that happens to be made of stone...
Tohunga's gaze and mild expression on the lip..
to meld that life
and still give it a commanding royal decorative quality
is well-deserved of around of applause all around!
STUNT-ROCK!

T
TikiG posted on Thu, Aug 27, 2009 1:55 PM

Paipo -

Thanks for posting these babies! Masterfully executed, inspiring and (yes!) future heirlooms
for some lucky owner (I should be so lucky.)

B

I can't stop looking at the Honu... something very special about that.

B
Babalu posted on Sun, Sep 6, 2009 9:01 PM

Hey Paipo,

I got to fondle some of your work over at Hank's the other night too. Just plain over the top craftsmanship - Your a treasure!

So, when are we going to be able to get you over here?

i got a $20 bill put aside to start a
get paipo to amerika tour!
STUNT ROCK!

B

I'll put one of those up too Kinny, well worth it too.
Paipo, I Know you have other stuff in the works and I can't wait to see'um

S

Incredible works as expected out of you. The Rua Manaia stands out most for me.

B

Paipo, WHere are the photos of you getting Sunburned in the Shed?

:)

P
Paipo posted on Wed, Oct 28, 2009 2:38 PM

24 days!? Sorry Ben (and everyone else)...I haven't been TCing much lately, and the tikis tend to slow down around this time of year as the demand for contemporary jewellery picks up.

The good news is that I have another 4 pieces I haven't posted:

Finally revisited the Moai Tangata Manu:


and another version of the Skulleater:

...a new profile style Maori piece:

..and a lil fishy:

:)

T
TikiG posted on Wed, Oct 28, 2009 2:47 PM

These pieces are sweet, Paipo, especially love the Moai Tangata Manu and the Skulleater.

Thanks for sharing!

Mum love this rock candy. You are on fire.

F

Hey Paip
As always, beautiful pieces. I especially like "lil fishy"
Good luck with your summer trade, as you know it's starting to get wintery here so eyes down on the handpiece. I've had a good summer and sold a few pieces.
Finest of West Country regards
Flynny

F

Hey Paip
As always, beautiful pieces. I especially like "lil fishy"
Good luck with your summer trade, as you know it's starting to get wintery here so eyes down on the handpiece. I've had a good summer and sold a few pieces.
Finest of West Country regards
Flynny

Whoops, double post, don't know what happened there!!!!!!!!

[ Edited by: flynny 2009-10-28 23:34 ]

G
GROG posted on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 12:53 AM

GROG like.

B

Welcome back to TC Paipo, Been wondering when you would show up to post your new stuff and it looks like it was well worth the wait. Love the refinement of the Tangata Manu, Nice full and rounded features and a very Alive looking face. I really love this one
Of course the Skull eater is top of the line too but the 'Maori Piece" is the Coolest and the best Paipo Series yet I think.
And then there's this Lil Fishy, does he kinda make you hungry and wold it take about 300 of him to make a White bait Omelet (Somewhere I Swear I've seen that image!)Cool Lil guy Paipo!
So yeah it seems like forever since you've been here but how can we hold it against you when you come bearing such Beautiful Stuff?
Yeay PAIPO, PAIPO, PAIPO.

G
GMAN posted on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 4:27 AM

Hi Paip'. Looking nice-n-tight. Quality grinds. Very clean. Love 'em!

-g

Love your Manu, Paipo. Nice to see more of your work...it's all
spectacular.

L

On 2009-10-28 14:38, Paipo wrote:

Finally revisited the Moai Tangata Manu:

Revisited and very good! Does the eye is an inlay of obsidian? The fit is really perfect...

...Also love the lil fishy...

J.

Beautiful Evolution of the tangata manu theme,there Rhys!

and that Fishy just SHINES!

I NOW have $40 towards bringing Paipo to Amerikka!

T

Wow paipo - you have some of the coolest designs around! And some of the cleanest work. Nice new pieces you have - very inspiring.

B

Those beauties have to be on this page too:

Amazing work as always.
The moari one is really fantastic.

Benjamin.

H
harro posted on Sat, Oct 31, 2009 4:09 AM

Paipo, its been a while since i saw your stuff and its awesome to see it again. Your art just gets better and better - that Tangata manu is "out of this world - the best"!! And many different styles in those recent pieces too. Did i see somewhere that you and Tama were starting to chip some wood? Were any pics posted here?

On another note, you'll be relieved to know that one of your travelling tikis will be on its final overseas journey to meet its new owner when I head back to Argentina in a few weeks.

cheers.

L

BUMP!

almost two months....

Man, the wonderful surface finish you give your pieces is enough to make me drool. And the symbolic evolution you gave your "Bird Man Moai" is just amazing.

Aloha!

Marcus

G
GROG posted on Fri, Dec 18, 2009 1:49 AM

Where is dat boy?

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