What made you start carving?

I have had to answer this to so many of my neighbors who wonder by and see me carving in my garage. I thought I pose the question here.

Just what in the heck made you want to set down and start carving tiki's?

You first....lol

Fair enough.

I simply wanted a tiki in my backyard. I didn't have a budget to buy what I wanted and didn't really like most of what i was finding. So I thought it might be fun to try and carve one myself and save a few hundred dollars. Once I got started I guess I caught the "bug".

The irony is that I'm only on my 3rd carving and I've spent hundreds of dollars on gouges and tools.

Next...

For me it was I had trees, chainsaw and the surfing connection. It all fell into place
after I went to a chainsaw carving fest. I thought id give it a try.

For me it was my wife wanted a tiki in front of our home for island decor. Since I was already laid up from falling off a ladder resulting in torn muscle and ligaments in my knee, two blown lumbar discs and one dislocated vertebra I had some time on my hands. I had found 2 pieces of palm and while my wife and son were on a trip to DC I started carving. I started with 3 carpenter chisels, a dremel and a hard rubber mallet. The first two were very basic but a lot of fun and I have been carving ever since. I did purchase some new tools to make life easier. Now I carve for fun and for individuals who want a one of a kind piece. Just gotta love tiki's!

As a graphix guy - I was looking for an escape from working on the computer.

For me it was the voices within my head.....Build it and they will come, they were saying....na na na :wink:
:)
I really wanted a carved tiki,one that was not made in Indo or Phillipines, or the typical Tongan ~ Hawaiian tiki that is very plentiful around here... So one day my friend Rob aka MauiTiki said he had an extra log... now whenever I have a some "extra time" I try and carve as much as possible.. It's very addicting, I have so many tiki's I'd like to carve, just need more time...

I wanted to get away from the wife and kids !

On 2010-04-05 18:53, tikigodz wrote:
I wanted to get away from the wife and kids !

This is a great answer and I left it out. For me carving tiki is like golf. I have fun and I just dont really think about anything else thats going on in my life.

On 2010-04-05 18:53, tikigodz wrote:
I wanted to get away from the wife and kids !

I'd like to add that my post please............ :wink:

I went through some past-life regression therapy and discovered... seriously, I have always been into tikis and Polynesian art but none of my friends were, so I kept my interests on the down-low. After a move to Los Angeles and a couple years of being a silent lurker on TC (looking at all the great stuff happening here), and having creative roommates and friends, I decided to give it a go. I switched to bone carving because it feels more therapeutic for me.

On 2010-04-05 18:53, tikigodz wrote:
I wanted to get away from the wife and kids !

HA HA HA HA.....thats an honest answer!!! My wife and kids keep finding all my hiding spots. I usually get caught when i come out for food or beer. Their vision is based on movement much like Trex, so i try to sit still alot and pretend I'm the furniture.

As for me....and seems to be like most of us I have always had this strange unknown obsession since i was a small kid with tikis, shrunken heads, voodoo, anything from the 50"s .....etc. anything tribal art related.....Always felt i was born 30 years too late. And always talked about carving my own and finally got off my butt and started doing it! just took 40 years to get motivated. I have no idea why I have this obsession with tikis....cant remember what ever started it......the attraction has always been there.

[ Edited by: Creative Chimp 2010-04-06 07:40 ]

BenZart :)

As a 41 year old single guy with no kids, essentially I was spending the equivalent of the GDP of most small countries at the bar, and it was starting to catch up with me. Arguments, fights, waking up in the morning feeling like a jack ass, all these things were commonplace. Finally I got a DUI, and decided that it was time to stop acting like a complete & total idiot and grow up.

So, one evening after a successful fishing trip and blackening a few trout in the back yard, I was sitting with my fishing buddy and said to him "dude, I need a new hobby. One can only surf so much with the inconsistent waves we have in Florida, and one can only do so much fishing. I need something to work on at home."

Then I thought about making a tiki bar. Then I thought about "Mai Tiki", which is a guy in Cocoa Beach who's been doing this since I was like, 4 years old. I said "maybe I'll buy a tiki or two from that dude in Cocoa Beach", then I thought about it and said "you know what, fuck it, it's wood and tools, I CAN DO THIS!!!"

The rest is history. Never got around to building the tiki bar, but I've done about 20 tikis.

It has worked out great. I actually enjoy sitting on the porch & having a few cold ones while I make stuff way more than I enjoyed emptying my wallet at the bar. I'm drinking a lot less than I used to, and I don't have all the legal woes that went with my former lifestyle. I live a healthier life now, and I am happier.

I would like to thank the admins (Benz, etc,) for providing this forum. I have learned things here that have been tremendously helpful.

my former girlfriend is into anything tiki, the polynesian lifestyle and postmodernism and her bday was coming up, when i saw the price of some of the tiki's she loves i thought, WTF i got a bunch of old pine aging out in the back for the firepit, i can do this. gave her my first one for her bday 4 years ago and she got my 7th one for xmas. i've worked mostly with east texas FORD (found on road dead) pine thanks to IKE and have completed about 20 and unfortunately i've been too busy with school work, daughter and new girlfriend to carve anything in the last 6 months (dining table is always full of books nowadays) and i'm really missing it. i keep hearing how great it is to carve palm and i'm still waiting for the palm trunks i have to dry out. it may be ready this summer.

bd

for me ive always loved working with wood but havent done so for years,surfed yes ,loved surf / hotrod/culture yes and once i visited this site i though, gime that chisel and wheres the hammer, the rest is history

On 2010-04-06 04:09, TikiMango wrote:
I went through some past-life regression therapy and discovered... seriously, I have always been into tikis and Polynesian art but none of my friends were, so I kept my interests on the down-low. After a move to Los Angeles and a couple years of being a silent lurker on TC (looking at all the great stuff happening here), and having creative roommates and friends, I decided to give it a go. I switched to bone carving because it feels more therapeutic for me.

Glad you came out of the tiki closet!....lol

On 2010-04-06 09:18, Babalu wrote:
BenZart :)

Classic!
How 'bout... TIKI CENTRAL! For cryin' out loud!!!

+_graphic artist
+_Luau at Disney at young age
+_surf music
+_surfer

=tikis rule

Boredom and the chance to do something I wasn't really allowed to do at my work and my boss wasn't too happy about it either but I kept at it.