MadDog Mike's Platterful of Pupule - El Tiki/Ben Wilson Wall Finished

I bought a propane fire bowl at WalMart (for $50, now on clearance for $25 :x ) last year and had not figured out exactly what to do with it. So I decided to make it into a table. Here is the basic structure

Now THAT'S a giant Pupu Platter to heat your shrimp kebabs on :D

Still lots of works to do: carve designs into the legs then burn and varnish. The top will be covered in the black slate tiles shown. I plan to make some tiki tiles and set them into the commercial tiles like I did with my jade Jaguar

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. - Scott Adams

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-04-09 14:18 ]

Guardians of the Flame - Carved some designs into the legs, burned and varnished the wood, cut and glued the tiles.

Working on the 4 "Guardian" tiles: Moai, Ku, Hei Tiki & Taria-nui(Rarotonga). After they are fired and glazed, the black tiles will be cut so that the guardians sit flush in the table top. Then all the tiles will be grouted with grey grout.

That is too cool Mike! Table is gonna look great!

Mike,

This table is looking incredible.... you are so creative.

I would like to learn how to make tiles. What type of clay are you using? I have done some clay work many years ago, nothing special, but I enjoy the medium. Any suggestions or places to point me would be most appreciated.

Peace,
Jason <

Thank you Jason & Jason :)

I have just recently started to experiment with tiles, I picked up Frank Giorgini's "Handmade Tiles" and got some pointers there. I'm using a Low Fire (Cone 06) Laguna EM347, there are probably better clays for tile making but this one is also good for handbuilding. TikiDaye, PM me is you have more questions, I'd be glad to help you out.

Mike, that's gonna be bitchen!
You should make the legs foldable so you can bring it to chops! :lol:

MIKE!! That is aewesome!!!

That table is WAY cool! You never cease to amaze me! Those tiles are going to really "make" the table. Sorry you lost out on the cheaper price for the fire pit - that SUCKS! Can't wait to see it finished - Oh! Oh! I've got a great idea - add some long forks for roasting marshmallows and hotdogs!

Almost forgot! Nice work on those ceramic whale teeth!

"Something, something, something, Dark Side, something, something."

[ Edited by: beadtiki 2010-04-10 15:32 ]

Great Job! you Dog!

looks like we are warming up the power tools time of year.

cool idea! can't wait to see it finished.

I like the necklace - I wonder how hard it would be to make shark's teeth out of the same clay...

Tikigodz & Clarita, thank you
Bill, that sucker weighs about 100 lbs, no hauling it to the Chops!
Bead, I like the fork idea, I think I'll hang then from hooks on the legs so they're always ready.
ATP, I love the smell of sawdust in the morning - smells like... victory

Temporary setback - I broke part of my kiln so I need to pick up a replacement part when I'm in San Diego on Friday.

BeezleBug - that polymer clay is cool stuff (and it's on sale at Michael's this week) I made some small shark teeth out of it for a lei o mano awhile back, you could make bigger ones if you wanted

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. - Scott Adams

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-04-12 09:13 ]

Alrighty, I've been keeping busy :)

My "Guardians of the Flame" table is progressing along - the commercial tiles are cut and ready to receive the custom tiki tiles. But the San Diego clay shop didn't have my kiln replacement part so everything remains unfired for now.

I got a blank hourglass mug from Babalu a while back and carved it with Maori imagery, Babalu graciously fired it for me 'cuz it's too tall to fit into my little kiln :) I wanted to achieve a greenstone-like glaze with natural variations: I streaked and splattered it with blue-green underglaze and then used a purposely uneven transparent green over that. The result is that it looks like a 3rd grader glazed it :lol:

I was inspired by Murph's Kraken Bottle Lamp I found an old bottle, cut the bottom off with a wet tile saw, and decided "why not make a diorama lamp?" So I'm working with polymer clay to make a Moai and Mermaid scene; maybe it will be entitled "Forbidden Love". Still a long ways to go.

Nice. Maybe glue some sand on the base so the mermaid and statue are on the beach.

Wow Thanks MDM! for making me those mugs, they really look great!
they are going to look great in my place.

Gee your swell!

Beezle you're right. It will get a layer of sand and then blue epoxy water.

ATP, it was the least I could do. By the way, those two Maori Mugs are magic mugs; if you fill one, the other fills too! :o

More work on my Murph Rip-off Lamp

Finished sculpting the polymer clay Moai, mermaid and sea turtle. Glued down white seed beads for sand and poured the epoxy "water". The mermaid is about 2 inches tall and she's a bit homely - fortunately the pics are a bit blurry :) My work will never be confused with Bowana's :lol:

Next, let it set for several days to cure then work on the overhead solar lamp and netting.

Genius with a capitol G-E-N-I-U-S!

MAD GENIUS! ! ! ! Looking good Mike!

Loving this new lamp, Mike... Love your creativity!

Did you get your kiln fixed yet? Are the tiki tiles for your table just air dried in that last pic?

Great stuff!
Jason <

Cranking it out Mike, how are you finding the time to do all of this!

Love both the table and the lamp...Can't wait to see the finished products. MT

Wow...that is amazing!!!

Love the lamp, but that table is awesome! Do ya think it'll fit in one of those Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes? Prolly not, huh? I'll just have to admire it from afar. Can't wait to see the finished product.

Lamp...Table with tiles...hourglass maori mug...
Dang ,You don't stop,boy!

Mike, the table is amazing and the lamp is just plain cool! great job on both items!

Amy

Great stuff! The more you use that Polymer clay the better you will get. Keep them comin!

LUVIN!!! THE TABLE!!!

You have opened the windows of kind words heaven and poured out a blessing I cannot contain :blush:

Thank you Iokona, MP, Makiki, Marlene, Kinny, Amy, Tom & tikigodz

On 2010-04-22 00:24, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Cranking it out Mike, how are you finding the time to do all of this!

ATP- I don't watch TV :D

On 2010-04-21 23:25, TikiDaye wrote:
Did you get your kiln fixed yet? Are the tiki tiles for your table just air dried in that last pic?

Jason, the tiles are just air dry in the last pic. My Kiln Sitter Tube has been replaced but I can't seem to get it adjusted yet, it keeps overfiring. I did manage to get the table tiles bisque fired though, I got enough stuff to fire every day for a week as soon as I get back running.

On 2010-04-22 07:03, Big Kahuna wrote:
Love the lamp, but that table is awesome! Do ya think it'll fit in one of those Flat Rate Priority Mail boxes?

No, I don't think so :lol: it weighs a ton. Made out of pure Leverite - as in leave her right where she is!

The lamp is done, "Mermaid and Moai by Moonlight" That was a fun project to occupy my time while my kiln was down.

I needed a bowl to go in our newly redecorated guest bathroom and wanted to do a three-legged tiki bowl. Now, first of all, who was the genius who invented the 3 legged bowl? A 4 legged bowl (or chair, table, etc) always has one leg shorter than the other 3 and it wobbles. But a 3 legged bowl doesn't, now THAT'S GENIUS!!! Seems like every kind of Polynesian sculpture figure has been made into a 3 legged bowl but I wanted something original (I hope) So I used the head of the Marquesas U'u war club. I made a little pushmold to make the legs so I can make another if I want. The bowl portion will have a Khaki colored opaque glaze to match the bathroom, the opaque glaze would cover any surface decorations, but if I make another I can cover the bowl with Marquesan designs.

Still needs some clean-up and will take a while to slowly dry because the club heads are so thick.

Evil genius.

very nice

Thank you Dawn 'n Dave

Those of you who have operated a kiln before will recognize;
"Severely Overfired","Seriously Overfired","Slightly Overfired", and "Perfectly Fired" :lol:

I'm back in business :D

Fire it UP!

Finished up "The Guardians of the Flame" table

Heitiki

Ku (borrowed heavily from one of Lake Surfer's plaques)

Moai

Rarotonga

Bead, I took your advice and put some roasting forks within easy reach

Still have a little grout touch-up and clean-up to do.

May is Melanoma Awareness Month Protect yourself from the sun

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-05-01 20:40 ]

Love it!!

Looks great Mike!

Excellent job on the tile table top Mike!
More of that is in order. Was the Jaguar piece
used in a similar fashion?

great table Mike!

Really love how you bounce around trying out different mediums.

always enjoy seeing your work!

I feel honored! That table looks out of this world! You did SUCH a great job on those tiles - it was worth the wait. I'm glad you got your kiln operational again - it's such a drag trying to fill your time with "other" projects due to technical difficulties! I got working on my bead tapestry again - my dad cracked the whip on me this time. I'll post a pic in a while - I want to get a bit more done before I take a photo and send it out.

Oooooh - I like that new bowl you're doing. Nice carving! Got a color in mind?

What cut little lamp - how long did it take to learn to net? I just netted my first float yesterday but I don't know how to finish the top. Got any suggestions?

"Something, something, something, Dark Side, something, something."

[ Edited by: beadtiki 2010-05-02 23:32 ]

The table turned out so great, congrats!

Amy, ATP, & Clarita - Thank You :)

Jason, yes the jaguar will be used in a similar fashion except it will be an upright panel.

Liz, I bounce around between different mediums trying to find something that works for me :lol:

Regan, the bowl will be "Sienna Suede" (a green brown). The clubhead guys will look like this test tile.

Have you been waiting to get into the pants of that certain someone? With Maddog's patented "Drawer Dropper" mug and cocktail you're in like Flynn!

6 ounces Light Rum
6 ounces Dark Rum
6 ounces Spiced Rum
1 ounce Chocolate Liqueur
1 ounce Red Ginseng
2 mg powdered Rohypnol
Top off with Ginger Ale
Garnish with an asparagas spear and serve with a raw oyster shooter

Note - My lawyer recommends that, in the interest of political correctness, I publish the following disclaimer: I do not advocate the use of drugs and/or alcohol for the purposes of "date rape"

JUST KIDDING!!! :lol:

It's a button box for my daughter's first Mother's Day.

(Edit - a button box is just a container to hold loose and extra buttons)

May is Melanoma Awareness Month Protect yourself from the sun

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-05-04 06:01 ]

Too funny, MadDog... although I have no idea what a button box is. :)

I like the glaze choice for the clubheads and can't wait to see what they will look like against the glaze you selected for the bowl.

great stuff as always!

Peace,
Jason <

[ Edited by: TikiDaye 2010-05-04 21:06 ]

Mike, as my dad would say, you should be on the stage...the first one out of town! harhar! Cute little pants though! I like your color idea - can't wait to see it!

great stuff, mike. made me smile.

Red ginseng??

I lika da sound of that!

Jason, Regan, Perry, Robb - good to hear from you, just trying to keep you on your toes :D

My wife decided to display some of my pieces in the guest bathroom. She picked the Aloha Jhoe mug I made awhile back and 2 of the butt-ugliest pieces I had; one was an April Fool's Joke from a year ago and the other was a failed attempt at clay marbling. I made this little Marquesan bowl so I could throw those other two abominations away. I used the same glaze on the bowl as on the Aloha Jhoe so that they match.

Mike,

The bowl looks great... the contrast between the bowl glaze and the club glaze is super. It makes the clubs stand out. well done, my friend.

I'm going to have to go back through your thread (yet once again) to try and track down Aloha Jhoe... I'm curious as to how you put him together and how he is a mug. Like, where do you drink from? Unless those are 'straw ports' on either side... hmmm? Very cool design on Aloha Jhoe... what was his inspiration?

Thanks again for sharing your creativity!

Peace,
Jason <
Peace,
Jason

Okay, I thought I had seen ALL your stuff but I was obviously mistaken! I LOVE those flower vases you made - how pretty! That bone mug you made was awesome! I would love to see a set of beads like that! Now I'm gonna have to go spend another half day going over all the stuff I missed! LOL

And Oh - that bowl turned out neat!

"Something, something, something, Dark Side, something, something."

[ Edited by: beadtiki 2010-05-07 13:10 ]