NEW Benzart Black Jade Marq 3-6-14

Hey Benz I dont collect. But If I ever wanted something in my home to share. It would Be your signature. Cant afford those beatiful pieces. Yet I can ask for something that dont cost nothing, let me know I would love to trade. I got a painting with your name on it. Thanks for lookin; and all the inspiring carves!!!!

ben, i got all the diamond files and dremels, jewlers tools..EVERYTHING!!!! i started a quick bone carving and now working on a maori twist made of marble......my hands are killing me to work on this small stuff. i dont know why, maybe im all tensed up holding and grinding.....that small stuff you work on is awsome...you must have hands of a surgeon...i never realized i had a hand tremor till i started carving smaller. holy crap im shaky

great work.......im always amazed by your ability to carve so well soooooooooooo smaaaaalllllll!!!! sheeez!

Fantastic and classy Moai BIG BENZ......you still are the big cheeze
around here, you know.

Thanks Tikigodz, we might be able to work something out when I get caught up, Thanks for the kind words!

Thanks Creative Chimp, funny, my mom Always thought I'd be a surgeon,, :P Carving small is no big deal when you have the bench pin on your work bench to hold the work on. It gives you stability and eliminates the shakes, they fit into a rectangular hole cut into your bench.
http://www.fdjtool.com/category.aspx?categoryID=1162&startpage=0

Thanks Conga,, Big Cheese,, is that Swiss, cheddar or the "cut cheeze" :o :P :D
I appreciate your thinking old man, when you coming to Florida to get some sand in your shoes????
The Orange Blossom Special has a ticket waiting for'ya!!

BUMP!!!

Beautiful jade carve! bump bump

Checking up on you! Wendy

Love the Moai Benz.

Congratulations on your 10000 post on Tiki Central !

Whoa, 5 figures for the king...awesome! Where's the celebratory piece...been a little quiet round here lately?

Thanks for the Bumps Laojia and Clarita, My Bad for not being around much lately!
Thanks for checking up Wendy, bring me smiles, you do and Clarita too..
Hotiki, WOW,, Didn't even know,, Snuck right up on me when I wasn't looking.
PAIPOPAIPOPAIPO, Thanks for the recognition,,Celebratory peace?? Yeah, seems we need some around here but not here.
Well I Did finish that Redwood Moai and I kept looking at him and thinking the ancients weren't done yet. I tried to ship him out but couldn't and I FINALLY Saw what they wanted so I built a birds nest on top of his hat and put in a small Ivory Bird and I guess that made the Birdmen Ancients happy because I was Able to ship him the next day,,,Seriously, thats how he got the nest in his hair.

Then My Rock and Gem Club has been asking me to do a carving class and finally I agreed to see if there was interest so I got some Soapstone and did a carving demo at our yearly Gem show this past weekend and this is what I ended up with using mostly hand files and and scrapers. Not very tiki but definitely Pacific.
Oh Yeah, There was plenty interest so there will be a class starting in January!

OH Yeah and I Almost forgot,,, A MONKEY! Someone wanted a copy of their Old Carved Coconut Monkey.
ORIGINAL

copy

FACEBOOK

[ Edited by: Benzart 2010-11-03 08:24 ]

That is one crazy birdman Moai, you are gonna raise the bar so high
that even you won't be able to reach it :)
On second thought...I don't think the bar can be raised that high!

Oh wow i love the Redwood Moai, such a great and neat carve, very expressive, he's almost perfect, but the ancients were right, that nest make him totally perfect, because he is such a great carve that he's a little to serious , but that nest brings the perfect mix between to great and serious with a wink of joy and smiles, awesome, couldn't be any better now :) :)

Bird nest on top knot moai (Top shelf!), monkey (WOW!), Dolphin (Awesome!),....

:roll: Do you started a Noah's Ark? :P

J.

That Moai is outstanding. I didn't think it could be improved upon but I guess I should know better. Can you recomend a source for the soapstone. A got a variety pack from the craft store but was disappointed with it. I'm looking at an internet vendor who offers Brazillian, Montanan, and East Indian. Any thoughts?

Thanks Conga, yeah, the bar,, Think it fell off and hit me in the head!!

Clarita,, Thanks for the kind words, you make him sound cool!

Jerome, funny you should ask,, About the ark,, gave it some thought and decided they Already had too many of Some animals and gave up on it. Glad you like the stuff.

Amate, Thanks Much. As for soapstone, this is the first piece I've carved but I Know there are many others with nice colors, however think I will try some Alabaster next, I hear it is More beautiful and sometimes translucent with great coloring And a bit harder and easier to carve. The soft Soapstone is just about like carving chalk, it eally crumbles away if you aren't careful.

Heres an update on the Monkey. It's supposed to look like a carved Coconut Monkey.

Aw DAmn,Ben!
Don't you ever sleep?
or have the Ancient Ones complety possess you now?
Dang! All Winners!

"It's supposed to look like a carved Coconut Monkey."
Some coconut should be so lucky to get a carve so good.
That texture is perfect.The eyes, teeth, wow.
And what are we gonna keep in there ?

Thanks Kinny,, Sleep??? Wassat?? You Know artists aren't allowed that luxury,:o
Plugger thanks,you mean we gotta Keep sumthin In there? Hmmm, What could fit in that tiny space, maybe a nice piece of chewing gum or a few pennies, or a crayon(so I'll Always be ready for when that urge to color things comes along)..

YOU JUST KILLING ME !!! with that MOOOONKEY !!!!! I love him so much!

That is one jolly happy monkey! Lots of character in this little guy! EVERYBODY LOVES MONKEYS!!!

Way cool benz,I love the teeth!!!

i never thought i would say this to another man.....but i love your monkey. ha ha ha ha ha

great job....i couldnt do that with a real coconut.......amazing detail...speechless

I collect coconut monkeys for the hut outside. I just love the coconut monkey you carved.

On 2010-11-20 08:35, Creative Chimp wrote:
i never thought i would say this to another man.....but i love your monkey.

:-? :lol:

Hey Ben, very beautiful work , as usual.
Wish I was close enough to you to attend some of those workshops.

On 2010-11-19 23:03, Benzart wrote:

It seems to me to fit perfectly... Bravo Sensei carver!

Bai,,, Don't Die,, I Promise I'll make you one Thanks for the "Love".

Mijaba, thanks, yeah, it seems you ARE right again.

Thanks Kirby, each tooth individually carved from wart hog tusk.

Thanks C Chimp, Appreciate the "Love your Monkey" comment! Funny.

Thanks Hiltiki, maybe I'll carve you one from a coconut I have here in the shop??

Thanks Kino,, IF you are ever here in these parts,, C'Mon in!

Thanks Jerome, Yes it is tight, you can remove it if you can get your fingernail in to pry it open, Thanks.

I would love to own a carved coconut from you Benz. :)

The monkey is really cool. You always pack so much character into your small pieces. Amazing work.

Thanks Hiltiki, I'll have to See what I can scrounge up!

Thanks for the kind words TheBigT, Much appreciated.

Now that I have my shop back in order and I'm feelin better Hopefully I can get some more production coming out!

It is really cool to see the wide range you have Ben. Dolphins, monkeys and moai with birds nesting in their topknots!

Tiki got me into carving, but like you I love pretty much any subject now as long as it involves carving.

The detail you pack into such small pieces is amazing, and the latest works are no exception!

Thanks for the inspiration you provide!

Thanks Lake, I just love trying different stuff.
Just finished up a small Lono carved from a Foxtail Palm Frond, or at least the bottom 6 inches. This was really Hard stuff and really strong, reminded me of bamboo.

Hard as bamboo... Was it brittle as well? You did a really nice job, it is amazing the detail you can put into materials that are difficult to work with.

JP

Holy cats...really cool Lono Benz...come on...can't you make those full body guys a
little smaller!

Foxtail Palm Frond?? When I first saw this I recognized the Palm grain and was amazed that you could get that kind of detail in Palm. Now I'm just blown away!

Thanks JohnnyP, yes Hard as Bamboo and just about as Brittle too. I was amazed. I used the hook, chisels, Rotary flex shaft and smaller motors too. Then used the burning knife for some highlihts and then a small torch for fill in!

Thanks Conga, I suppose I could go a Little bit smaller. :o :P

Thanks Aloha, it was one of those things I just Had to do, actually this frond is much harder than the palm trunk itself. don't know if the same is true with other palms but I will try to find out. I can imagine carving a coconut frond,, MUCH Larger too!

wow very nice what detail. I really like it tikibad

Wow, amazing what you did with a palm frond! I never would have even thought if trying that.

It took great imagination to see a tiki within that frond. Nice. I've seen you mention a hook knife many times in your posts. The catalog I order tools from does not list anything by that name. Care to show a photo?

Thanks Tikibad, Appreciate the kind words

The Big T, I've seen lots of carvers carve the larger palm fronds but not this small, you know me,, Gotta try it all.
Amate, Thanks. I get them from Warren Tools at http://www.warrencutlery.com/indexb.htm
Here are some photos:

some used, broken ones which will be re-sharpened.

And a couple with handles:

Also here's a thread where lots of carvers post tools they use:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=10451&forum=7&start=195&hilite=tools%20carvers%20use
Hope this helps

wow the foxtail lono is crazy. It looks like if I touched it it would break and yet you carve it. As always great carving

The detail is amazing in all of your work. You must walk around with your eyes bugged out all of the time!

Ben, how is my coconut monkey doing. :) :) :)

so cool ben i love it

Keigs, Thanks, I Know it Looks frail but that stuff is pretty strong. I'm going to suspend it on a stone base, not sure yet what kind.

Thanks G Poobah, No, actually my eyes are Not bugged out, I wear decent magnifying glasses so I can see whats going on...

Hiltiki, Gotta find a coconut, Evidently the 2 I had ended up juiced and in someone's drinks, but they're around..

Marcus,,Thanks,, HOW'Ya Been man?? Great seeing you around again!!
Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Merry Christmas Chief! big hugs to you and yours, and to all the Ohana too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS To All you guys and gals, Hope yours was as nice as mine.
Thanks Clarita, I appreciate the kind words and Holiday Cheer. Hope your Christmas was Nice too!