My carving

holy cats. i was working on a little feller today and i was thinking of you, wondering
when we would get another update. DID YOU MAKE THIS ONE? Always wanted to do one of
those myself, really great!

Wow very nice!

First time checking your work out and it is awesome. Your carves have wonderful personalities.

Amate, your latest pics are SA-WEET! Gonna send you a PM. Got a question for you.

Conga, Yeah man, I carved it. Just a couple of minor things I will improve upon if I ever do another one. Lot's of other stuff I want to do first.

Drastic wagon- thanks for compliment. I appreciate it.

Glad you stopped by VampiressRN and thanks.

Always good to hear from you Big T. Now I have a question for you...

Beautiful works Amate!

I am humbled.

On 2010-10-30 08:38, amate wrote:

WOW! Astounding work! He's sound good? Me too, like conga, I'm gonna copying your work... :wink:
I remember the first time I saw one authentic at the old museum of art of Africa and Oceania ... it may be well that day I told myself that I had to do Tiki carving.

oh yes yes amazing carve! is it an instrument? you do such neat work, with so much personality, a lot of respect from here :)

Great carve man!, love the new guinea style!!!

McTiki - That's quite a compliment from one so talented. Thanks
Tahitiki - ditto above. I always watch for you to post. I'm really into the PNG and Marquesas right now.
Jerome - He doesn't sound bad but is too high pitched for my taste. In Texxas, he would be referred to as "all hat and no cattle".
Clarita, It's a slit drum. I saw plans for some small slit drums/slit gongs on the internet made out of bamboo. Just a thought.

I thought it was about time I tried a Maori style carving so I took an oak log off of the burn pile to practice. Now I wish I would have used a better log. So far, so good.

I gave the center carving a face lift a couple months ago but never posted it.

This third photo is also some old stuff I never showed before. Making progress slowly but not much new going on. I just wanted to say hello.

All good lookin tikis! I really like the one on the left in the second pic.

Is that oak Maori the 5' tall one that you had to stand up?

Excellent stuff as Usual and thar slit drum is Totally Sick! Love the tight, clean detail you are doing, takes a lot of "Carving Integrity" to get down to the nitty gritty.

4wd - The oak maori is only 27 inches and propably every bit of 30 lbs. You can see the 5 footer lying down behind the ancestor figure on page 10 (second photo). That 5 foot log is heavily buttressed at the root flare so I can't even roll it. I had to stand it up just so I could look at the different sides of the log. I'm thinking it will also be a moari. Depends how the practice piece ends up.

Thanks Benz - it is encouraging to hear kind words from one of the masters. I appreciate it.

On 2010-12-05 11:24, amate wrote:

They are of the same family for sure! What style! Really very personal. I like!
Can't wait to see this oak maori finished...

J.

Those three would make a new take on the cannibal pole,full,catch and eat.

Thank you all for visiting. And Yes loajia, they are indeed brothers. All three were carved from the wood of the same elm tree. That was back during my "eyebrow" phase. :)

On 2010-12-05 11:24, amate wrote:

I really like the expressions here

you are really rocking these pieces lately!

Man, These guys really have human features.. Excellent stuff.

Thanks Kino, BigT and Benzart. A special thanks,Benz, for posting the photos of your hook knife and the links. Lots of good info there.

and now, I'm calling this one finished.

And the glamor shots!

[ Edited by: amate 2011-01-08 09:05 ]

Nice carve Amate. Very tribal vibe going on with this fella, and I love the hands and
feet. Great way to start the new year.

Most excellent!!

that is killer! looks like he belongs out there in the wild. superb!

Thanks all. Yes Conga, I've been putting more effort into the feet and hands. FYI BigT, the background shots are from Moody Gardens in Galveston.

On 2011-01-02 11:21, amate wrote:

And the glamor shots!

Nice pics for a great carve!

J.

It looks fantastic amate! I love the details of the hands and feet. The background makes it look complete. I am jealous (of the tiki and the climate) we are iced in this morning!

Jerome - he's pretty rough but I'm happy with the way he turned out.
Poobah - quite a compliment from one of the "hands and feet" masters. Thanks. The climate is somewhat of an illusion however. The rainforest at Moody Gardens is inside a 10 story tall, glass covered and climate controlled pyrimid.

Yes! and it continues. You put in that extra detail and touch. Bravo

Thanks for looking in Seeks. I can't wait to see your new project.

I finished this up over the weekend. He is 26 inches and made of oak. I've noticed that stains seem to mellow with time so I think he'll look a lot more ancient in a few months. (It hasn't started to green up outdoors yet so I had to fake the background in the photos again.)

I love the knuckles,grain, and all of the details on this guy! I'll take your fake background over mine any day. We had four more inches of snow! Keep up the great work!

[ Edited by: Grand Poobah 2011-02-22 15:56 ]

Amate, you rock. Some of the coolest stuff is right here. Another great
effort, looks like nice detail on the face, and the posture is terrific.
Keep 'em coming.

Very nice work, and from Oak even! That's some hard wood!

Great detail and wonderful color choice!

Well done!

sweet carves amate.......i missed your update somehow....need my glasses. went back a bit i love your work.....

[ Edited by: Creative Chimp 2011-02-24 12:58 ]

Terrific! Very nice amate. Love all the tattooing. That little carving on the shoulder if killer. Good photoshop skilz too! :wink: What kind of finish did you put on it?

[ Edited by: TheBigT 2011-02-24 13:08 ]

Thanks Grand Poobah - the past two winters were very cold here. We had 80 consecutive hours below freezing which is unheard of for us. We will have to pay eventually. From June through Sept is usually too hot to carve after 9am. The next 3 months will be prime for carving. I have a lot of things I want to try and am eager to get at it.

Conga T. You are too kind my friend. There have to be a least a hundred guys on here that surpass my abilities on many levels. I'm just a guy goofing off and having fun. I do really appreciate your support. really! :D

Lake - This species of oak is not as hard as some I have carved. It is, however, just as heavy as most. I continue my quest to discover the secrets of your beautiful finishes. That is exactly what I'm striving for.

Thanks Seeks...we're all waiting...

CC - I'm glad you looked in. I'm still haven't gotten over your marq. (green with envy)

Big T. I don't recall ever seeing a manaia like that as a tattoo. I thought it would be different. The finish is cherry flavored Watco Danish oil. This is my first time using it. I only used one coat. My style of carving is so unrefined I don't feel a fine finish would match so I keep it simple. Or, maybe I'm just too lazy. I do love the highly burnished pieces ( see Creative Chimp's marq) and hope to discipline myself to do at least one like that some day.

Hope I didn't miss anyone. Thanks all!

I started another moari. Just slightly different than the last one.

Amate, that is going to be a nice one.

Question: I notice the 2 maybe 3 rapa Nuis on the ground. What's the story? They look nicely done.

Mahalo

McTiki

Same question!

And this Maori will be cool...

J.

To make a long story short... I cut the heads off a few old moai carvings I became discouraged with several years ago...not because I was discouraged with them but because I want to use the lower half for a new project I just started.

Dude! Those look like wooden awesomeness to me!

Finish em up and post them please.

You won't be disappointed.

Mahalo!

McTiki

Love the new carve Amate, and what a great picture with the severed heads in the
background. Anxious to see what you're going to do with the heads and the bodies
they were once part of. The tiki spirit lives in you!

Thanks guys,
I was considering remodeling my home to look something like this. :)

So, I cut the heads off a couple of old moai carvings and used the bodies to start my skull rack. Only three skulls in and I’m already getting bored with carving them.

I first introduced this 6 foot pine on page 8. All that’s left is final sanding, stain and some paint.

Next up is moari # 2. A little more shaping and sanding and he’ll be ready for his moko. I lot of work left to do on this one.

sweet!

Thanks man.

the whole skull picture is awesome! i love the skulls with the vines and the water in the background. oh and the carvings are fantastic

Thanks GP. The photos are a part of the escapism total package for me. I have to put these guys in an appropriate environment. I enjoy making them as much as the carving.