VanTiki Mugs: Octopus Time Lapse

Wow, fantastic job on the glaze!!! Now that's a mug... I'm just learning about glazes, and brother I have a WHOLE new respect for that and for what you do, crazy complicated!!!!

Amazing work yet again!

Those are some groovy rattlers. Love the awesomeness.

Mahalo everyone!

The glaze on the rattles was applied in a fingernail-biting series of two glaze firings - the first at cone 010 and the second at cone 6. Soooooooo relieved that both mugs made it through crack-free!

Aloha -
Henrik

OMG - Tiki Oasis 11 is getting dangerously close!

With that cold-sweat inducing mantra, I'll be working away in the studio every night for a spell to craft a bevy of goodies to take with me in August. I'll share the creation here as things unfold.

First off - as you may have noticed I've been rather anti-prolific this year. Truth be told, my computer illustration work got extremely busy, leaving little time for mugs. Now that I've got a hard and fast deadline to focus on, I'm hoping to finally get my ever-growing pile if idea sketches turned into ceramic reality.

I'm planning a variety of pieces for Oasis - and the first to take shape are a new assortment of Framed Faces. What are Framed Faces? Here is a refresher:

http://www.vantiki.com/VanTiki/Framed_Face_1.html

I had a blast making these last year, and as I still have some neat frames left over, I decided it was time to fill them with faces. I printed out some profoundly moving reference poses :wink: and set up my workspace:

First fellow ready for drying. Note the holes thru the lips for lashing after glazing and firing.

Next guy taking shape. I like to do these in both portrait and landscape orientation. They are meant to plug into a 4x6 frame opening - but I usually have to modify the fame a bit to account for uneven shrinking. Yellow porcelain eye, white porcelain teeth

#2 ready to dry!

And a third fellow joins the party!

I hope to do two more of these guys, then move onto other pieces. Mahalo for peeking - and I hope to see you all at Tiki Oasis!

Henrik "VanTiki"

VanTiki? I think I remember that guy :lol:

Henrik's coming back to OASIS!!!! You been spending the last year building up a resistance to rum so you'd be ready to party? Hope to see you there, love the tiles.

WOW, THEY MUST BE REALLY GOOD BECAUSE I'M ALL CREEPED OUT! WENDY

PS SEE YOU AT OASIS

Love the concept. Very exotic primitive look to them. Excellent work.

Bear

Mahalo everyone!

Mike - I can't wait to see you at Oasis! Sadly, I am still an epic lightweight when it comes to Rum :)

Wendy - They creep me out too! They should look a lot less creepy when I give them their colorful glaze and put them in an elaborate frame.

Bear - Mahalo!

Added a final two faces to the lineup last night:

I found a cup of leftover rattle beads from the bone rattles hiding near the drying rack - so I believe I'll put them to use in a new rattle mug this evening.

Once again, Mahalo for peeking -
Henrik "VanTiki"

Cool to see you back on the board Henrick!

The work is choice, as always...

I won't be posted up across from you at Oasis this year, but I'll be hanging out at the VanTiki booth for sure!

hey TC, support damn fine art - BUY VANTIKI!!!

Mahalo Babs!

It won't be the same not being able to gaze across the isle at you and your mugs! :)

As promised - I shifted gears last night onto some new pieces. Oasis 11 demands varaiety! :)

While prepping my drying rack for tiles last week I found that I had a bunch of clay pellets left over from the Bone Rattle mugs. I felt that this was one of those Omens from the Kiln that is better to embrace rather than ignore, so I set about crafting 2 new Bone Rattle mugs. Last nights efforts were mainly on the mug foundations - nothing flashy, but I thought I'd share.

Here are the pellets neatly separated into 2 piles (one for each mug)

and here you see the base of the mug taking shape. I wrap the pellets in a paper towel to keep them from fusing to the mug wall while firing (the paper towel and tape vaporize during the firing). I'll poke some air/sound holes in the spheres as a last step - the shape is much stronger with a bubble of air trapped inside. Once I am done sculpting the mug on top of these sound chambers, and the clay has firmed up a bit, I'll add the holes.

I'll be doing the fun stuff tonight - more photos tomorrow!

Mahalo for peeking
Henrik "VanTiki"

I Need to take a class, You are ssiicckk!!

Thoe are cool pics of the mug rattlers and the construction of the rattle.

And that pitcher is GREAT!! One day I hope to see some of your work in person.

Cheers,

Mahalo Tikigodz and Tikiedge!

Today was an Epic Studio Day - finished the Bone Rattle 2.0 sculpts, glazed a slew of tiki tiles with dangerously experimental techniques, and loaded the kiln for a firing at the crack of dawn tomorrow. I am spent! But enough whining - on to the photos!

Here you see the gestation of Mug A (a.k.a. Mr. Skinny Top):

And here Mug B (a.k.a. Mr. Wide Top):

And here are the finished sculptures!

so happy with the way they turned out. I'm off for a HUGE business trip on monday, so they will spend the next few weeks wrapped in plastic enjoying a nice slow drying out period. Hopefully no cracks!

Mahalo for peeking -
Henrik "VanTiki"

Henrik, I love the drinking spout you have invented

Those are amazing! Great work!

I'm Sooooooooo... jalous about your talent!!! just unbelievable!

[ Edited by: Tiki Baï 2011-06-06 01:16 ]

so cool vantiki

Very nice. GROG like.

Drooooooooooooooool......

On 2011-06-07 01:47, GROG wrote:
Very nice. GROG like.

ya... what that monkey said... i mean monkey-maker...wink.

A HUGE mahalo to all for the kind words! They mean a lot!

My sincere appologies for the lack of updates - Been burning the candle at both ends with the looming Tiki Oasis dates and crushing work deadlines. I've been busy in the studio - but due to a bit of a computer hiccup I have not been able to post lately. Here is what has been cooking:

First up, the Bone Rattle mugs biqsue fired just fine, and I hope to get them glazed next week (yaay!)

Next, I pressed a slew of tiles for Oasis (and etsy) last weekend, and only managed to squish my finger once :)

The Framed faces are glazed and turned out über creepy-cool! Can't wait to get them framed up!

I'm gonna bring a few pressed ceramic necklaces/pendants to Oasis - some designs you've seen before (as Geocoins), and I'm working on 2 new ones. Here they are taking shape:
Canibal Cubed:

Sleeping Moai:

Tonight I'm molding the finished pendant sculpts, and this weekend I'll be putting together a few more mugs (very excited about the concept). So much to do! So little time! Aaaaaaaaa!

"My sincere appologies for the lack of updates..."

OK, we'll forgive you this time but only because you create such great art! :wink:
Those faces are a bit too creepy, they give me the woolies! And the "Sleeping Moai" is going to be a thing of beauty

Amazing work as usual Henrick. Just wondering if you could explain about the screws and their purpose on the pendants?

On 2011-07-15 01:10, swizzle wrote:
Amazing work as usual Henrick. Just wondering if you could explain about the screws and their purpose on the pendants?

Mahalo!

The screws are acting as an armature to help the clay stick to the board. I'm using Super Sculpey (grey firm) to do these - and it isn't the stickiest stuff. The screws help anchor it to the board - and hopefully will keep the clay there when I pull off the plaster mold. If all goes well, I can get two (and sometimes three) molds off the sculpture before it breaks up beyond repair. Note - I DO NOT bake the clay prior to molding - I'm depending on the "bubble gum" quality of the Sculpey to aid with any inadvertent undercuts that may be lurking. Also, with the unbaked clay I can go in and repair the piece when I pull multiple molds. After I get as many molds off the piece as I can, I pry it off the board and bake it so I have a reference master to look at when cleaning up/detailing the pressed clay pendants.

Henrik

Love those tentacles, see you at Oasis, Wendy

Mahalo Wendy! Oasis is so close and I am FREAKING OUT!

Was able to finally get the pendants molded on saturday. The screws did their job, and I managed to pull three molds off each sculpture (six molds total) - had to stop because I ran out of plaster! :)
The molds are currently in my attic to speed the drying out process (yes, my panic about the looming Oasis dates has pushed me to extremes). Here are some shots of the plaster pouring:

Sculpting 2 more mugs today and tomorrow, and plan on doing some pendant hanger boxes (or wall hanging mugs - still haven't decided) on wednesday and Thursday. Pressing pendants friday and Saturday, followed by a three week marathon of glazing and firing. stress stress stress!

Mahalo for peeking -
Henrik VanStressi

FInally got around to putting together a set of mugs I've been plotting for over a year!

Here they are taking shape... looking rather sandworm-esque at the moment:

And more refinement - could these be the Tiki Fire Hydrants you have been yearning for?

Ta da!

Still tough to make out what they are - they are upside down, and there is still a lot to add. They need their fuses and carriages! Allow me to present my naval cannon mugs: The Bow Chasers! Salvaged from a shipwreck, the natives of VanTiki Island re-shaped these British Naval cannons with fire, hammers, and chisels into powerful deities of war.

Going for a hammered and pitted iron surface:
[img]https://tikicentral.com/uploads/4033/4e29e8ed.jpg[/img

The cool thing is, once they are set up in their wooden cradles, you simply aim the cannon at the sky, fill with rum, and insert straw! :)

Mahalo for peeking -
Henrik "VanTiki"

Wow! I love this concept. I wish I'd thought of it first, blast you! Nice work on the hammered texture. These are gonna be awesome.

Bear

Mahalo Bear!

I wanna do a full size one for my office! :)

Very cool idea Henrik and great execution, can't wait to see them finished. I like the way you made the rounded ends, I wouldn't have thought of that. Are those extruded hollow cylinders?

Mahalo Mike! They are indeed extruded cylinders - at a whopping 1" thick! I planned on carving away quite a bit - and I wanted the mugs to "feel" like cannons - so I went crazy with the thickness. Hopefully it won't bite me in the okole!

Pressed a bunch of pendants for Oasis yesterday, and will press a bunch more today:

Oasis is getting so darn close - I'm FREAKING OUT
Henrik "VanTiki"

GROG looking forward to seeing you and your art at Oasis.

Amazing how fast you can make them with the press mold, my slip mold pendants take forever. I can only do 2 or three a day.
I got to try a press mold, thanks for sharing the process!

I'll miss seeing your amazing ceramics at Oasis this year, so thanks for posting!

Can't wait to see these in person...I am particularly drawn to the octopoid I see there....

On 2011-07-28 20:50, MauiTiki wrote:
Amazing how fast you can make them with the press mold, my slip mold pendants take forever. I can only do 2 or three a day.

They do still take some time - but nowhere near 3 a day! The key to getting a good amount done is having A LOT of molds to press . I was able to pull 3 molds off of each new pendant sculpture - and I may pull a couple more after Oasis.

Henrik "VanTiki"

The cool thing is, once they are set up in their wooden cradles, you simply aim the cannon at the sky, fill with rum, and insert straw! :)

Wow, awesome idea Henrik! I can't wait to see these pieces finished. It will be fun to rub elbows at Oasis again this year :) See ya in a few weeks.

Mahalo Babalu! I'd say there is a 50% chance of the bowchasers making an appearance at Oasis. They are wicked thick - and drying has been taking a while. I threw caution to the wind and loaded them in the kiln this morning, and I'm currently candling them for three hours before taking them veeeeery slowly to a bisque cone 05. Hope they don't crack or (worse) blow up! Secondly, I still gotta make the wood cradles! So much to do - so little time. How can it possibly be a year since last Oasis?! :)

Henrik "VanTiki"

Quick Oasis update:

Pendants - looking good! Just pulled them out of the kiln and am really happy with them. Wanna eat them up like cookies! I believe we are looking at 15$ for 1 color, and 20$ for two color pendants (includes leather cord - fancy!)

Bowchaser cannon mugs - did not crack! Glazing them tonight, and will fire tomorrow. Also starting on their wood cradles tomorrow

Bone Rattle mugs - noticed a bit of a crack after the glaze firing on the mugs' interiors, and was not too thrilled with the glaze. Going to kick them back for another firing. Cross your fingers, everyone!

Framed Faces - have frames for two of them, ordered three more awesome frames today. Should have them within the week. HB - if you are reading this, I'll have a price and measurements to you this weekend (I promise!)

Tiles - All are bisqued, and will be glazing them tonight for tomorrow's firing. Got a new blue glaze that looks great! Special price for my Oasis ohana: $25 each.

More? - Yes! Will also have 2 trepanning accident skulls at the booth.

Even More - Heck Yes! Babalu has been kind enough to scour up some clay for me, and I will be sculpting demo mugs in the VanTiki Artist's Alley booth Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. See the clay move - in startling 3D! Whoo!

Looking forward to seeing you and Denise again this year.
Awesome work as usual. You need a gallery showing on the mainland.
Can't wait to see what you've got hiding up your sleeve.
Dig those pendants but the framed face would go great next to my zombie mug. Hmmmmm

How Embarrassing! The new Bone rattle mugs sadly can't hold their liquor too well. I was unfortunately unable to repair a small crack that developed on the inside of both mugs, and after the final firing they sound great when you shake em' - but they sloooooooly leak out whatever fluid you fill them with. Sigh.... what do with them? Perhaps I'll offer them at a discount at Oasis :)

here they are slowly failing their sobriety test (I fill my mugs to the brim with water to check for any leaks - after about an hour, the H2O had dropped about a centimeter on both mugs):

Mahalo for peeking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

On 2011-08-10 12:27, VanTiki wrote:
here they are slowly failing their sobriety test (I fill my mugs to the brim with water to check for any leaks - after about an hour, the H2O had dropped about a centimeter on both mugs):

Ha! like I'm not drinking faster than THAT?!

I'm with the mermaid - anyone who can't drink faster than that doesn't deserve a mug! A centimeter per hour, we get that much evaporation here in the desert :D

You can't sell mugs with leaks! Send them to me, I'll take good care of them.

I've shipped it all! The goods are on the way to Oasis - and I will be following soon. Photos of the finished work - as well as prices for all - can be found here:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=40927&forum=21&0

What next? Well, I need to come up with some sort of way to hang tiles and faces in my booth - and whatever I come up with needs to fit in my check-in luggage. That is what I'll be figuring out for the next few evenings! :)

See you all soon at Oasis!

Henrik

Amazing work! Unfortunately I won't be at Oasis, so I'll have to wait for your ebay listings!

Have fun at Oasis, I wish I was there!