surf soul tiki

gettin' there....

a little body work....

Strong Work on that Tarpon!! Looks like its gona be a good one.

The cedar tarpon is done!

ok, back to the tikis....

in fact, let's make 4 today.

yep.

Those little tikis I made the other day, torched & stained.

so, yesterday morning I woke up hung over, broken up with via text message over something I said or did while I was drunk Friday night (of which I have no recollection) and when I went out to my truck to go get my stuff from her house I noticed that my tool box had been stolen out of my truck!

Bottom line, yesterday life served me a sh#t sandwich with a side order of "no one gives a f###".

But today is another day and I'm movin' on. I think my dog is really happy that we're home, and I'm kinda happy too. All in all it's probably for the best.

So anyway, I'm making stuff today. I started this cedar redfish this morning.

[ Edited by: pjc5150 2011-12-18 07:24 ]

done!

now onto something else.

Man,that good ol booze hey,F$*k you up every time but on a positive note that cedar
carves up a treat!Keep em com'n.Cheers Watango
Ps-there's plenty more fish in the wood!:)

[ Edited by: Watango productions 2011-12-19 14:20 ]

This might sound weird...but that's actually a really nice piece of wood ya got there. :D

Thanks guys.

And I am happy to announce that my toolbox was recovered! Some nice old guy called me out of nowhere and said he found it on the side of the road, and a few of my business cards were in it so he was able to contact me. Apparently, for whatever reason, whoever stole it chucked it out the window or something as they were driving down the road. The box itself is pretty much smashed, but it managed to stay closed so I got all my stuff back! I tried to give him a reward & he wouldn't take it. Nice that there are still some decent folks out there.

I'm very stoked about that.

That is a great fish Jeff! :)

thanks Erik. I'm definitely enjoying the fish stuff.

...and here's the 1960 Columbia I picked up today!

I absolutely love this little bike.

Flipped bars, fake aftermarket pipes with a little california license tag, and home-made wooden pedals! It's like some kid's bike from the 60's that was dropped in a time capsule...and the wood pedals? how cool is that? it's like the kid & his dad made 'em out in the garage when the originals broke!

So, I have to get back on top of things tomorrow. I need to make some stuff!

Man!your kill'n me with all these sweet pushies!

yeah Mick, I've been findin' em bro!

I may be trading for some tiki stuff for some old frames later this week....

So yeah, 2011 is finally over. It was a weird year. The first 9 months of which kinda sucked, and the last 3 months were pretty awesome. I kinda got lazy there at the end & slacked off for a couple of weeks, but it's January 2nd & I need to get back on it.

I was fortunate enough to spend a little time with Benz & Will last week, and came away from the whole thing stoked and ready to go to work, and wanting to "get better" at what I do.

So this week I'm getting the ball rolling on my website, pricing t-shirts & stickers. I also have appointments with some of the local restaurants. But most importantly, settling back into making stuff (BETTER stuff).

I am really stoked about this year's possibilities.

Very creative with the octopus driftwood! Looking forward to the website rollout! Keep up the great work,and please keep us posted on the bike status-- great finds!

Glad to hear you got that new year spark! wish I could have made it down there with you guys. Next time for sure.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with the new found motivation, Happy New Year!

Yeah cool bike. The rocket shaped light, wooden pedals. Awesome! Luv the last couple of fish too.

Well, I met with the GM of a local waterfront restaurant today and it went really well. Had my little flip-book of my stuff & he liked all of it. There may be a real opportunity there for me to do something neat. They have spent A LOT of money creating a tiki bar, but it's a big blank canvas and I think I could really bring a lot of flavor to the table. He wants proposals.

And I went to a local Tahitian-themed resort/hotel and they have a HUGE dead date palm in the side at the entrance to the parking lot...in addition to this, one of my ex's works there and is tight with the owner. I had lunch with her today and she's working the inside track for me. That could seriously happen.

And I have some commissions to work on too which is cool.

I'll start making some stuff tomorrow, so hopefully I'l start posting some pics again.

[ Edited by: pjc5150 2012-01-03 15:56 ]

Great news!! Here's to a prosperous 2012 for you!

I lived in Palm Harbor for a few years and was quite active in the Tampa Bay Parrot Head Club. They have over 600 members and dig the tiki theme .... and they have money to spend! Some of them ask about buying my tikis but the cost to ship from Cali is a show-stopper... I might just send them your way if they show any more interest ...

yeah man, give 'em the word. I'm their guy.

If they have a meeting or something I'll go down there & introduce myself. I'd love to be "the guy" they called for tikis stuff.

So anyway, back to work. This one's gonna be a snook. I'm gonna start a few tikis too.

Ok, the snook is done. For those of you who live in Florida, you probably know what a snook is. For those of you who do not live in Florida, it's a rather elusive saltwater fish that is extremely desirable because ( a.) they're very tasty, and ( b.) they're not the easiest fish to catch. They're a very popular inshore-type game fish.

This is another piece for Wimauma Restaurant.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm getting some tikis going.

The stripe is perfect!

thanks Tom.

Yeah, the girl who owns the Restaurant that has the redfish says there has been a lot of interest and the cards I left there are all gone, so that's good news. I guess I'm going to have to complete the "inshore slam" & make a trout now....

Anyway, lots to do today.

today's inspiration....

I saw this big piece of cedar this morning and decided that I need to turn it into a manatee (more Florida-specific marine life).

Anyway, it's a little under 4 ft high & aboiut 16 inches thick.

I'm waiting for someone to speak up and say "quit posting your stupid bikes and fish and make some tikis!!!"....

I promise that I will get back on them (hopefully later today).....

My daughter just moved to Florida and sent back pictures of a manatee and I wondered why the carvers weren't incorporating them into their designs. Can't wait to see the result pjc5150.

On 2012-01-05 08:42, cy wrote:
I wondered why the carvers weren't incorporating them into their designs

They do, and they are all over. Just not on the Tiki forum. This one is right outside my office (Southport Raw Bar in FtLauderdale), carved in a dead Mahogany.

well, rough cut a manatee shape, but there's some rot in the center & stuff is breaking....so we'll see how good (or bad) this turns out...

On 2012-01-05 08:38, pjc5150 wrote:

"quit posting your stupid bikes and fish and make some tikis!!!"....

I like the fish. You do a good job on them.

here's what it looked like last night before I quit.

I'm going to work on it a little more today.

OK, looking a little more like a manatee....

Love it!! Having been a "Floridian" for four years I actually got to dive with a manatee at Weeki-Wachi .... Can't wait to see how this guy turns out! ... That cedar is cool! Does it carve good? Is it a soft wood?

thanks Captain.

and yeah...it's pretty soft. It cracks & breaks really easily, so it likes an angle grinder a lot more than a chisel.

but sand it well & rub some poly on it and it explodes with color. I love making stuff with it.

Well, I have another commercial gig down in Anna Maria Island. I'm heading down tomorrow & doing a dead palm on the main drag. So hopefully I'll be able to get it done in fairly short order & get back by Friday.

I'll try to post some pics in the next few days.

this one's gonna be a big Moai...

stay tuned....

Looking forward to seeing the progress on this one ....

be careful what you wish for...

I need a beer....

Good one!
You earned it.

Very nice!! Facing the Gulf I presume ..... Enjoy your beer .... in fact have a few!

very cool Jeff...came out great and ill bet that is one very imposing Tiki in person. Its HUGE!

hey thanks guys.

it's actually not quite done. have a little more shaping & cleaning it up.

I'll post up a completed shot tomorrow.

Done.

Customer is stoked!

Love It!! Great Job!

SIIIICK dude. That looks awesome. Strong Work.

thanks guys. my biggest yet!

And last night a very successful guy that I know asked me to do 2 very detailed tikis for his beach house. No budget limit...all he said was "I want your best". I need to step it up like 3 notches for these pieces & I'm super excited about actually getting paid to do something really good.

And I have YET ANOTHER tiki bar that wants to me to come out & talk to them. This year is starting off way better than last year for sure.

WE all want to see your best as well!!! I think we all would love to see something above and beyond everything you have previously created. Get on it and don't disappoint. I know for sure you have more in you...LETS SEE IT!!!!

visited a local sawmill today! cool stuff.

Sounds like your new year is off to a great start!