Wendy Cevola - Zombie Hut movie and Sven's new book on display.

Such a surprise running into you both!

I am happy I saw you at Don's since I missed you at Tonga. It looks like you had a great time :)

Love ya both and hope to see you again before Oasis!

WestADad we love that tiki. We have added him to Dan's jungle tiki room. See Below.
SoccerTiki you and WooHoo are such dear sweet tiki people. You are welcome here too. You were wonderful hosts and it made our weekend extra special.
SandraDee we were overwhelmed with so much going on so I hope we have a visit before Oasis too. Are you going to Caliente?

When visiting friends if I spot a tiki that's been hurt I often take it home and repair it. Here are the steps I took to fix a Gecko and a Tiki Diablo.

Here's the damage.

This is the product I use to fill in the damaged areas. Over fill it shrinks when it dries.

Sand and carve in the detail.

Mix paints to match the colors and paint. This is Liquitex Glossies. Follow baking instruction to make this fix permanent.

Professor G sent Dan some coffee to thank him for his part in the Dan and Wendy Show. That comment made him laugh.

Progress Report:

I opened the kiln and learned so much. Hand painting glaze does not blend the two colors. Also laying them on their backs to dry and not paying attention ruined the test mugs further. The glaze ran but I didn't notice and I fired them (upright). I have now spray painted the tests to see if I can save them.

Yesterday I glazed the outside of all of the Zombie Torch mugs. Three layers in the bluegrass green for the zombie and followed by the two layers of brown glaze for the woman.

I tipped each time to make sure I got the glaze under his chin and under her skirt and feet.

I didn't like the brown with removed glaze test so I sprayed it to see what happens.

Today I need to clean off glaze that is on the bottom rim and paint the bottom inset where my name is located.

Dan cleaning up after the bluegrass glaze. I cleaned up after the brown glaze. He didn't take a photo of me he was in arranging tikis!

The Polynesiac tiki in its jungle tiki room spot.

Thank you for your visit. Remember I love your comments. Wendy

What a fantastic post Wendy! It looks like you & Dan had SOOO much fun! I loved all the pictures. SOMEDAY I'm getting to California for a weekend like that. If only the flights from the East Coast weren't so expensive. In the meantime I'll live vicariously through you. Thanks so much for making me feel like I was there with you.

Nice pics Wendy! I'm really enjoying this mug!!

And Mike....there's a cuban restaurant on every corner here! You gotta be more specific! :D

I was "Bobbed" today . . . it felt good :) Picked up my "Senor Bob" this afternoon from Wendy and Dan . . . awesome! For me, Wendy's work is very tactile, pictures never even come close, the bamboo carving on my Bob is amazing and the sombrero is perfection. The colors are perfect . . . as usual, Wendy's pieces speak to me.

I was never a "Bob" person, but when I acquired Wendy's Tiki Bob decanter, that changed!

Thanks Wendy and Dan! It was nice to be able to sit down and talk with you for a couple of hours today! Good friends - and thanks for the hugs Wendy!

Aloha and okole maluna!

The Blue Kahuna

[ Edited by: The Blue Kahuna 2012-04-04 21:53 ]

Go, Doctor Wendy!

LorieLovesTiki notes like yours makes the time I spend here worthwhile, thank you. It would be wonderful to have you here but in the meantime you should go to the Events section on Tiki Central. There are events at Lake George in New York and at the Mai Kai (Hukilau) in Florida. You should hook up with people in your area. Just go on General Tiki or Events and ask for people in your area to send you a Personal Message via Tiki Central. We have done this and as new people move to our area they add in. We all get together once a month and sometimes more. I've never met a better group of people than I've met through tiki. Best Wishes for some hook ups for you and your husband.

zerotiki I love owning your Mystery Girl print and knowing you have the mug. Both are in homes that will take care of them. Thank you for letting me know.

ZeroTiki I was a pre-med major in college so I'm living my dream!

The Blue Kahuna thank you for your PM you are such a dear man. Visit often.

We are all about to go through MadDogMike withdrawal while he's away. Let's load his thread with notes to get back to work!

The Blue Kahuna picks up his mug. (o: One less to ship and we had a fun visit and of course lots of hugs.

After spraying the mugs there is a lot of glaze on the bottom rim that must be removed.

I get a bucket of water that I can rinse my sponge in and rub this off.

It spreads around. I could work to take it all off but I like that it ages the bottom. But I'm not done yet.

I then use glaze to paint the indented bottom.

I kept going until I finished all 30 mugs and a few of the tests that I'm still playing with.

Because I kept the glaze pretty close to the bottom edge I fire with each mug on a stilt so that if the glaze runs it will not fuse it to the shelf.

When I load I don't put ceramics under the thermal couple because it sometimes spits off a piece of metal. Also below are my cones that will let me know if these fired at the right temperature.

These mugs are so tall that I could only put half of them into the kiln. Since I've finished all the Bobs I didn't have anything for a short top shelf. By Sunday I should be ready to fire the rest of them.

Thank you for your visit. Cheers, Wendy

Wendy is your Kiln Gas or Electric?
I can only imagine the cost of your utility bills

Funny you mention Lake George! My husband Jeff & I are going to Ohana there this year, his bday present to me! One day I'd like to get to Florida for that party but Ny is whole lot closer to NJ allowing us to drive. So I'm really looking forward to that.

Atomic Tiki Punk the kiln is electric and my bill has been around $140 per month. I have fired more this past month so it may go up. The kiln is at 230 degrees right now. At 130 I can open it. With half a load it is cooling off a lot faster so I'll be able to open it by this evening.

LoriLovesTikis you are going to have so much fun. Read all the posts for your event so that you don't miss anything. Ask all the ceramic artists questions about their work and you'll learn things to do with your own works of art.

Now I'm signing off so I can do my Spanish lesson. Adios amigos, Wendy

Hola Wendy y Dan,

Mi Tiki Bob es el mejor. Supera a mi lo que me esperaba, el detalle, el color y el barniz son fantásticos. Esta tarde fue grande y disfruté viendo todas las nuevas incorporaciones que tenes recientemente y los nuevos proyectos que está trabajando. La taza de Zombie Village que están haciendo es otro clásico.

Muchas gracias por el tazón de Bob y decantadores adicionales.

Nos vemos luego,

Duane

W and D,

My Blu-o Bob-o El mug-O is Mucho freekin-o el way kool-o

muchas Grassy-asss

Todays El Grog-O

Psycho Tiki D you are so wonderful to write such nice words. Even though I'm not that far into my Spanish lessons you know I have Dan to translate for me. What a nice visit we had with you and Marone Tiki today and The Blue Kahuna yesterday. Gracias I am thankful for all our friends, Wendy

Psycho Tiki D picking up his Tiki Bob bowl.

I almost forgot to take a photo before I'd completely unloaded the kiln.

Next I put in all the rest. Amazing that the two loads were a perfect fit.

Onto the dining room table. Tonight I should have them all there and I'll start the marathon of painting. I decided that removing glaze from the front of the Zombie wasn't a good idea. Fluids can absorb and then loosen the glaze so I'll do some enamel painting on him as well as the woman. I hope you are pleased with the end result.

Marone picking up his Tiki Bob Bowl.

Today while the second load cools I'll finish the sculpts for the chunk lamps with sea life and the Bumatay.

May you have sun and cool breezes today, Wendy

WOW! Thank you for the pictures Wendy! Those bowls looked great.

It's breezy and 65 here today, thank you!

Have a great weekend Wendy and Dan.

A perfect day WestADad my wish came true for you.

Progress Report all over the place:

A terrific bowl by Eric October that we purchased at the Tonga Hut Sale.

My favorite subject in little lost tikis art are his birds. I couldn't resist painting the bowl to somewhat match the painting. I love these both.

While the kiln cooled with the second load I went to work on fine tuning all the clay sculpts for the Bumatay lamp.
A full size momma octopus joins her baby.


An overview of all of them but a couple of tails.

Close ups of some of them.

Next up working on the Zombie Torches.

Where Dan ground down the glaze spikes on the bottom of the flames there were tiny white spots. I decided to just use permanent red felt pen to touch them out even though they wouldn't show with the flame in place.

Here are all 30 Zombie Torch mugs and flames.

Here's my new routine. I will paint each mug how I think best to match the prototype. I may even touch up a spot here and there of a speck of glaze that was out of place. 24 hours later they bake in my home oven. I can do 6 at a time.

I will contact the first 6 on the list for addresses. Once I am paid we will ship and then contact the next 6. When everyone on the list of 30 has been contacted and purchased or not I will then go down the waiting list in order offering what I have left.

I'm about to gather up the paint and brushes and to go to work. Thank you all for hanging in with Dan and I throughout this process. Cheers, Wendy

Wow, The end of the adventure is near, Somehow I am a little bit sad
I know you will move on to the next project, But you made us feel like we are part of this one
even more so then all that came before.

Thanks for taking all the extra time involved outside of the actual project to include us!

hang10tiki I was hoping for one more word of praise Ore-O! I'm so glad you are happy.

Atomic Tiki Punk it has been a journey that I've enjoyed because of all of you. There is still a lot of work to do. You are right more projects ahead.

Yesterday turned on a dime. I put away all of my clay tools so I could start painting the mugs when Roge said, "hey I can meet you at my shop today". So we jumped in the car and did the 4 hour round trip from Elk Grove to Grass Valley.

We dropped off the sea life sculptures and picked up a few Bumatay heads.

We also had fun seeing his lamps that are on Etsy for sale. Here's our day.

Roge gets the box of my sculpts.

A corner of his workspace.

The Bumatay.

A table with the Moai head the Bumatay. Also an assortment of whales by Miguel.

Miguel has made a whale of a chunk lamp. His looked so good I am extra excited to see how mine turns out.

Dan turns on the lamps so we may enjoy them.

The lamp in the middle is an experiment that worked. The resin is neither clear nor black it is rose. A whole new ambiance.

Once we returned home we crashed and watched TV. I didn't paint a single mug. Today we will spend with friends.

I hope you all have a special day. Wendy

I dig the October paint addition,
Sweet Honu,
Bumatays look way Kool,
And the lamps r lookin awesome...

Now go look in the yard n see if Dan hid any clay Eggs...

As much as I love watching the Wendy and Dan Show, I'm glad you two are going to enjoy a little down time with friends. Have a great day off.

hang10tiki thank you for the encouragement. I need it. See below!

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

I posted this photo a few days ago. It slowly dawned on me that the colors of the glaze test mug were darker and richer than the run mugs I thought I had finished.

I've made the decision to add another layer of brown and green glaze to every one of these mugs and to fire them all one more time. The Zombie Torch mugs are very important to me and they have to be right. We couldn't disturb our neighbors with the compressor noise on Easter Sunday so we will do this today.

Professor G we missed our friends yesterday but we will see them Tuesday night. Thank you for saying we deserved a day off. I hope everyone has a day off when they need it. I wish I had a photo of you and the Bob mug.

Yesterday we got started by putting the ZT mugs on trays.

Dan carried them from the house to the kiln shed.

I relaxed and watched him work!

Together we put all the molds together and poured them with slip. I have started working on the wish list projects that came after the last run of orders. These are now in the draining position.

Dan does all the heavy work for me. Here he is finishing off one mold.

He is my star of the show!

If anyone has an order they would like made please contact me by Friday. For this bunch the cutoff date is my favorite day Friday the 13th at midnight!

I'll take orders for:

Bumatay Bowls $300
Big Bob Bowls $300
Small Bob Bowls $150
Super Carved Bob Mugs $75
Altered Bob Mugs $75 unless they involve a lot more work. Example: MadDogMikes' cannibal mug.

PLUS actual shipping costs unless we can meet at an event.

I will be working on two Missionary Downfall bowls. I have a few women left. If you are interested in a woman already made $75 or one of these with a bowl that would be $150.

If you missed it here is a little history. After sculpting the woman she was molded. I poured a bunch.

A lot of them broke when I was cleaning off the mold lines.

Those that survived soon blew up in the kiln.

Those that survived the kiln had their skin, hair and flower glazed.

Then I hand painted all the detail in enamel.

Here is WestADad's 1/1 Missionary's Downfall bowl and woman.

I think the total that I have made is 15 or less.

Now its time to go out back and spray those mugs! Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-04-09 09:39 ]

Those ladies are very evocative of "Dorthy Kindell's" work.

Thank you Atomic Tiki Punk. We like her work.

Progress Report:
We have a good start on the second glaze phase for the Zombie Torch mugs.

It was a beautiful sunny day. I'm at peace with spraying these again.

Dan held a cardboard so the spray wouldn't reach the other mugs.

I finished spraying the blue-green side with the zombie.

Dan decided there had to be another way. He got a box and I asked him to cut out the bottom.

We used a brick to prevent the wind from blowing it away.

I sprayed the woman's brown side.

Once done they went into the kiln shed to dry. Today I will clean the bottoms again and start the first load firing.

I opened all the molds that we poured yesterday and started work on the Wish List.

I cut the bowl down to the style I use for the Bumatay Bowls.

I scrapped off the mold lines.

I smoothed the inside.

I cut away the excess clay from the first Bumatay.

The Wish List has requests for Elvis and Frankenstein Bobs, a Bob bowl, 2 Super Carved Bobs, Bumatay bowls and 3 new bowls for the Missionary's Downfall women.
I will also start the Tiki with Spy painting for Tiki Oasis 12 and finish all of the Zombie Torch mugs. I will always post photos as I go so everyone will see their work as it progresses.

Another beautiful day filled with tikis. Cheers, Wendy

busy
busy
busy

hang10tiki you beat me here today. Thank you for stopping by. I was writing a PM to MadDogMike while you were here.

Progress Report:

The first load has fired. I hope to open the kiln tonight. If re-glazing them didn't work I'll wash off the glaze on the second half. If it did work then I'll fire the last load. I'm looking forward to the hand painting part. I love bring the final touches to mugs.

Right now we continue to work on the Wish List by pouring every other day.
We poured these yesterday so today I open the molds and clean the tikis. I need to start on the hand built bowls for the MD bowls too.

On the shelf above are those I've cleaned and wrapped so they will not dry until I've finished them. I get all the pouring and cleaning done and then I start the altering and combining.

Last night we went to Tiki Tuesday at the Mandarin. We had a small but wonderful group last night. We had good food and terrific conversation. Meet our friends.

Deb (I forget here TC name) VampiressRN, Me

wendylovestikis, The Blue Kahuna, RugbyMatt

I can't wait until I see you all next time at Caliente, Don the Beachcomber's, Tiki Oasis... we are all so lucky. Cheers, Wendy

I know you want a picture of me and the mug, but I need to get my Sophista-Tiki custom aloha shirt, get a haircut, and do some laundry before that happens. Essentially, I need to raise my game in every way to even be slightly worthy of being in the frame with this mug.

Not only that, but I have to find a nice girl, marry her and make at least one Little Professor so this can become a family heirloom. Owning a Cevola Original is fantastic, but it can put a lot of pressure on you.

Professor G, Bob never looked so good when I took his photo. You are a professional photographer. I hope everyone friends you on facebook so they may see all of your wonderful butterfly and flower photos.

I'll wait until you have your shirt, do your laundry, cut your hair and anything else you need. Just know that every day I'll be checking for that photo. (:

Professor G, let's see the backside of that thar mug, too!

That was really so much fun on Tuesday night! So much fun Wendy, that I didn't get my "hello" hug nor my "goodbye" hug . . . guess I have a couple in the bank!

We'll be having the in-person public reveal of Senor Bob on Cinco de Mayo (that's May 5th, Wendy :) ) at ChaCha's in Roseville/Rocklin (one of those 'R' cities) - the photos won't be as nice as Professor G's, but they should never-the-less be interesting! Ole!

[ Edited by: The Blue Kahuna 2012-04-12 04:24 ]

Oh wow that mug looks perfect, so neat! great pic too

The Blue Kahuna don't forget I blew you a kiss!
clarita thank you. I love carving those Bob's
Professor G could you post the back of the mug? I'm saving your photos in a file as well as here.

Progress Report:

Dan worked on pruning in the backyard during a brief bout of sun.

I was in the garage opening molds and cleaning up the tikis.

Then the rain started again. It will be worse today.

We opened the kiln and I was so happy that now the mugs looked "just right"!

Close up of the Zombie now richer and darker. The girl looks her best once I've painted her.

The kiln fired the last load last night and will come out tonight. Tomorrow I begin to paint. Later today we will pour more Bob's.

I'm always grateful that you each stop by. Wendy

Beautiful mugs Wendy! Dan's got a good "mug" too! It was rainy today here as well. We need the rain, just no tornadoes.

Have a great evening.

Best,
Chris

Here is my backside, as demanded by the masses. I hope you all enjoy it.

Wendy, it's beautiful and no picture does your nightscene justice.

On 2012-04-12 15:05, Professor G wrote:
Here is my backside, as demanded by the masses. I hope you all enjoy it.

Wendy, it's beautiful and no picture does your nightscene justice.

Wow! That is quite beautiful!

WestADad we had a tornado 30 miles south of us this week and that was close enough. It's unusual for our area. I hope you are always safe.

Professor G thank you for the second photo. I love all your photos of nature so its a treat to have my art be photographed too.

zerostreet I hope the Blue Bob Group will keep in touch. Today is Friday the 13th the last day for orders and you fellows may have more members joining the club.

Progress Report:

Today Dan and I are starting off by making a mold of the original Missionary's Downfall bowl. There are some needed for the Waiting list. It takes a week for the mold to dry so we'll do it today.

After the mold is made I will begin to paint all of the Zombie Torch mugs and to bake them. Wow soon it will be time to collect addresses and money and to get these shipped out. We'll start that next week.

When I say I was mucking in clay this is what I mean.

All the mugs are on the table waiting for the enamel paint.

It rained and hailed yesterday but we managed to pour a run of the Bob's for the wish list. Opening the kiln last night was a momentous occasion. I love painting the woman.

Back when I made the Missionary's Downfall bowl I left out an I. Now I'll fix it.

I have removed the O and I'll fit the I and O in the space of which there is plenty.

I sculpt better now than in 2009 when I made this clay bowl out of Sculpey. So I'm redoing the bamboo which was too flat.

I've rounded each piece. When a bowl is cast I will add the detail that is required to make it bamboo. So each bowl will be unique.

I did this while watching TV of course. So I worked until 10 PM. There is always something I can work on.

I hope you day is full of smiles, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-04-13 09:02 ]

As always you amaze me! I just enjoy following your posts so much! I sent you a
PM - I'm taking the plunge and am sliding in just before the Friday the 13th deadline to add my request for a mug to your list!

:)

Yet another TC member under the spell...

The Friday the 13th deadline has come and thank you to everyone who signed up for the next ride. As I do your work I will post photos.

LoriLovesTikis was the last to sign up, thank you Lori.
hang10tiki that sounds like a good song title.

YESTERDAY WAS FRIDAY THE 13TH AND WE HAD A DISASTER DAY BUT WE STILL HAD FUN. Because of the problem I didn't paint the Zombie Torch mugs so today I will do nothing else but paint and bake.

This is the original Missionary's Downfall bowl with the woman who caused it.
The woman and bowl are clay. The woman has been molded and I've made some. Dan gave me his bowl so that it too could be molded.

I decided to make a one piece mold. That was the first mistake.

I drilled holes into the bowl and added a pulling cord.

Dan set up the garage for this messy work.

I wanted to modify the bowl so that I could pour it in different ways. Same as the original or with taller sides and a deeper bowl. Clay is stretchy and I could press the bowl bottom down to deepen it after casting. I made a clay base. I pulled the chords through to the center.

I put in more clay.

I put the bowl on top and cut away excess clay.

I smoothed the clay and filled holes.

I put tape over the chord so that it wouldn't get stuck in the plaster.

I formed each piece of bamboo.

Front.

Back. The detail will be added after a bowl is cast.

The sides are added and the clay ropes are placed to prevent leaks. I measured how much plaster was needed for 2 inches above the bowl.
SECOND MISTAKE. DAN ASKED IF I WAS USING MOLD SOAP AND I SAID NO THAT GOES BETWEEN PLASTER PIECES AND THIS IS ONLY ONE PIECE. I should have used it.

It's time to mix. I add the water and plaster.

Dan is the mixing man.

It took three batches to fill the box to the right level. Ten years from now neither of us will be able to make a mold this heavy and still be able to lift it.

Once the plaster hardened I removed the sides and Dan flipped it over.

I removed the clay.

I'm just showing the chords Dan tried pulling them and it didn't budge the bowl.

Watch out for me I swung that hatchet with force.

I chiseled too. What had happened was the acrylic paint that was on the bowl became super glue when the plaster heated. It fused to the plaster. A regular sculpt would not have this problem.

Shop vacs are nice.

I chiseled on an off during the day. My right arm has a metal plate from a fracture so today I will take it easy and paint the mugs. No more chiseling until that project is finished. I will save this mold one whack at a time.

We poured the day before and it was time to open them.

I'm stock piling the Bob's for the wish list projects. I wrap them in plastic so they don't dry. When the ZT mugs are done I will have these ready to work on.

Sweeping is a no no but with so many chips flying before we moved to the yard it was needed. Mask up or die.

End of day the mopper man comes through.

There is no way I could do this without Dan.

Now it is time to get busy on those Zombie Torch mugs. A relaxing day ahead.

Cheers, Wendy

Wow...that was definitely an "E" ticket ride on that last one...I had my seatbelt on tight.

Dan looks like a crazy man in the photo with the drill!

On 2012-04-14 11:25, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Dan looks like a crazy man in the photo with the drill!

That's a real metal drill, I haven't seen one of those in years!

Hi Vamp, you should have been here for the ride. When I started whacking that bowl chips where flying everywhere. So we moved it outside on the lawn so all the neighbors could watch.

Atomic Tiki Punk Dan is crazy because he's been married to me for almost 34 years!

MadDogMike all our tools are metal because they are as old as we are.

Progress Report:

Yesterday I painted for 8 hours and that was all I could do in one day. I'll start again today after we pour a run of Bob's for the wish list. I finished the skirt and hair. All the small details are next. (: Wendy

Just Magic going on now!

Fun fun fun!
Gettin close I C

On 2012-04-11 18:53, Professor G wrote:

Awesome mug Wendy!!

NICE picture too!

Atomic Tiki Punk and hang10tiki thank you for the boost to keep me going.

Babalu thank you for checking up on me. I'm so glad that you convinced me to make molds. It's been a learning curve that's like a roller coaster but in the end we always end up with molds that work.

Here's yesterday:

One whack at a time I chiseled out the original bowl from the mold.

By the time the molds were ready to pour out I had finished.
All defects can be fixed once a poured bowl is out of the mold. Dents just add clay that can be sliced off. I did fill them with plaster but I don't know if it will stick. Now this mold will dry for a week or more.All defects can be fixed once a poured bowl is out of the mold. Dents just add clay that can be sliced off. I did fill them with plaster but I don't know if it will stick. Now this mold will dry for a week or more.

We poured all these molds yesterday.

The tikis for the Wish List are stacking up and waiting until it is their turn.

Two Bumatay's for bowl were poured.

I need the fins to be strong and thick.

I filled in the fins with more slip so that they are solid.

Progress on the Zombie Torch mugs.

Yesterday I did the first layer on the flowers.

Next I painted all the eyebrows and lashes.

Step by step they are nearing the time in the oven! Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-04-16 09:03 ]

Wend , your mugs look fantastic . You really put a lot of time and effort into your mugs.

Wendy, the beauty of your Zombie Torch mugs has reduced me to an elemental expression of admiration... ooh aah!

-Tom

Wendy, I love your threads! You are really talented ! Great job

Amy

PS Dan Too!

[ Edited by: Queen Kamehameha 2012-04-16 17:34 ]

HB I wish I were more creative with words like Kenny but since I'm not I hope you will know that when I say thank you I really mean it.

TikiTomD I'll take those elemental oohs and aahs any time, thank you too.

Hi Amy, we were just at your Mohave Oasis to see Buzzy on our way to Las Vegas. What a fun place. We are looking forward to seeing all the photos of the wild campers. Thank you for checking my thread and your kind words. Dan was happy to see the PS.

The Missionary's Downfall bowl is drying in the sun. Sun its feeling like California again.

I've done the lips and the next part are the Grand Tetons!

Here's a ceramic lesson. Sometimes when add additional clay where it joins it interferes with the glaze. When I paint these parts with enamel I hide the tiny imperfections. That is why on this mug with flower petal is on the skin near her eye.

I don't think a singe mug is perfect but I'll do my best with them all.

We have company this morning but later on we'll be back to work. Cheers, Wendy