MadDog Mike's Platterful of Pupule - El Tiki/Ben Wilson Wall Finished

So you did a photo of you kissing the snake how about a photo of making the shell noise? You are such a cute nut, Wendy

Very Cool Mike!! What an awesome trip you had!! More pics please!! :wink:
Love the Olmec Head brada!!

Dawn, good to hear from you.
Wendy, hmmm... I don't know about that :lol:
Beachbumz, that's the end of the Mexico pics. I made of mold for that Olmec head. I left it smooth so I could make the gold one but I also made some modified after molding with different helmet designs and Mayan glyphs then heavily textured to look like limestone.

I haven't forgotten about this project

A quick trip to San Diego yesterday rectified my shortage of plaster and slip so I'm moldmaking tonight

I want one it is so cool, Wendy

More good "Mad" stuff from the Master! :)

Loved your trip roundup, it was like watching Rick Steve on PBS!

Thanks Wendy & Chris

I poured the mold for the Tiki Edition PPK but I broke one side in half removing the master. I glued it back together with white glue which gave me a pretty clean seam line. But I knew that would not be strong enough to withstands the rigors of pouring and unmolding. So I used Gorilla glue to attach a 1x6 wooden "splint" on the outside, hopefully this will keep that white glue joint from having any stress on it. Gorilla glue forms a very strong bond to porous materials, both wood and plaster are pretty porous and lots of surface area. Now if it would quit raining maybe the mold will dry out so I can try it.

(kinda hard to see the splint against the butcherblock countertop)

Cool Mike. Go tiki told me to use wood glue when a mold broke or had a chunk come off. I'm amazed at how well the glue works. I've got a mold that I've used 10 times and the chunk I glued on is still firmly in place.

I love that tiki gun. Wendy

"Next man who move, the Dog gets it" "He's not bluffing ~ he's just Mad enough to do it!"

"The name's Dog, Mad Dog"

It's more of a novelty than a mug; it holds 4 ounces, 6 if you hold it just right :D

Twins! I didn't know you were twins. One goofy and one a complete stud. You and your art rocks Mike. You are very special. I love that gun but the tux is super cool. I'm stealing these images. Wendy

Mad Dog
That's freekin awesome
4 oz of rum works great, 6 even better

Classic!

Mike that is SWEET brada!!
Now you just need one of these Holsters..

:P :D

I broke a couple molds this month too Mike and used some of the carpenters Wood glue and seems to be holding great, gorrila glue is even stronger though..

Well done.

Shoot Mike, you are aiming to be top gun on this one. The caliber of your work is a notch above and that tiki looks like it has a grip on the situation and can handle anything. What a blast! (Let me guess what you are sipping- A shot of rum?)

ATP & Will, thank you very much
Wendy, did you think I was some kinda redneck that didn't even own a tuxedo?
Cy and H10T, is it considered poor form to sip Havana Club Seleccion de Maestros through a straw?
Beachbumz, if I could pick something out of that picture it wouldn't be the holster! ~ I have good looking legs and I think those shorts would look good on me :lol:

I may try to put some satin glaze on the outside of that gun and leave other parts of it flat black. I haven't decided if I'll glaze the tip of the barrel orange for "safety purposes" yet.

Awesome! It's more of a hip flask. "Shot from the hip" so to speak. :)
ETR

Oh no Mike am I married to a redneck because he dosen't have a tuxedo? He does have a ton of Hawaiian Shirts. Wendy

PS CY that was super fun to read

Thank You Erik. No Wendy, Dan is not a redneck because he doesn't own a tux. Besides, he looks damned handsome in a Hawaiian shirt! :D

The Saga of Bryan's King Kamehameha Bowl
My brother Bryan passed away almost 2 years ago. When he was in grade school, he made this 4 inch ceramic head in class.

He gave it to my grandmother and she proudly displayed it on her dining room shelf with her Hummel figurines and ceramic birds. When my grandmother passed away several years ago I retrieved the head to return it to Bryan, but he didn't want it ~ he said it was ugly! So I kept it and have proudly displayed it on my dining room shelf.

But I wanted to do something more with it. So last week I made of mold of it and cast 3 duplicate heads

I realize these are not the facial features normally associated with King Kamehameha, but I have never been one to let authenticity prevent me from having a good time! The plan is to add Hawaiian feathered helmets to the heads then use them to support a bowl. The heads will be glazed normally with bronze skin and red & yellow helmets but I have something special planned for the bowl ~ one of those "live on the edge" techniques that may turn out really cool or may ruin it! :lol:

OMG...that is totally awesome...you are such a talent. :tiki:

Looks like you are spy-ready for TO...get on with your bad self!!!

Ditto on what Vamp said. You really have the knack for working clay. The bowl is wonderful. I'm inspired, Wendy

Wow! That's looking awesome Mike! Great work!

The bowl looks great so far Mike. I love the name and the fact that it is a tribute to your brother using his original sculpt. Hopefully the glaze works out like you want it to.

Outstanding Mike.
Man, I'm glad your a friend
not a foe.
I wouldn't stand a chance.

Looks great Mad Dog!

Wow, very cool! (Unlike the weather :))

That looks fantastic! What a great idea for a bowl.

Cool bowl, LOVE the gun! That is awesome!! What kind of ammo do you fill it with? :)

Awesome gun! The king (no not Elvis) bowl is looking pretty awesome too can't wait to see what you do with it. So, Mike with that gun careful you don't get too hammered, or you may Spillaine your guts to a porcelain god. :D (yeah I know awful, awful puns). How much does that gun hold anyhow?

Thank you all so much for your kind comments on the gun and bowl. The gun holds only about 4-6 ounces, I'd recommend filling it with a nice sipping rum to get maximum impact :D

I had originally planned to some aluminum foil saggar firing on the outside of the bowl. Glazes fire at about 1800 degrees and the saggar firing is done at 1000. So "in theory" I could glaze the figures and the inside of the bowl with standard glaze, then saggar fire the outside while still maintaining a food safe finish inside. I had hoped to get a look like this (not mine)

Unfortunately, I made the bowl too big to fit my little kiln :lol: I have access to larger kilns but the saggar firing requires all kinds of toxic chemicals creating all kinds of toxic fumes - the sort of thing you wouldn't want to do in someone else's kiln and studio. So this will get regular glazes and I will try to saggar fire something else :)

Mike,
The Bryan bowl rocks.
I know your brother is smiling on this one...

Really nice Mike, as always!!!

Really nice Mike, as always!!!

Really nice Mike, as always!!!

What an awesome bowl Mike, too bad about the glaze, but I wanna see it on something else for sure.. Looks like marble or granite..

Interesting plans for the glaze. I haven't made it past the super-safe "Stroke-n-Coat" phase yet.

Great bowl Mike.

I know your brother would of laughed at you using that piece but loved the outcome of the design.

You are one talented man my friend!

Hey Mike, isn't saggar firing sort of wrapping the thing in leaves and firing it for like 2 months? Does the foil melt????

...and how Japan c.1612 does that sound?

You should definitely try it some time on another piece, how cool would a tiki mug look done like that?

I'll tell ya - IT WOULD LOOK COOL!!!!!

(If we can get Babalu to try it, I can run some pieces that way too.)

Mike, I just stumbled on this thread and it may take me a while but I'm gonna check out every page. I have to say though , you are a rare one and I mean this in the most positive way. You are the Tiki Renaissance man.
Cheers
P S here's my contribution. It's paper mach'e and here me and HBtiki had a few of Tikivatos Mai tai's at last years Oasis. That's HB on the left.

Friends, thank you so much for all of your kind comments, I am looking forward to seeing many of you at Oasis in a few weeks!

Bryan's birthday was a few days ago so the Kamehameha bowl has special meaning - he would have been 51. It is ready to be fired for the first time, hopefully sometime this week. You can put underglazes on greenware before it is bisque fired and I have done that in some areas. BUT the bowl is very fragile in it's unfired state and it's risky to handle it much, so I'll finish glazing after I fire. That means at least 3 firings which would be no big deal if I were firing at home, but is going to slow things down when I am at the mercy of someone else's firing schedule.

I ordered some Ferric Chloride today for the saggar firing and thought about a design that would look good saggar fired. I decided on a quasi-tiki design - something not really tiki but found in a specific area of many tiki restaurants. Somebody has voted me to the top of "Cool and Current" so I thought I should do something to be worthy of that honor. I don't really sell many things - I make them for my own entertainment and don't like the pressure that comes with selling, so I often give them away. If this saggar fired mug works out, I will give it to the first person who can identify what it will be AND post a picture of that item :D

If it is too easy, it's just a matter being in the right place at the right time. You may recognize it as being the form I used to create my golden Olmec head.

Did I get it? Did I, did I??? Of course yours would have a tiki pop out.
See you in a couple of weeks, Wendy

Nope! But that's a good idea :lol:

I've made 2 of those squared off round forms now and I'm starting to burnish the first one in preparation for saggar firing. Burnishing is letting the clay dry to a leather hard state then polishing it with a smooth object like a river stone or a marble. It packs the particles of clay together and makes it very smooth. I love to burnish clay, it's a very tactile thing as the clay gets more and more smooth. But you can't burnish clay that you are going to glaze, seems like it makes the clay too smooth and the glaze has nothing to grip to

ice bucket???

No Jon, not an ice bucket - but that's a good guess.

Inspired by the art of George Tsutakawa (thank you Randy)

I always learn something new from you MDM.

Glad to help Swiz, can't wait to meet you at OASIS!!!!!

Someone needs to hurry up and guess what this is, I can't disguise it much longer