Conga....Wisconsin stuff!

Ha Ha, Nice ceremony!

wow, those are all really nice.

what's that darker one made of?

Thanks guys, just a nice fun "send off" for one of the kids :)

The wood in the dark carving is good old wisconsin basswood,same as all
the others. Really hot up here right now but anxious to get working
on a couple of new projects, hopefully something to show you soon!
Have a Happy 4th!

They don't seem to be too happy. I think they're sneering at him for daring to leave the family. And maybe there's just a hint of jealousy?

He looks so peaceful....

Hello Big T and Hiltiki, and everyone else!

Boy it sure is hot in northern Wisconsin. The tikis are snarling
because they ARE jealous, they think it will be cooler in
California.

He does look "peaceful" Hiltiki...I'm hoping he will bring a sense
of peace and serenity to his new home :)

On 2012-07-05 08:14, congatiki wrote:
Hello Big T and Hiltiki, and everyone else!

Boy it sure is hot in northern Wisconsin. The tikis are snarling
because they ARE jealous, they think it will be cooler in
California.

He does look "peaceful" Hiltiki...I'm hoping he will bring a sense
of peace and serenity to his new home :)

conga - hot down here in H-Town too. And humid! Did I mention humid?

Hello everyone, it's been "back to work time" up here in Northern Wisconsin.
I'm just about finished with the previous Lono (that comment keeps the thread "tiki" but
it looks like I might push off in a different direction.

Somehow I was referred to a collector of totem poles and Indian carvings (his
backyard has 15-20 large and beautiful totems) and it looks like he's going to
purchases several pieces, including my Cigar Store Indian from a few years ago.

So that pushes me back into the totem field, as you can see from this piece in
progress

It's an eagle, holding a salmon, with a frog tossed in for good measure. I think I
will find some space for a tiki too. Thanks for looking in.

U rock

very cool!

I've always wanted to do a totem pole...

bring it on mate...

Hello friends....
It's been a great summer except for injuring my shoulder in a bicycle accident,
but we are on the mend. Here are a few progress pics of the latest effort,
a few figures based on NW Coast totems....



Time for the next stage of sanding....and then we'll splash
a little color on it.
Thanks for looking!

Cool Conga!

looks good!

Ears,what a great place to hang out.

Thanks for peeking in Cy, AtomicMess and Will. Have to work a little harder on the
"ear-figures"...that's my best shot at getting something "tiki" into this carving.
A little color...but not finished yet

One wing gets a blue moon

The other gets a yellowish sun


Some tiki things in the works too, don't give up on me yet!

very cool!

Never made one, but have wanted to for awhile...

Somehow I was referred to a collector of totem poles and Indian carvings (his
backyard has 15-20 large and beautiful totems) and it looks like he's going to
purchases several pieces, including my Cigar Store Indian from a few years ago.

Excellent! Nuthin wrong with paying customers!

Finished...now on to something else.

This Totem rocks!

Now where is that Tiki you speak of?

Mahalo

McTiki

dude...your timing on this was perfect, I may have a totem pole commission!

very nice finish. cool stuff...

Hello McTiki. I have been meditating on the word "tiki" and I'm hoping it sinks in.
Celebrating my birthday with a little cheap tequila so I may channel some inspiration
overnight.

Thanks for the compliments Jeff, I noticed your possible "totem commission" on
Facebook earlier today. I'm sure you are up to the task. I love the nw style of
carving--wish I were better at it.

On 2012-08-16 20:34, congatiki wrote:
wish I were better at it.

I was just thinking...Man, he nailed it. Finishing is well done as usual.

Nice chicken!! I too just told a friend I was thinking about carving a totem pole! Got a nice 6 foot log out there that would be perfect!

Hey there Drummer, I'm Loving your totem and all the figures popping out everywhere, Excellent work..... now if you could only learn to beat the drums as well??

Thanks Jack and Ben....
Jack...the biggest problem with carving a chicken is that it
makes me hungry when I look at it. Been eating a lot of fried
chicken :)
Hi Ben...appreciate your kind words. I might have to become a
better drummer...can't seem to locate a nice piece of basswood.
I started working on a large piece but found a rotted out area
and just pushed it off to the burn pile.
Think I'll sling some chisels this weekend tho, maybe something
will come out of it.

it might not be too late to come down to vend at the annual fong fest this sept at chef shangri-la. contact tiki central's bamboolodge for details - you can sell some tikis there !!

Hello Tipsy! I've thought about doing a little selling thing in chicago,
now if only the Blasters were playing Fitzgeralds the same weekend.

It was a great day to dodge woodchips and we even accomplished a little bit.
After spending severals days studying, pondering, designing, and changing
my mind, I just decided to dig into the wood and see what happens. Here we
go...


So far it's a little bit tiki and a lotta bit "conga"....I imagine it will
turn out sorta wierd.
Happy carving.

is that tongue going to be a turtle?

Good guess Mess.....current thinking is that it will be a bird with
wings wrapped around the neck of the figure. It could become a
turtle if I screw up the wings...thanks for the suggestion.

I know critters popping out of the mouth are not especially common
in tikis....more prevalent in the png stuff. I guess that's sorta
where I'm headed.

Nice to see you!

I figured it was a bad chicken he ate
& it was coming back up.

Another good suggestion....I could turn it into a chicken and
sell it to the local KFC.

yeah though the critters are usually crocodiles in PNG...
I was thinking about doing a mouth/croc thing myself, looking forward to seeing your stuff if you're heading that way!

Hey fellow tiki carvers, what's going on?
Finally a little update from the northwoods, a tiki with a birdy thing going on



Not quite finished, another round of sanding might get me there,
and perhaps a little more paint.
Otherwise, how about a shot of Petrie the Wonder Dog, she
hears you

And a nice Wisconsin sunset

Thanks for stopping in!

Digging the NorthWestern influences. Your finishes are so tight. Love seeing the sun shot too!

Mahalo

McTiki

I always get a kick outta this thread! :)

Gotta say - I think you should have spent more time on this one.

Thanks McTiki and Amate.....and Aloha too.

Just sort of "in progress" at this point Aloha, now the fun
begins :)

I'd love to get you down here and have Happy Hour with Will and I. Hukilau is coming...

I'm pretty sure that happy hour with you and Will would be a
pretty good time, I would think that even Hulikau would be
tolerable. Doesn't look like it will happen this year, I've
got a piece of wood to "fancy up" a little bit.

Hello again, not sure if I will ever finish this carving. (Thanks for the motivational
push--AlohaStation.)
Shadow tests....



More work to be done, we'll have to see what happens. Still wrestling
with my final decision on stain.....

As Will would say,"your at a great place to start"."Carve Deeper" is my mantra now, sometimes, when its convenient, or I screw something up and need to cut it out. There is also the philosophy that no art is ever "done". Glad you took a another look :)

no art is ever "done".

I like that . . . and it certainly applies in my case.

Hi everyone, lots of very nice carving lately, just not by me. I think it
might be a good idea to have at least one carving that you putz with... but
never finish. This is mine.


I think I'll continue to fart around with it for a little while yet,
doing some experimenting on stain and colors, mainly just wanted to say hello.
Back to the party up here...the birdman is getting dizzy!

Nice finish.
I like the golden chicken.
Good pics too.

Thanks Will, congratulations on being "cool and current."

Experimenting here with the coloring and finish of this figure, it's
starting to look like something that was beaten up and re-finished many times
over the years. This guy is the result so far of three splashes in an oak stain,
a crazy blue stain that came in a tube, that's a story in itself. Limed oak stain,
and finally a little more of the darker oak, sanded quite a bit in between all
of it.
Pretty boring...

Feels like outdoor carving is wrapped up for several months,
getting pretty cold up here. Lots of time to keep messing
with the "Blue Tiki"

Edited because I couldn't get the pictures right.

[ Edited by: congatiki 2012-10-25 20:50 ]

[ Edited by: congatiki 2012-10-25 20:52 ]

The finish suits that piece, it brings out some depth that was not showing before.

When something's not working for me, the temptation is to keep going to get it right but sometimes you just have to leave it and maybe come back to it later...

Why not do something completely different and come back to this idea on a new piece? I like the bird coming out of the mouth thing.

Thanks for sharing your process!

Quite impressed with a lot of the work here lately. I thought I would soil things up a
bit with a little update from the northwoods.
Still trying to figure out the finish on the latest "big" carving, so I'm attempting
to do something smaller. I really don't know what's happening with this guy...



And a dog


Thanks for stopping by.....very cold and snowing up here. Winter Wonderland.