Wendy Cevola - I've finished a Wish List Black Velvet. Time to post the steps.

TikiRootsRocka MadDogMike's really good at running these swaps. They are so much fun and challenging. I'm glad you liked the Maori Mug.

TikiAno and she's pulling her hair out too! I'm really happy that two of you like the mug. Choosing a glaze will be fun.
I love my family so its time to get back with them. This TC addiction pulls me back again and again.

Atomicchick I put you on the list for the Crawl Mug, thank you. Dan was the model.

dartharnie Dan said it creeps him out, me too. When I asked if he would want one in the future he said to ask him again when it is glazed.

Thank you everyone for the messages. I'll keep checking back between the hugs and meals that we are having here. Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2013-06-05 16:08 ]

Have fun with your family. The clay and paint will wait!!

YAY!

Have fun
We need pics of Dan-O and food

:)

Put me down for a 2013 Sacramento Crawl Mug. If #48 is available I'll take that one.

Hope you are having a great time.

I have to admit that the Cannibal Pot with the poor maiden in it kinda creeps me out. HAHA I'm a huge halloween fan but there is just something about her face that makes me feel really sorry for her, however I'm sure she will make a very tasty stew for a nice cannibal family. :)

Love the carvings on the big Maori mug.

• Dale

[ Edited by: littlegiles 2013-06-08 07:47 ]

LoriLovesTiki we are loving our family and relaxing but clay and art are on my mind.

ZeroTiki hey guy!

hang10tiki I'll have to check to see if I took any food photos. I did take one of Dan with a bear.

MaukaHale number 48 has your name assigned to it. Are you related to Hale Tiki?

littlegiles we are having a wonderful time and I got some special photos to share. It all winds down tomorrow so by Monday morning we will be back at work.

I had no idea if people would like the Big Maori mug. Thank you for joining in with a thumbs up.

The girl creeps me out too but I though it would be good to make it real. There's nothing kind or gentle when it comes to cannibals. She shows the horror. I don't like to look at her either.

Thank you everyone for keeping this going while we have been playing with our family. I can't wait to put the show back on and to share with all of you. Cheers and may your days be glorious, Wendy

As always, more wonderful treasures from you Wendy. Thank goodness you and Dan retired so you can do ceramics full time...it was meant to be!!!

On 2013-06-08 17:54, danlovestikis wrote:

MaukaHale number 48 has your name assigned to it. Are you related to Hale Tiki?

No Wendy, I have never met Hale Tiki.

VampiressRN I can't imagine doing anything else, thank you for being such a great friend and for making the crawl possible these past two years.

MaukaHale you are sure to meet up on this thread. He has lots of news to post soon.

Our family reunion was perfect. Not a single injury or argument. Here are a few photos of our trip to Oregon.

My sister and her husband treated a bunch of us to Hell's Gate jet boat ride and dinner. These boats go fast then spin and everyone gets wet. We loved it.

After our family reunion ended we traveled further to Grants Pass to meet Bob Sies. He used to build the steel gitars used in Hawaiian and Country music. He's been in plenty of bands and still does play at Hawaiian Luaus (which is the name he uses).

While Dan went through his Hawaiian Album collection that was for sale he played for me.

Back out in the garage he showed us an autographed Roy Rogers hat. It was even signed by Trigger, Roy's horse.

Dan found 54 albums that he didn't have and purchased. Dan listens to every album he buys and writes a review and lists his favorite cuts. Hey hang10tiki he's recorded half of the 78's so far.

When Dan was finished with the records he and I had a second show. The skill to play these dual steel guitars sure exceeds a regular guitar. My appreciation of this music just hit the roof.

Back in Medford before leaving Dan hung out with a friend. I wonder which one was free.

We arrived home and before we even unpacked the car we poured two mugs. However I was so tired that I started to put the clay patch on the wrong one but I caught it in time.

It's always good to be home and back to working clay. Thanks for checking in. We appreciate all of you. Cheers, Wendy

Great pics. Looks like the two of you had a great time. Glad to have you back.

• Dale

Glad you had a good trip and have arrived home safely!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! That looks like so much fun! And that's so cool that you got to meet him, and get a private show. I didn't know Dan wrote reviews/notes. I hope he publishes them online somewhere. I'm sure people would love to hear his thoughts. I know I would.

Looks like a great trip. Family and music and meeting a musical legend, pretty great stuff all around. We're all happy to have you back here on TC, of course. :wink:

Dan-O
score on the vinyl

Looks like you two had fun

Welcome back

jon

littlegiles family visits are terrific but it is always good to get home.

LoriLovesTiki its good to hear from you and all my other tiki buddies.

Hale Tiki I read your note to Dan and he was flattered. Dan doesn't type so for now they are handwritten and stuck in the album. We really enjoyed the concert.

TikiAno thank you it is really nice to be back. I love posting and reading here.

hang10tiki its very nice to be home.

Dan found a fun place to hang out in the antique store.

Warning nudity. Here's our haul from 5 cities and all the antique stores we could find.

Progress Report:

We got home from Oregon and poured and opened #27 and #28

Then last night it was #29 and #30.

Every morning I'm faced with Dan's butts to clean up.

I get them looking this good.

So we have made if half way. 30 drying in the shed.

I have just about run out of counter space and need to start sanding and loading the kiln.

Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2013-06-11 16:43 ]

Love the travelogue. It's so much fun watching you two have fun.

This is what I thought of when I saw the "looking good" butt.

hee-hee
~kele

Haha, I love the title, "Lifting the loin cloth and cleaning up the butts." Don't hear that sentence to often.

Glad you both had a great vacation! I am on my way to Jamaica tonight! Everyone missed you guys at the International Tiki Marketplace. It was a really fun one this time! Everything I wanted just fell into my lap! :)

The mugs are looking good! The Sac Crawl is sure to be a great time with that mug!

Hope Dan bought that book for a good price .. I have a copy and it is pretty good. Your giant mugs are awesome ....

Looks like you had a fabulous encounter with your family so that is a time to cherish. I think that is a Morris Recliner Dan is sitting in while enjoying the dual steel guitar...NICE!!!

Those mugs are looking awesome.

WaikikianMoeKele Dan is enjoying the attention. He He.

lunavideogames I had to do something to grab the attention from Dan. We love Marketplace and will miss it again in July dang it. I'd love to see photos of Jamaica, enjoy. I just hope that when full people can still be able to lift the mug with one hand.

Gene S Morgan Dan didn't actually buy the book, he was on a tiki hunt.

VampiressRN it was a great trip and we did make some nice memories that will last as long as we do. The music was wonderful. Wow you can recognize a maker of a recliner? I hope we see you at Mahalo Tiki on Saturday.

Progress Report:

I've finished the sculpt for the MadDogMike Cannibal Swap. I kept looking in the mirror to get the face right. Now it will dry slowly.

Pored in the slip and let it sit for 2 hours.

Dan has to lift this one.

We can't think of a better way to pour out the slip that's still liquid.

I've decided to do an experiment. I am going to make a volcano bowl. We made this bowl for Philot's Temple of the Jaguar bowl and this will be the second time I've used the mold.

We filled it to the top and let it sit for 2 hours.

Dan has to lift this one to pour out the slip that is still liquid.

We always make a mess.

The next day I put plastic wrap on a board so I can flip the mold to remove the bowl.

Put in place. I hold it while

Dan flipped it.

Lift off the mold straight up.

It came out just fine.

Plastic wrap.

Wet paper towels and a plastic bag to keep it moist.

Now it's time to get a #31 and #32 crawl mugs out of the molds. Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2013-06-15 10:45 ]

The cannibal pot is looking great! Still creepy but in a great way. HAHA

I really WISH I was the recipient of a volcano bowl from you, but unfortunately that wasn't me. Can't wait to see what you do with the new "experiment".

• Dale

The army of mugs is looking great
That bowl flipped out nice n easy
Art swap bowl looks SWEEEEEEEEEET

jon

Bowls have been a passion of mine the last two years. It's been very hard because a.) good bowls are expensive and b.) good bowls are few and far between. One of my favorite artist bowls was one I picked up from Trader Tom. It doesn't even hold much, I just dig the glazes, and the naked ladies. And the shape.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with. I love your early bowls and glazes. Also, I'll have to track down the photo, but years and years ago, when I was photographing my grandparents as part of a project to recreate old horror and scifi movies using the same techniques they had in the 50's and 60's, there was a shot of a "farm couple" who had just seen a UFO. I had the exact same miniature UFO model made by Lindberg and used in Plan 9 hanging in the background, and was relying on the compression of a telephoto lens to force perspective. Anyway, for it, I had my grandmother make it look like she was screaming. So she had to open and close her mouth over and over again. Except that she started to "scream," after awhile. And by scream, I mean make a low pitched moan, because she was pretending to scream, so there was no reason to actually scream. Eventually I asked her what she was doing, and we had a good laugh over it.

I thought of that, and had a good laugh again, at the thought of you sitting there with a mirror, working on the bowl, just repeatedly opening your mouth to make it look like you're screaming. :)

So I was staring at your cannibal bowl and a certain picture come to mind; "The Scream" by Munch. I added your poor sacrifice's face to his famous painting and it looks perfect. You nailed the look. :)

• Dale

That's actually kind of funny, man.

littlegiles I agree it is creepy. The volcano bowl may turn out good or bad as an experiment who knows. I'm the owner for now, later if it turns out...

hang10tiki I'm glad to see you are carving for the swap, that's sweeeeet!

littlegiles I was thinking that too. I've saved your picture in my photoshopped file, thank you.

Hale Tiki and he did a perfect job of placing my face there.

Progress Report

Here's the reason why you should step back and think things through before you grab a "bargain."
A while back Dan found some chux (a flat cotton with plastic backed square) at an estate sale. We used them up packaging tikis to ship. So when we were at another estate sale he had that in mind when he bought two more cases. However when I went to package tikis I found that chux and adult diapers are very different. So If you get a tiki in a diaper you'll know how it happened!

Number 31 and 32 poured,

cleaned and drying in the shed.

I found a shady spot in the backyard and started sanding the Sacramento Crawl mugs that had dried.

It takes 20 to 30 minutes each to do it well.

One down.

On the bottom I added c (with) Dan, Sac Tiki Crawl c (copy write) 2013 and a box for numbering.

It was so pleasant and a cool breeze was blowing and then a chain saw started. I got up to see what was going on out back.

Our neighbors had their palm trees pruned. It was really loud but I kept working.

Then Dan showed up to dust off the mugs I was sanding so we could fire them. Now I had horrible noise on both sides...but I kept working.

My hands and arms gave up after 4 hours so I loaded the kiln about half full and ran it all night.

Next we poured mugs #33 and #34.

Volcano Bowl step by steps have begun.

First I carved my name etc. on the bottom of the bowl.

Then I flipped it over. Even wrapped it had firmed up. I added clay where the sides were thinner and smoothed it to match the thickness all the way around.

I choose the size for the volcano using a funnel. I'm making it large since I'm experimenting with glaze.

I then cut a large piece of clay using the funnel to mark the size.

Then I begun to roll it on the table top. I pushed harder on one end so that it would become cone shaped.

Next I dug out the inside 3/4th of the way up.

Once it is firmer I'll remove more clay.

Now I have the top of the volcano with a platform inside for burning rum soaked sugar cubes.

Now I need to go clean up those two mugs that just came out of the molds.
Thank you so much for your comments, visits and photos. You all give me energy to keep going.

Cheers, Wendy

Wendy you have to check out this air nozzle. I know you have a compressor going, so that's loud, but it reduces noise, and it's the best damn air nozzle I've ever used. You have to use it to experience how well it works. I just got a few in at work, and am in love with them.

http://www.amazon.com/GuardAir-80WJ-Whisper-Jet-Safety/dp/B000KL4OHE/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1371145229&sr=1-1&keywords=guardair+80

Wendy & Dan, wowwwww. Watching you both in full production swing is impressive- thanks for letting us tag along and watch. I'm excited to see where you're heading w/ the volcano bowl- I also love the bowls you've made in the past. The finished Cannibal Swap bowl is scary stuff- and awesome stuff at the same time.

littlegiles, hysterical. Great pic. Thanks for pointing out how Wendy can mix classic artists w/ cannibals. Do I see a Botero Bob in the future? Just kidding.

Jon/ Hale Tiki, I agree w/ you 100% about bowls- though I've been seeing lots of great ones recently.

Wendy, thanks for showing me your way of building the volcano, good stuff. I haven't worked w/ a big piece and carved it out- but makes a lot of sense. Bigger thanks for the rum soaked sugar cube. I (am now embarrassed to admit this) have not heard of/ seen this before. (Why haven't I?)

Diaper wrapped mugs? Ha!

I laughed pretty hard at the diaper thing, I'm not going to lie.

It's nice to be home, and checking TC every morning to see what progress you've made on another beautiful mug! Very excited for the bowl.

Dan - When we come out there, I'd love to see your record collection, and equipment collection, and talk music (and tiki, of course). I love that you make handwritten notes for them. I always intend to do that for things, but am so spoiled by the digital world that I either get lazy, or try to do things digitally, and then lose them for one reason or another. I might borrow you idea, and start keeping a stack of index cards next to my record collection. I remember a lot of it, but I can't remember it all.

On 2013-06-13 09:23, danlovestikis wrote:
RE: So If you get a tiki in a diaper you'll know how it happened!

Well, they are your babies right? :wink:

On 2013-06-14 09:17, Loki-Tiki wrote:

Well, they are your babies right? :wink:

BAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (I really did laugh out loud when I read that.)

Wendy, the Offerings page on your website gives me a PHP error and trying to send an email alerted me your mailbox was full. Do you have an online store anywhere?

On 2013-06-14 10:22, TikiTacky wrote:
Wendy, the Offerings page on your website gives me a PHP error and trying to send an email alerted me your mailbox was full. Do you have an online store anywhere?

She does not. And her websites haven't been updated in awhile. Her most recent work is always here, and under Gallery. Look on page 1 for whatever project she's currently working on, to get on the list for it. Wendy is so busy making tiki mugs, that there's no such thing as "In Stock" for her. If there's anything in particular that she's made that you like, just shoot her a message about it. Some things are no longer made though, or can be made, I should say. Ah, I almost forgot about the wish lists. Wendy has what she calls Wish Lists, which are people that want certain things made. And in between making crawl mugs, or doing art for events, or doing runs of mugs like the Severed Head (which again, is one of my favorite tiki mugs. I love it, Wendy.), she finds the time to make mugs for individuals. So let her know, and she'll be sure to add you to the wish list, and let you know when your mug will be made!

I hope you don't mind me answering for you, Wendy. Just figured I'd save you a little time.

EDIT: And Tiki Tacky, if you already knew everything I said up there. Then, uh, have a drink! :drink:

[ Edited by: Hale Tiki 2013-06-14 10:28 ]

I did not. Thanks, Hale!

Hale Tiki Dan thinks it may be the one we have but at $22 I just ordered it from Amazon. I'll let you know how it goes when it arrives.

TikiAno the cannibal bowl is creepy but with that topic I choose not to make it funny. We are working all day 7 days a week unless we have a medical appointment. At our age that seems once a week. We signed up for an experimental treatment with light that knocks out pain. It's up for approval with the FDA. It's pretty cool.

Dan loves bowls best, vintage and new.

We have some old bowls that show that the sugar cube trick was used in them. I don't think it cleans up very well.

Diaper wrapped mugs? Ha! ... They are our babies.

Hale Tiki thank you. We have 200 of those diapers. Dan wants to go to an old folks home and donate them. That may happen.

I'm glad the cannibal bowl is getting a ok response.

Dan loves to talk music and tiki and he can even do it in Spanish!

Loki-Tiki you are so right and the are the only babies we can call our own.

Hale Tiki me too because Dan and I have called our tiki creations our babies.

TikiTacky hi, I always notice your posts because we have a TCer here in our group called TackyTiki.
If the mailbox that is full is from the site claytikis.com I'll have to see if I can find it. I didn't know it had one. The site was a gift from a nephew many years ago. The best way to contact me is with a personal message (PM). If you give me your email address I'll write you there or here.

I'm not fond of selling so I just let people ask me for things. I do have things for sale. I post photos and if no one asks for them I put them away. Let me know what you are interested in and I'll let you know if I have them on hand. Examples, Severed Head, Tiki Bobs, Crawl mugs from the past. I will probably open the next wish list around Thanksgiving and it takes me 6 months to fill the orders.

Hale Tiki good job.

TikiTacky I look forward to hearing from you.

Progress Report:

Up to #36 drying in the shed.

The first 11 have fired along with two Missionary's Downfall Bowls. One will go to Psycho Tiki D the second is up for grabs. Gecko is making my bowl too, I've seen it on eBay.

Each one gets a good bath inside and out and this is rinsed off in a second tub.

They soak up the water so I have to let them dry before glazing.

Sunbathing.

All done for that kiln load. Many more to do in the days ahead.

After a while mold soap will gather into spots and runs. It affects the cast tiki mug.

When this occurs I carve it out and sand the spots.

Dan dusting off the molds so we can pour #37 and #38. It's almost time to dump them out.

The Volcano Bowl

I cut out some grooves where the molten red hot lava will pour out.

Then with wet hands I smooth it inside and outside.

I should have put the volcano in the bowl for this photo. I'll do that in the future.

I carved out more clay to make it thinner.

When Dan hunts for tikis in antique stores I look for old kitchen tools I can use with clay.

I like this grater.

It looks like it could be the texture for lava but what I'm really doing is making a rough surface that another product will stick too.

I did it all the way around.

Forgive any errors there is no time to proof read we have to go pour out the mold RIGHT NOW!

Cheers, Wendy

OMG!! You left us hanging like that? Golly, one little mold needs poured out and we get stuck with an awesome cliffhanger. :)

Loving the volcano and now I'm REALLY CURIOUS about what you are going to do next.

• Dale

I had a busy week so I got a little backed up again and had 2 whole pages of Wendy & Dan goodness to look through!!!!! As usual, you did not disappoint!

I think the grater on the volcano is an excellent look as is, can't wait to see what you have in mind.

I am so in love with the crawl mug!
I vowed not to get one b/c I can't attend but I may just cave....

Can't wait for more.

I am eagerly watching the progress with the volcano bowl!

Q : any particular reason you approached this as a solid chunk that needed to be carved out vs rolling a cone out of a sheet?

[ Edited by: Philot 2013-06-14 21:01 ]

Thanks for another great show

Jon

TODAY IS THE GRAND OPENING OF MAHALO TIKI'S NEW STORE IN SACRAMENTO. PARTY AT 4 PM. We hope to see the Sac Ohana there. This event should not be missed.

It's Saturday. Dan and I went to a couple of garage sales and I found something terrific, two shelves that look just like those I've bought for my shed. Best part these were already put together and I got 2 for $10. Here's what we did to make room for them.

First we had to move the buttons for the electric garage door openers.

Then we put the shelf in place.

For the second location I needed some shim boards and Dan cut them

while I loaded my newly placed shelves.

Duct tape works well for a quick fix. So that's how I put the boards together.

I had room in this back corer of the kiln shed. After placing the shelf on
a 2 X 4 and shimming it with the duct taped boards it's good to go.

littlegiles now #37 and #38 crawl mugs are drying in the shed. The volcano project took a bad turn but it will mean I get to do more experimentation.

LoriLovesTiki the grater may be the way to go in the future but for now I'm hoping those holes prevent a product from sliding off.

I may stop the Crawl mug run at 50 and use the last 10 I pour as tests for glazes.

Philot I'm having fun with this volcano bowl, well most of the time. I didn't roll it out because this is faster. Think of adding an inside platform to a rolled out cone. Just too much risk when it comes to putting it in place without introducing an air bubble which could explode or crack the piece. Also the space you are working with is small.

hang10tiki I love tiki show biz.

Progress Report

Yesterdays heading said no cracks. I shouldn't have said that because yesterday I unwrapped the volcano and then forgot to wrap it back up later. Things that are of varying degrees of thickness must dry very slowly or crack. So by forgetting to wrap it up I cracked the bowl.

Top inside.

View from the bottom.

Is the volcano a lost cause? No I have a plan and also the experiment must go on. I just need it to finish drying.

Now its time to rest up for the party. Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2013-06-15 14:06 ]

Sorry about the crack (no comments Grog) :)
Have fun at the party :drink:
Nice new shelves!

Hope you had a great time at the party and can't wait to hear about it.

Love the new shelves. I think we will now call Dan, "Handy Dan, the Handy Man".

Sorry to hear about the crack in the volcano, but I'm sure you can fix it up.

• Dale

hang10tiki I wish my shed were bigger then I could have even more shelves. I don't care about shoes, I like shelves.

littlegiles the party was great and the crack is OK. Here's some photos I'm sharing.

Thank you for thinking of me on your weekend and Happy Father's Day

Mary in front of her and Nelson's tiki store.

Mary, Monty (Marone Tiki) and Deb.

Anthony Maye wife and week old baby.

Dan.

I like to see some of my art objects in the glass case.

Check out here.

We always have fun shopping for tikis.

Tikis, friends and good barbecue ribs by Nelson...a perfect party.

Progress Report

I took this photo and then I cleaned up the mugs #39 and #40.

Then I set up to sand some more dried mugs.

I've found that 11 is all I can do before arthritic pain kicks in and I need to stop.

Dan set up and blew off all the dust.

I loaded the kiln and have room for more.

I dug out the cracks in the volcano bowl. One crack wasn't deep but one went through. Digging them out helps stop them from growing larger.

I did the same thing on the bottom. Then I added my name the year and 1/1.

Next I decided to drill a hole from the mouth opening and out the back.

I checked and I could get the bending end of the straw to turn the corner and lower into the bowl.

Then I carved in these words.

Now since Dan is a father to our cat Fluffy/Sherry I'm taking him out to dinner. I wish there was a tiki place in town.

I hope you are all having a fun day. Thank you always for the visit and messages. Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2013-06-16 15:18 ]

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAN!!!!!

Love the straw hole Wendy! :lol: Best wishes on the experemental volcano

Great pictures as always and good to see the Sac Ohana turn-out for the grand opening of Nelson and Mary's store, they are sure putting Sacramento on the Tiki map.

Sorry about the cracks, but you always seem to figure out a way around what the clay throws at you. :wink:

Arthritis.... ugh. I sympathize. I am currently suffering from a gout attack, a kissing cousin to arthritis. Loving your cannibal swap piece! I was going to start mine this weekend until gouty Mchopalong incapacitated me. Are you making it so you can actually suck vital juices (rum) through the unfortunate lady? That is too funny! :lol:

Your production line seems to be coming along quite well. Those things are HUGE, but knowing you you will find an excuse in the future to make one even larger. :wink: