VanTiki Tiles - Ku Squared tile taking shape - 1/25

Henrik, all look great. Excited to add to my collection from VanTiki Island. And since you hinted at this on FB, are Swizzle Sticks returning? (Exciting stuff).

Can you use the press molds for making cookies?

[ Edited by: GROG 2013-05-30 10:45 ]

TikiTacky - Mahalo! I had to look up Walter White, and I'm.... flattered? Disturbed? :)

MadDog & VampiressRN - mahalo! I'm picking up 50lbs of clay today for more pressing on sunday. AND I just may be sculpting a new pendant design I've been mulling over for the past few weeks.

TikiAno - VanTiki island scientists are not able to comment at this time on the developing news released on Facebook :wink:

Grog - I want to bake cookies every time I press tiles. I am also tempted to take a bite out of the pendants when they are on the tray. But keep in mind, I used to eat Play Doh™.

After an intense week of animation, I was able to make a break for it and push some clay in the studio!

I wanted to tackle a new pendant design I've been mentally sculpting for a while now - I call it: The Idol X-Ray. Ever wonder what is inside those ancient stone deities collecting moss in the deep, dark jungles? What if you dropped your Amulet Of Protection on the ground, and where the stone chipped away you made a startling discovery?

Here is the pendant taking shape in ANIMATION-VISION

And finally, the finished sculpt. It is about 2.75" tall, and 2" wide. It will shrink 10% by the time it is molded, pressed, and fired. I'm looking forward to the contrast of ivory bone against grey black stone! Pulling molds this afternoon!

Very cool lookin!

That came out really great ! I love the concept.

Mahalo lunavideogames & SandraDee!

I was able to snap a mold yesterday afternoon. Final cleanup and undercut check on the sculpt:

Foam Core & hot glue mold box setup:

Celebratory Dark n' Stormy:

And this morning I popped the cured plaster mold off of the clay sculpture:

It de-molded cleanly, and I was able to pour a second mold this morning. Hopefully I can get one (or better yet, 2 more) molds off of the original sculpture before it breaks apart. More molds = more pendants when it comes time to press them :)

Mahalo for looking -
Henrik "VanTiki"

[ Edited by: VanTiki 2013-06-05 12:26 ]

Very well deserved Dark & Stormy. Love the new sculpt.

• Dale

Don't know how i have never seen this thread before but your work sir in incredible!
Thank you for the inspiration and hope to some day remodel something and be able
to use some of your awesome art work.

Mahalo

Mahalo littlegiles! - A Dark n' Stormy is about the limit of my cocktail making ability. Thankfully I find them very tasty :)

anthonymaye Glad you stumbled upon the thread! Perhaps you can make a tile (or two) of your own when you start remodeling!

Kiln is cooking away in the studio as I type. Stuffed to the gills - here is a shot of the 4 stacks:

Mahalo for looking -
Henrik "VanTiki"

Henrik, love the new piece, and the impressive Tetris-packing of the kiln.

The Dark and Stormy looked good- as well as the Swizzler!

You can put more in your kiln.

You can stack greenware on top of each other. They won't stick together when bisque-fired. (Unless you put underglaze on them.)

So, you can stack your small pendants on your tiles and you have room for more.

On 2013-06-06 13:58, GROG wrote:
You can stack greenware on top of each other. They won't stick together when bisque-fired. (Unless you put underglaze on them.)
So, you can stack your small pendants on your tiles and you have room for more.

True - but I really worry about warping. For my smaller pendants I could probably get away with it, but I feel better keeping all flat pieces well supported on a flat shelf. Perhaps a needless precaution - but I'd rather be safe than warped :)

I usually don't have a problem fitting pendants in the kiln (they are small and pack together nicely) - it is the tiles that really eat up shelf space. I have a few that didn't make it in this load (partly because they wouldn't fit, and partly because they were still a bit too damp). They are too big to stack on each other while firing.

Henrik "VanTiki"

Love that new pendant sculpt. You do make those press molds quite thick :o

Mahalo Mad Dog!

I do like to make the molds thick. It may be a throwback from my mold making days in Hollywood - production molds made to take abuse and not crack. I want to be sure there is a good 2" of plaster between my tile press arm and the press base. The molds you see of the new pendant are 5.5"x6"x2.5"

Frank Giorgini, author of Handmade Tiles (the go-to source for all things tile) always sets up his molds with 2" of thickness from the highest point of the sculpted tile and 2" around the edges. I've followed his lead and haven't had a mold crack (yet - knock on coconut). The tile press puts quite a bit of pressure on the molds.

Henrik "VanTiki"

Yes! Love seeing our mugs hidden amongst the VanTiki island goodies.

Hoping they (and the rest) come out fine!

I loved the steps being shown on top of each other in a slide show form. I need to learn that. The necklace is great. We are looking forward to seeing you at Oasis. Great work as always, Wendy

Sandra Dee the mugs survived with flying colors! I'll be glazing them in the next week or so. They look great so far (and a little smaller)!

Wendy - Mahalo! I can't wait to see you and Dan at Oasis! We need to have a breakfast or lunch gathering to talk all things clay!

A friend of mine stopped by the studio yesterday to learn about tile pressing, and to give me hand while doing so. We pressed a nice stack of tiles and pendants - and I can say with GREAT relief that I've pressed all the tiles and pendants I'll need for Oasis. The remaining 65 days will be spent on mugs and a secret project (or two).

The Idol X-Ray molds dried out in less than a week - I was SO stoked to start pressing them!

Here is a nice shot of shrinkage. The clay I'm using shrinks about 10% from wet clay to fired clay. Most of the shrinkage happens in the initial air-drying of the clay. The original master sculpture is on the left, and a fully air-dried pressed pendant on the right. A tad smaller, and a great size for a pendant (if I may say so myself) :)

I'm having fun modifying some of the tiles after pressing them. Kind of a "semi-original" tile - a curious mix of molded and hand-built. Here are some of the "ancient temple skulls" after the bisque firing. Pressed from the Spooky Skull tile mold, they have been eroded, aged, stone textured, and cracked. I'm quite pleased with them!

Speaking of modified tiles - I also pulled the two MEGA MOAI pendants out of the bisque firing. They are modified pressed tiles from my Cracked Moai mold. To say that they are big is an understatement - nobody will have trouble seeing the pendant around your neck:

While they look massive - they turned out to be not-too-heavy. I carefully hollowed out the backs to help keep the weight down. I was so stoked with the bisqued pieces that I pressed, detailed, and hollowed out 3 more yesterday afternoon!

I am totally keeping one of these for myself!

Mahalo for peeking -
Henrik "VanTiki"

Wow Vantiki, you're creations never cease to amaze me! I love that giant Moai pendant! is that one only available at TO? or might it appear elsewhere for sale??

Maddogmike pointed me in the direction of some of your youtube timelapses and they are great! I really enjoyed watching the (very fast paced) process!

On 2013-06-11 15:39, Polynesiac wrote:
is that one only available at TO? or might it appear elsewhere for sale?

Mahalo Polynesiac!

Stoked you like the Moai and enjoyed the videos. They are fun to make, and I plan on making more in the future (sadly the camera I used to make them petered out, so I gotta figure out a new setup).

As far as the MEGA MOAI (and all the other goodies I'll be working on for the next 2 months) the goal is to "premiere" them at Oasis, and then offer them up on my etsy store or ebay. There are 5 MEGA MOAI pendants, and I think I'll only bring 2 to Oasis, I'll keep one, and I'll offer 1 on my etsy store.

Of course, now that I think of it, it's bad luck to plan the future of any ceramic piece that has not been glaze fired - so I'll stop all speculation about the sales till I have the work finished :)

Henrik "VanTiki"

Wow, these are great! I love the Idol X-ray. Moai is cool too, might give one a neck cramp :P Can't wait to see them glazed.

Oh yes my friend!!

As often happens, I had a bit of inspiration pop into my head just as I was about to fall asleep the other night. Luckily, I was able to remember the idea the next morning (this happens less often) and last night I acted on it!

SO, all 5 of the MEGA Moai pendants are out of the bisque kiln, and thanks to the wonders of Hollowing Them Out™ they are surprisingly light for their size. As I mentioned earlier, I was planning on keeping one of them for myself - but my late-night idea of how to make the pendant even cooler prompted me to press one more. Unfortunately, I only had paper clay in my studio. It pressed just fine - but it is a $$ clay to use for tile pressing. I diligently hollowed out the back of the near leather hard clay this morning, and I also carefully hollowed out two eye cavities. I need to let the clay firm up a bit more before I move on to the next step. Whatever could I be up to? :)

Henrik "VanTiki"

If you have light up eyes in there it would not surprise me!

oh and how long are the oversized moaid pendants?

On 2013-06-26 14:05, SandraDee wrote:
If you have light up eyes in there it would not surprise me!

oh and how long are the oversized moaid pendants?

Clever girl! You'll just have to wait till Oasis to verify your hypothesis :wink:

The bisqued MEGA Moai pendants are 6.5" long - and I know that sounds like a brick, but they are actually not heavy at all! I'm going to glaze up the first batch and wear one around the office for a day to see if it causes any neck damage. Can't be any heavier than a sperm whale tooth, and folks galavanted around the South Pacific wearing those things night and day, right?

Henrik "VanTiki"

Boy those are monster pendants, but I like them. Did you ever try to slip cast instead of press mold? Then you would not have to hollow them out. ... Just a thought ....

That Mega Moai is a good size for a flask. Hollow it out, attach a slab on back (or hollow out two and "slip" 2 of them together back to back) put a hole in top for a cork. And Ta DaHHH! Mega Moai Tiki Flask.

Mahalo everyone!

I took advantage of the paper clay properties, and left the MEGA mystery Moai pendant on a bakery drying on my desk under the ceiling fan all day yesterday and last night. It is now nice-n-dry, and has not warped or cracked at all. I may be re-thinking the pressing of the full sized Cracked Moai tiles (from which this pendant is pulled from). The big problem is paper clay is much more expensive than standard ceramic clays. I'll see how this test pendant fires and glazes, then will re-assess the pressing process.

Gene - I've never tried slip casing in my studio. The big pendant is actually part of a 4x8" tile that I trimmed down after pressing. I don't think slip casting would work well for the thinner parts of the tile molds, and I suspect it would take WAY longer to do it that way. I can pop the pressed tiles out of the molds in less than 5 minutes - whereas I have a feeling it would take longer than that for the slip to set up thick enough on the mold. I could be wrong, though! Someday I have a feeling casting slip will work its way into my studio :)

GROG - GROG just win the Best Idea Of The Day™ award! I am going to do exactly what you suggest! All I've got in the studio at the moment is paper clay - but that may be just the stuff for this. Sticking 2 together would be awesome! I'll If it works well, I may be able to make one for GROG - WIll you be at Oasis this year?

Henrik "VanTiki"

Glad you like GROG' idea. :) There's a good chance GROG will be going through or recovering from heart surgery when Oasis is taking place, so most likely GROG not make it to Oasis this year. :(

Awesome... as always....awesome! Your quality is flawless, I am humbled by it.... da' best!

Your art and GROGS suggestion really would work well together. The union of artistic minds and alcohol, could be a hit, Wendy

GROG - your idea LIVES!

Super stoked with the way they turned out! I would have made more, but I ran out of clay!

Mahalo for the great idea, Grog!
Henrik "VanTiki"

They look good! Muy awesome, Henrik.

Henrik that's sweeter than Tupelo Honey!!!

Awesome flasks, you notice that one is cracked... I can take that off your hands.

Amazing flask ... you and Grog make a great team .... Glaze or stain? I want to see them done ...

You better give one to GROG or
you may join the klud.
I'm in it.

Love the flash!

And I love the giant pendants, although I think I would hang it from the wall instead of my neck!

Excellent, excellent work. amazing. And I too, enjoyed your quick-time movies on youtube. So educational!

With less than 40 days till Tiki Oasis, the kiln is going to be firing as often as possible. Here is an update on the projects nearing completion:

special tiles
I did a handful of modified tiles for Tiki Oasis this year. They range from re-sculpting fresly pressed tiles (adding stone texture and cracks for example) to special glazes. Here you see some skulls that will be getting a22k gold tooth. Had to bisque fire them, then do a black underglaze wash with gloss black on the tooth that will be gold-i-fied. I'll be applying gold lustre glaze and sticking them back in the kiln this week.

Glaze fun!
Experimenting with a bunch of underglaze and glaze applications for the Tiki Oasis tiles and pendants - here is a peek some of the pieces before I fire up the kiln. The all-seeing eye tiles look quite awesome, if I may say so myself!

First kiln load!
First load of Tiki Oasis goodies! You can see one of the Cracked Moai tiles (2 survived! I am so happy!), 4 MEGA Moai pendants (love them), and some extra yummy glazed tiles. If the rest of the firings go like this I'll be a happy camper!

in addition to these pieces I'll also be bringing the jug mugs, some of my silkscreen prints, and a SUPER SECRET returning VanTiki item that I am extra stoked about.

Mahalo for peeking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

I always like a happy Henrik with a secret! See you in August. Wendy

I like the all seeing eyes. They see EVERTHING and you can't get away from them. One saw me last summer at the Parochial Church of Tlazazalca in Micoacan MX, built in 1840

Man those tiles pop with the black. Everything looks great. I'm glad you went through with the flasks. Those will be very popular, without a doubt.

Amazing work! Those Moai tiles are my fave!

Mahalo everyone!

Mad Dog, I love that temple facade! I'd like to have that as a wall in my office, and I'd put my computer in the door entryway arch :)

The kiln has been running non-stop over here - alternating between a series of bisque loads, glaze loads, and luster loads. If all goes well (and I can squeeze everything in my little kiln) I should only have 2 more firings before Oasis. If I can't fit it all, I may have to up that to 3.

Here is a peek at the goings on:

The gold luster firings went really well. Here are the gold teeth, a gold version of the x-Ray Idol pendant, and a Skull Ingot

I squeezed the Don't Wake The Idol mug into today's glaze firing. It was tricky, as the 14" tall mug (!) is just a few inches shorter than the lid of my kiln.

Here is the last thing the mug saw before I closed the lid and hit the start button

Hopefully the firings continue to go smoothly (knock on coconut). I'm picking up the transfer decals today for all the jug mugs and finisher medals, and those will make up the bulk of next week's firings.

Mahalo for looking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Henrik, loving all of these new pieces. Will there be... dare I ask.... new silkscreen prints? Looking forward to see the return of ... something that I think is... dare I say.... well, maybe not. But what I'm thinking can travel pretty easily and is (are) fairly compact. Am I close? :wink:

The gold skull/idol pendant is really spectacular my friend!

Cannot wait to see everything in person.

I also hope that our mugs are firing and coming out swell.....but don't show them to me until Oasis--I want to be surprised!

That mugs...is amazing.