My carving

Thanks BT and GP.

Measureing in at 12 inches we have Carlos Danger.

I working on a picture frame for my friend from the land of cheese and beer.

I'm almost ashamed to post the fish I started after those great carves Jeff just put up.

Maybe I should stick with the fish I'm more familiar with.

Knock out post.

Danger,Danger,
Those things are getting really good.
Every thing is in the right place &
perfectly out of proportion.

The frame
Did you carve all those lil critters?

The fish
Jeff seems to be a natural at those fish, Hu?
Tell us about the one that got away,
it could be really good.

On 2013-09-06 05:11, Will carve wrote:

perfectly out of proportion.

Will, I saw a program once that theorized exaggeration is what makes art so compelling. Your comment is a huge compliment. I plan to do more little guys with fat heads and big feet. :D
And yes, I am carving the Rongo glyphs. The piece started with the Bird Man corner blocks carved in relieve and the other glyphs were incised. I got carried away and started to change the glyphs to low relief carves. I’m in too deep to go back now.
I was hoping someone recognizes that the Barfish has “tiki teeth”!

Great carvings Amate....love the fish that are popping up around here and your little fellers are wonderful.
The frame is cool too....the land of cheese and beer...sounds like it is coming to Wisconsin?

Thanks Conga –
The frame is not exactly going north. My friend is from Wisconsin but currently resides a couple of towns over from me . I guess coming from the Land of Cheese and Beer and going to the BBQ Capitol of TX isn’t all bad. Either way…life is good! Eat, Drink and be Merry!!!

hey hey hey... I like the fish!

they're fun pieces to do....especially if you're a fisherman..

it becomes much more personal... and there's just something about the "vibe" they give a place...

I kinda came to tiki through a different door than most. I don't really care about playing dress-up, "the scene", or the whole "hipster" deal in general... My love for the ocean and the "surfing/fishing" lifestyle brought me here... and I know that to a certain degree you are the same guy... I think you're gonna enjoy the fish brother.... keep 'em comin'... :wink:

On 2013-08-11 04:58, amate wrote:
I’m getting bored carving the same old things so I’m trying to diversify. With that said, here is yet another Marq.

NEVER enough Marqs!! :D Especially great ones like this!

A nice assortment of great work going on there amate.

Jeff – Ah yes, “Living the Salt Life”. I grew up 60 miles from the coast and as a kid, about the only vacation my family could afford was a day on the beach. Still love it. Can you tell from the photos there’s a hurricane in the gulf?

Yes, there are lots more fish on the menu!

4WD – that’s quite a compliment coming from a Marq Master. I just can’t seem to get them out of my system…Here is a 20 inch “rough and chubby” I just made for the economy market.

I’m still having fun Cy and I guess that’s what counts!

Al Barramundi is 12 inches.

Taking my time on this commisioned picture frame. Don't want to screw it up. Just a bit more detail sanding and nit picking and then, ready to glue up the half lap joints and stain it.

Barramundi sure has a lot of attitude going on. Are you happy or pissed while
you are carving these guys? Great style.

Thanks for the support Conga. BTW…love the eagle. To answer your question; if not happy, then at the very least I’m content when carving. It’s kind of like a meditation for me; my grumpy characters are separate entities and I am not responsible for their disposition. :D Then again, some of my friends say that I’m not happy unless I’m pissed off. I don’t pay too much attention to them. They’re mostly a bunch of wise guys anyway.
Here is an image from an earlier and more carefree time. I call it “Happy Campers”.

I can picture my self in that last picture.
With that same look on my face.

On 2013-09-23 17:32, amate wrote:

Wow!!! Look like awesome!

just keep up the good work

just keep up the good work

Will, I'm pretty sure the vast majority of males on the planet have worn that expression on their faces at some point. I know I have.

Thanks for the compliment Jerome. For the last year I've been doing a lot of the economy carvings. I'm really trying to make this frame something I can be proud of. It's a bit of a departure from what I usually do so we'll see how it turns out. It's fun to crank out those sweaty carves but not very satisfying otherwise. Hope to get back to business in 2014 and do some better quality work.

Always flattered when you stop by Marcus!

Well, I'm getting down close to the bottom of the page so might as well post more of my foolishness. Kind of fun but not my best. These have been finished for several months and I wasn't even going to post them. Hopefully, I'll have better things to come.

Ahhhhhh I knew there would be some fantastically photogenic tikis in this thread!! Great new stuff...impressive and beautiful as usual.

Hey, thanks a lot Nixx. The photos are much like the carvings...some turn out a lot better than others. I just try to keep learning and having fun.

I’ll be trying to taper off carving Marqs ...
will be going to the Rapanui style to study the art of the Tohunga whakairo.
I glued up the rongo rongo picture frame and stained it. I’ll put on a top coat tomorrow and call it complete.

Birdman panel - 10”x18”x2

Also started another another Moai.

And I finished the redfish panel. Rough sawn pine plank 35”x11”x4”. October is excellent for both catching and carving redfish…

enjoying the salt life…Some guy stalking redfish in my spot. I liked the light so I decided to shoot him. (with my camera)

Sunrise over Copano Bay

Amate, any chance of a close up of the frame?

On 2013-10-09 17:58, hiltiki wrote:
Amate, any chance of a close up of the frame?

Ditto. Lets see a close up! Would you mind showing the back? I'm curious to see how you add the art, glass, etc. :)

Well, maybe I'm not almost finished with it after all. Carvings this small are not meant to be viewed under a macro lens and the close ups really looked like crap. Really hard to get into all the cracks for sanding. The corners are half lap joints that I created with a dado then glued and screwed. The back is completely flat and the art work will just screw onto the back. It is a mosaic so there will not be any glass. When I was approached about this project, I had trouble visualizing how it would go together until I actually saw the piece in person.

Most excellent!!! I fell bad for whatever is going inside it. The frame is going to demand a lot of attention.

I agree with AlohaStation. I like how it looks and I don't think those primitive shapes were meant to look perfect.

The frame is very good amate and I agree with Aloha- Maybe a mirror?

Well guys, I had quite an internal debate about the overkill aspect of making that frame too conspicuous and stealing attention from the mosaic. This will be going into a collection along side of pieces by many of the well known carvers so I wanted the quality of the carve to justify the space. In the end, I decided to go for broke.

Moai is coming along

My next dilemma was to name this gal. When considering a name for a buxom red-head with big hair, I suppose the natural choice, considering the nature of this site, would be to call her Ginger (as in Ginger Grant). However, this lady is just not the evening gown type so I’m calling her Peggy.

So here they are: Al and Peg Baramundi. Al is made of Cypress and Peggy is Sycamore so I suppose this could be considered a mixed marriage.

Whoa, I think the frame is a perfect match for that mosaic!

Sweet freekin page...

Jon

MAHALO Amate for for carving the beautiful frame to go with the mosaic I completed after finding it partially completed at a local vintage store!!!

I absolutely LOVE it!!!

Here are a few pictures that I posted over here in this thread: http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=3106&forum=5&start=60

It looks amazing, whether close-up or far away & the style of the carving is the perfect style for exactly what was needed.

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!

MAHALO, AMATE!!!!!!!!!

WOW!
That frame is AWESOME!
Great, great job! it is perfect for the mosaic.
Don't ever see those with frames.

Great idea, great execution!

A beautiful, unique combination piece of art!

Caroline,Skip, Cy - yeah, it turned out OK . Thanks guys.
I completed another little 8 incher…only, this one is carrying a bat. I lost interest in him after I cracked his legs. You can see the dowels in the back of his legs from where I pegged him. I was considering a couple of names with obscure references but I think I’m just going to call him Batman.

started another small boogie man.

WOW,
You're gonna corner the market on these guys.
You could start a trend.
Where's the line to get one.

Batman! :lol:

Nice.

Awesome work as always amate!I love that frame

4WD,H10- I somehow missed acknowledging your replies previously so thanks for looking in.

Will,Not much of a market here in TX. There’s only a small community of Tiki people. I’m selling a few to repeat customers and some folk art things on craigslist etc. Just about enough to replenish my sandpaper, stain and other consumables.

Roy, I took the easy way out choosing a name . My original plan for this guy was to have interchangeable weapons systems for him. Lance, dagger, boomerang etc. I got as far as making an alternate model club. Here he is pictured with the“GROGzilla”.

Thank you Clarita- That frame took a lot more patience, focus and time than normal. I’m about 80% satisfied with that frame and that’s pretty high for me. Thanks again.

Made a little more progress on this little fellow but he’s looking more troll than tiki.

I did not carve this fish but I really like it……This yard is about half a mile up the hill from me.

This is the fish I’m working on. It’s just a fraction the size of that shark. I’m considering making it a gafftop just to keep it saltwater. either way it will be some kind of catfish.

You're taking me back to the gulf with that one, Amate. You'd go out for speckled trout and redfish and end with a stringer of gafftops and hardheads. The irony is that sea cats are delicious, but they're so slimy that by the time you've cleaned them, even if you've avoided getting finned, you are no longer in the mood for catfish.

Your work is always beautiful and distinctive. I need a bigger house so I can adopt more Amate art.

hell yeah man...

let that fish out!

Thanks guys!

This next guy was originally going to be one of those PNG ancestor figures with the hoodoo designs painted on. When I got to this point, I stopped to look him over for a couple of days. I decided I’m just going to call him Rodney. He is 7 inches tall.
Thanks for the laughs Rodney …much respect!

Rodney's very cool Amate, although i'd still like to see you do some 'hoodoo designs' ;]

Aloha!

I find your carvings very inspiring! Inspiration is so essential to what we do. Thanks!

Sunset Mike

Thanks Mike – I believe the vast majority of us feed off each other for inspiration. Someday, I hope to attempt something similar to your Island Girl or Phygia. I already have an idea for an anatomy piece but still have not found the main ingredient… patience. Until then, I’ll keep doing my caricatures.

Thanks AM. I’ve made a couple of attempts trying to paint the designs but was always disappointed with my results. I just may try to do some painting on one of my scrap carvings. Sometimes I use them for practice. This next marq is a good example. I’ve had this small carving from when I was first attempting to learn the marquesas style. It was a pretty unremarqable carve but somehow, I could not bring myself to throw him away. Recently, I spent a couple hours tricking him out by carving some designs on his body. I’m not saying that carving the designs transformed him into a good carving. He’s still gritty, rough and chubby. He has now served his purpose as a learning tool for the second time.

Other than the entertainment I got from carving the designs, all I accomplished was to renew my love for this style and start a couple more. I’ve made several with the flat top so these new ones will have a round head. Here goes.

[ Edited by: amate 2013-12-06 15:34 ]

I like your chubby practice piece. Actually I like everything you do.

Thanks so much hiltiki. I appreciate your support!

Finished!

I like this guy.
And your last one. Nice detail
They just get better.
Your bench looks like it'll hold them good
with out breaking them.
I often clamp them so hard I break them.
Mostly towards the end of the carve.

Amate I love your collection of little people...and the one with all the tats is
really nice. How many of these do you have now?

Will – that JawHorse will exert a lot of pressure. I’ve only cracked or broken 3 so far. Some people never learn :P
Conga – that last marq was about 15 inches tall even though he looks smaller in the photo. The previous marq with the designs is just over 7”. I guess I’ve got at least a couple dozen or so in the 15 inch and under category. Some are traditional tiki like that 7”marq and some are my character pieces which are closer to folk art.
This 9”x 20” plank was inspired by an image from a classic 1950’s movie. The movie, in turn, was inspired by a classic 1850’s novel. I hope to carve a character from that novel/movie which is associated with this image. There is a tiki connection with this character.
I will start him as soon as I find the right piece of wood for the project.

I like the chubby one a lot! thinness it's overrated this days :)
Keep up the great work (and great pics too)