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

Aloha Everyone!

Been working like a busy burning coconut for the past month prepping for the first appearance of the VanTiki Mobile Cabinent of Curiosities!

This friday I'm going to be selling tiles, swizzles, and pendants at Kalapawai Market on Kailua Beach, Oahu. But wait, you say, this is the CREATING tiki thread! I know, I know. I wanted to blab a bit about the Duncan Premium Gold lustre I picked up. I've been using gold lustre for a while now (see the earlier postings), and my tiny little jar finally ran out. I picked up a new one, and BOY O BOY is is nice! So bright, so... well... GOLDEN! Here is a peek at some pendants fresh from the kiln:

as well as some gold-tooth skull tiles

As a test I slapped a second coat of gold on the 8 skull pendants on the top of the first pic. The kiln is cooling now - really curious to see how much deeper the golden finish gets. SO, to sum up, Duncan's Premium Gold Lustre gets a two thumbs up from VanTiki Island.

Oh - and here is a peek at the stand taking shape:

Mahalo for looking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Looks great, Henrik. Funny, I just used Amaco's Saturated Gold (high fire glaze), which produces a matte finish. I dig the Duncan gold... and look forward to seeing the cart all loaded up!

Good luck at the market!

Thanks for the luster tip Henrik, they look great. Yes, that display will look great when it's loaded full of your ceramic awesomeness

Mahalo TikiAno & Mad Dog!

Wanted to share with you all a studio process video I put together to play in a loop at my curiosity stand. A buddy of mine who visited my booth at Tiki Oasis felt that even though my sign said "hand made", he was worried that folks didn't really know what that meant. He felt I should show that is is my hands on the pieces from start to finish (with a little help from Ms. VanTiki) - so I took his advice and made this:

http://vimeo.com/79912641

Did you watch the whole thing? If so, let me say right away that NO I don't put cookie racks in my kiln - it was just easier to film it that way :)

Mahalo for looking -
Henrik VanTiki

I'm surprised the plastic coating didn't burn off that cookie rack in the kiln! :lol:

Gotta try that press thing one of these days, looks like fun :)

Really cool stuffs Henrik! bravo -

VanTiki very cool looking skulls. Those peeking out of the lava are even scary.
Is this gold luster by Duncan fired at 06 or cooler? Wendy

On 2013-11-22 21:35, danlovestikis wrote:
VanTiki very cool looking skulls. Those peeking out of the lava are even scary.
Is this gold luster by Duncan fired at 06 or cooler? Wendy

Mahalo Everyone!

Wendy - this is the Duncan Premium Gold Lustre and it fires at come 019. I am applying it over either a gloss black glaze base or a satin clear glaze base. It is sooooo pretty! I'm testing some new lead free cone 6 metallic glazes when I get back in the studio in a few weeks - will post pictures as things take shape!

Henrik

That's a great video! And I love everything you do. Very fun!

Just returned from our trip to Mexico - and the first thing I did when we got back was load up the kiln and fire that new antique gold glaze I've been dying to try!

I did a spray application, as I like metallic glazes to look even, and I wanted to avoid the possibility of brush marks or overly thick pools of glaze in the crevices of the sculpture. Here is a before-and-after look into the kiln at the glazed bisque ware, and the fired tiles:

And here is a shot of the finished pieces. Really, really, love this glaze! Has a fantastic "ancient treasure" vibe to it - and best of all it is completely food safe (yaay!). A row of these 3 high would make for a KILLER bar/kitchen backsplash!

I think this will be the last VanTiki kiln load for 2013. A busy year! Looking forward to seeing what creations will take shape in 2014 -

Mele Kalikimaka!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Aloha!

Had a great day manning the VanTiki Mobile Curiosity Stand at historic Kalapawai Market on Kailua Beach Friday. It was an eventful day that kicked off with a CNN reporter and VanTiki fan happening on my booth by chance as he was exploring Kailua to cover Obama's annual holiday visit. Great to meet him and see photos of his fantastic home tiki bar in DC. In the afternoon I was interviewed by Maeve Reston from the LA Times - and was delighted to have made my way into her article! http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-78645353/

On top of all that, I was able to finish up The Ape God pendant sculpt that I started a few weeks ago, as well as the new Mini Moi pendant. A very productive day!

Here's a process video of the mini moai taking shape:

Here are the new pendants:

Hope to get them molded tomorrow!

Mahalo for looking - and Mele Kalikimaka!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Henrik, great stuff (um, as always). Love the new pendants. Thanks for the gif- step by step, cool to watch- and learn your secret techniques.... :wink:

Cone 019? Coooool. And nice mention in the LA Times, too!

Mahalo Tiki Ano!

I've been pressing the new pendant designs and things are looking quite spiffy. I had a guest who practically begged me to make a magnet for him out of one of my pendants, so this round I pressed a handful that didn't get a hole punched in them. I'll attach a magnet to the back and they can bring a hint of VanTiki mystery to a refrigerator somewhere (I'm only going to offer these few magnets versions at my Mobile Curiosity Stand).

Mini Moai and The Ape God pendants freshly pressed:

While pressing the Mini Moais, I decided to get fancy and after popping them out of the mold I cut a nice undercut behind the chin, extended the cracks so they wrap around the sides of the moai, and I gently curved the pendant to give it a bit more "oomph". Takes a bit of time - but they look all the better with the extra effort!

Mini Moai pendants modified after pressing:

Off to Disneyland this weekend to run the TinkerBell Half Marathon with Ms. VanTiki, and I'll pop these pendants into the kiln when I return.

Mahalo for looking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

New 4.5" tile is in the works!

[ Edited by: VanTiki 2014-01-25 14:26 ]

[ Edited by: VanTiki 2014-01-25 17:10 ]

The step by step by step videos are sweet
Great stuff

Jon

Love those time lapse videos! Amazing to watch.

Sooooooooooo cool. Love the video and the art, Wendy