I know Grog will have fun with this picture

So I'll take this one

I couldn't resist

That's one big shower

:)

Wendy, it's good to see that you've been keeping Dan busy ~ idle hands are the devil's workshop! :lol: Very cool one-off Christmas card. Love the heads that you and Hula are doing.

hang10tiki those were so perfect, good job. I hope GROG saw them.

MadDogMike, thank you. Today will be fun when you announce the swap partners.

============================================================================

Doo Wop I've started on your Album mug while Tiki Hula worked on his bowl.

I started with a blank mug and a printout of the album cover.

I cut out the creature (which I had printed at the correct size for the mug).

I wrapped it around the mug

and outlined it with a sharp point.

When you do this the possibility for introducing air bubbles rises so you have to be careful how you re-fill the lines.

I started filling it up with clay and closing the lines as I did this.

I'm just layering clay and building the creature.

I've started on the face.

It doesn't look like much yet but it has a long way to go.

Loki Tiki put this photo on facebook yesterday. His family designed this mug and I made it last Christmas.
I thought I'd use it to wish you all a few very special and happy days.

Merry Christmas from Dan and Wendy

Merry Christmas to you and Dan! Thanks for a great year of art and laughs!

Wendy,

I got two mugs from Gecko. I never posted my last day on Oahu pics on the travel thread. (boo-hiss to me) but I snapped a picture of the mugs so you could see them:

It was super nice to meet him and his family! Definitely one of the highlights of my trip. Thanks so much again for the suggestion.

Merry Christmas to you & Dan! May 2014 bring you both good health, happiness and lots of tiki goodness!

:)
Lori

[ Edited by: LoriLovesTiki 2013-12-24 11:08 ]

Lori - Gecko's studio is so fun to visit, I agree! Glad you had a fun time.

Merry Xmas to you guys!!

zerostreet thank you so much zerostreet. I think most of the laughs come from hang10tiki and GROG!

LoriLovesTiki I love seeing Gecko'z work and knowing where it ended up. He's wonderful. Thank you for sharing. We wish you and all our tiki buddies a healthy and fun year.

lunavideogames here's a fun tidbit about Gecko. He was married to Ailie on 07/07/07 so this coming summer it will also be his 7th anniversary.

=============================================================================

Well it is Christmas day and I don't know how much I'll work if any but I'm always a bit behind in posting photos so I have a few more of those "in the garage" photos. If you see them today then I know you are like me...hooked on TC. I always have to check in to see what my friends are up to or to read your comments.

I am so lucky to have this man. He shakes up the slip to perfection.

He does all the clean up from pouring and emptying molds.

Now that I turn the molds on their sides with a small amount of slip to seal the mold pieces we use only a few straps.

Just out of the mold

I cut off the top and cleaned the bowl.

All the molds drying again with the fan.

Our cat checks up on our work.

The next day back at it again.

More cleaning for Dan.

He is very limber.

Another moai is emptied.

Another day and more are poured and

emptied.

Well it's bye for now but we'll be back tomorrow.

Merry Christmas from Dan and Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2013-12-25 09:31 ]

Merry Christmas Wendy & Dan :)

Merry Xmas to the hardest working couple on Tiki Central

Cheers to you two :drink:

MadDogMike I bet you had a really fun one with your beautiful family. We sure enjoyed your card.

hang10tiki if you only knew how lazy we are, really. Thank you for all the fun presents. We kept them boxed since our trip and opened them for Christmas. What a blast.

The Tiki Bob stacker was sent to me as a gift and I can't remember from whom it came. I've saved it for months so I'd have something special for his Christmas and now my memory has left me. If you read this please post.
Dan had three in different colors and always wished for one in the white face. You made his wish come true.
Thank you, now he has a set of three.

I was super happy to win this mug for Dan on eBay. The funny part is that it came from an acquaintance who lives 20 miles from us. Finding it changed our set of 6 to an incomplete set of 7. Does anyone know what the mug we are missing looks like?

Holler Waller was my swap partner for the mug exchange. He sent this wonderful Bosko mug. Dan thinks it looks just like him. Thank you David it was a hit.

It's a tradition that Dan wraps all of my presents in his brightly colored boxer shorts.

What's in Dan's shorts? Two clocks and an outdoor thermometer. All presents I had wished for this year.

I hope you all had a really fun Christmas and that your dreams came true.

This is the end, the very end my friends. Sing that like a Doors song. We finished up pouring for the Wish List #4.
From this point on I'll just be working on all the projects. I do have to make some molds eventually and those will be poured but for now this is the end to the garage photos.

Moai mold.

Filled.

Emptied 2 hours later.

At a thrift store we found a better fan for drying out the molds in the winter. I don't have to move it.

Same day pouring.

Empty.

Let them sit until they are firm enough to remove.

That means wait until the next day.

Once removed I cover in plastic and put them into the bags.

Another day. Pour.

Empty.

Another day. Pour.

Empty.

We always feel as each day we have done it before. But now we are moving into the next phase.
It's really fun to work on the projects rather than to just keep prepping.

Thank you for the visit. Happy Holidays, Wendy

Wendy~
I've been crazy busy with family (my mother especially) & work & the Tiki Art Swap &...

But now I'm back & after 2 days of reading to catch up on the W&D Show, I feel prepared to go forward intelligently.

So glad that y'all had a lovely Christmas/Holiday, mine was great too.

I love seeing how you're all prepared for the Wish List #4 Challenge. Can't wait to see the play-by-plays!

~kele

That set of 7 mugs are cool Dan-o

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2013-12-26 19:26 ]

Santa Bob was cute. Wow you two are such power houses of energy...simply amazing and also working with Mike...how fun!!!

Every day is like a special holiday. I get to wake up and see what messages are waiting for me. Thank you all so much.

WaikikianMoeKele I hope every day something good happens for you.

hang10tiki I showed the page of Fred Roberts mugs to Dan. He has them all so the question mark mug must be what he is still missing. The hunt is on!

VampiressRN I hope your hip is doing better and that we see you when this crazy part of the year is over.

============================================================================

After working on Tiki Hula's bowl the table was a mess. I had to clean it and the floor. Clay dust in a home is dangerous.

Doo Wop choose this album cover to make into a mug. There will be lots of changes too.

I started with the creature who will stand out from the mug the most.

Wooden carving tools work really well with clay as long as you keep dunking them in water and remove any clay that sticks.

Checking shows where the errors are located.

Now the hands/claws.

The closer hand is thicker so that the back hand seems further away.

I worked on the face and now that I've looked at these photos I can see the eye on the forehead needs to be raised with a bigger forehead. Photos really help.

I'm waiting to hear from Doo Wop before I take the next step. I will work on the creatures detailing. Right now he only has one tooth.

Time to abandon the computer for the clay is waiting for me.

Cheers and happy holidays, Wendy

No problem, Grog gets along fine with only one tooth...
:)

Was out of town the last few days and just catching up. Enjoying your updates as always, Wendy. And now I'm a part of them - too cool :)

hang10tiki you are tooth funny!

Tiki Hula these photos are for you to think about tonight. Tomorrow we tackle all the problems.

While Tiki Hula was traveling this week I did some work on his bowl. I had his permission. I got to the place where it will now take two of us to continue and he'll be here tomorrow.

To start I needed to sculpt a third head. Dan caught me in the act.

This is really sticky clay placed on a hard ball of clay from the week before.

I just keep adding layers and smoothing them onto the face.

None of the faces have been shrunken but they will be tomorrow.

I caught Dan in the kitchen.

Next up an ear.

A good start and I'll need a matching one on the other side.

Front on. Moe Larry and Curly.

When I did this angled view I noticed that the guy in the middle was missing his ears so I added them.

Now it was time to hollow out the heads. Or as the head hunters would say, remove their brains.

I did the tops first.

It's a lot of clay that needs to come out of these heads.

I just listen to TV and slowly dig it out.

I did some more additions to the faces.

Now it was time to stop and wait until Tiki Hula is here and instructs me as to what he wants. Then we'll shrink them.

I uncovered his volcano for awhile. I hope we can flip this bowl tomorrow. The volcano needs to be thinned from the inside.

That's all for tonight. I hope we get a lot done tomorrow. I have started other Wish List Projects and I'll post photos soon.

Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2013-12-28 22:00 ]

Wendy what an amazing start to wish list #4. I'm really looking forward to the magic that you do. Happy New Year to you and Dan!

Hang 10 THAT ^ is priceless!!!

LOLOLOL

Happy New Year!

mebbe Bosko had Dan's 'mug' in mind for that Aumakua mug ~ glad y'all liked it Ms. time & temp

Tavarua Tiki Happy New Year. Thank you, I live for comments like yours and

hang10tiki's photo-shopped pictures that we all adore.

LoriLovesTiki lololo and Happy New Year.

Holler Waller Aumakua mug was one that he had never even seen before so it made his day. Thank you so much. I love these swaps.

Thank you everyone for the notes and visits. I know that the holidays are not over and that everyone is very busy. It means a lot to me that you come here.

Today Tiki Hula came at 11 am and didn't leave until 8:30 PM. We spent the day either eating or working clay. I'm too tired to post more than one set of eating photos. Here they are.

This sure reminds me of the story of The Three Bears.

Both Tiki Hula and I burnt our tongues but Dan's soup was just right!

Have a great night, Wendy

Haha. It looks like we're going to finish the whole bowl in one sitting. Lots of yummy Hot & Sour soup to enjoy tomorrow along with excellent walnut prawns. Can't wait :)

Wow we got a lot done today on the bowl. Wendy will probably post photos tomorrow. I'm amazed at her sculpting talent and how patient she is. I'm having a great time helping her make my dream bowl. While we were working I confessed that I'm a long time pessimist learning to be an optimist. Then the subject of nuclear power plant disasters came up and I think I took two steps back in my training :o
But most of our conversation is upbeat and lively :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and has a fun New Year's Eve.

hang10tiki my wish came true. Thank you always.

TikiHula the planet has a lot of problems. The worst is that there are not enough tiki bowls. Tiki Hula designed an over the top bowl and it's beginning to look like we can make it.

Here are a lot of photos of his dream bowl.

These photos will show that the volcano is a Fez. So we started on the Fez designs by using a vintage Fez vase from southern California.

One piece at a time.

Each is made from very soft sticky clay.

They are made thick and can be sanded down to the appropriate thickness later.

Getting them on and every edge sealed to the Fez without air pockets is the challenge.

This is also a shrunken head bowl. So Mike came up with the title AL DEAD for the Fez.

So we counted letters and found the center.

I used this as a guide as I sculpted and

placed the letters on the Fez.

One more letter to go.

The A was fun and fancy.

The front is done for now and will need to dry and equalize with the rest of the bowl.

Mike is happy here. Then I told him we needed to flip the bowl. The center is thick and heavy. The bowl is not and it is still wet so we can attach the heads. Could we do it without it collapsing?

One last look before we risk it all.

Together we managed to side the bowl onto a sheet of plastic on top of a board. I put plastic on top of the bowl and put a board on top of that. I picked it all up and with his hands ready to catch if I slipped I flipped that whole mess.

Taking off the board we could see into the Fez. The bowl did not collapse!

I begun the task of carving out some clay to make the walls of the Fez thinner.

Once the walls were right I carved our names on the bottom of the bowl along with the copy-write date.

Now it was time for Tiki Hula to carve the threads into the tassel.

The tassel will be part of a rum fire experience. A design that he is perfecting with this bowl.

What do you all think of a Fez volcano? I think he came up with a very cool design.

Now it's back to work on my list. He'll be back tonight to do more work on this bowl.

Cheers and Happy Holiday, Wendy

PS thank you again hang10tiki I just can't get enough of your creations because they are so fun

Great photoshop Hang10. Hmmmm....maybe Dan and Wendy will adopt me and then I can sleep in the Jungle Room every night! :wink:
Yesterday Dan gave me a CD he engineered with makes you feel like you're in the jungle with tigers and elephants and everything. The sound quality is awesome - I even feared for my life a couple of times while listening to it!

You are right Wendy, the world does need more tiki bowls. They are a symbol of happiness and togetherness (whoa, that's too deep for a Monday...)

Fez Volcano
Awesome................................

Great idea

TikiHula it's pretty dangerous in the tiki jungle room. If you rolled over and bumped a mug you'd have Dan to answer too and that's scary!

hang10tiki a Fez Volcano Shrunken Head bowl. This is a self made swap. Tiki Hula is trading his computer skills in exchange for learning and making tikis. He keeps adding up the hours on this bowl to see how many days he has to spend training Dan and I on the computer. I've got hours in the bank!

==============================================================
The day began with adjustments to one head. The features were to refined compared to the other two.

Working hard and loving every minute.

With all three heads sculpted the necks needed to be cut off. Yikes!

So these are the faces that will need to be shrunk.

Tiki Hula said he's satisfied with how they turned out.

Since they were hollowed out the tops need to be filled so that they are cups for rum fires. So I smoothed a sticky clay plug into the hole.

Next I filled the head over and used a brush inside to smooth and remove air bubbles from the plug.

Next Tiki Hula studied the bowl to see where he wanted the heads placed.

We started with the head in the back centered to the front of the Fez. I cut off a wedge of clay from the back of the head.

I checked the fit and removed more clay

then I added sticky clay back into the same area to use as glue.

I lowered and pushed forward the head until it was in place. Tiki Hula guided the positioning.

I smoothed the sides and top and removed excess sticky clay.

We did the same for the second head

and then the third head.

Dan is checking to see how we were coming along.

The end of this day has come. There is a lot to do yet. The hair, the shrunken faces. which will add more hours into my trade bank.

One view looking down on top of the AL DEAD bowl.

Tiki Hula will return tomorrow for more work.

Cheers, Wendy

Love the Fez Bowl with the shrunken heads. It's HUGE!!!!

What a handsome trio :D

I am loving this bowl so much and the whole process of making it. I feel kinda helpless now because I helped out through some of it, but all the detail work is Wendy's forte and I'm just a beginner. So I keep her company while she works on the details. I think she's inspired another mug and bowl maker though - I will continue to learn from the master.

Wait til you see the next progress report! :)

TikiHula, great design! Love the Fez Bowl. Wendy, looks amazing, and thanks (once again) for posting the step by steps. Cant wait to see this bowl progress....

Jon, good ones (as usual).

Wishing Wendy, Dan, & everyone else on this thread a Happy & Healthy New Year!!!

The "Al Dead" bowl is amazing!

Loving the step-by-steps.

Happy & Healthy New Year to you!

~kele

That thing is HUGE! Possibly the most complex project I have seen you work on. Can't wait to see how the "Al Dead" bowl continues!

Happy New Year! Thanks for making 2013 so interesting.

Yeah the fez bowl is looking cool! Funny that we had seen some photoshop action of the bowl on his head BEFORE it was a fez! hang 10 is a psychic. How do you do that voodoo that you do?

Last thought of 2013... I want a Dan mug! He needs his own mug. We all know how he loves tiki! I would buy one and I bet others would too! Not near a computer or I would have tried to photoshop a picture of how it might look.

Happy New Year Wendy & Dan and everyone else on this thread. Me and my wife are at Don the Beachcomber for the evening. I will post some drinks on that other thread.

Mahalo for all the positive comments on the bowl. I can't believe it myself. And Hang10, you must be psychic...but you were supposed to put Dan's face on the wahine :wink:

Happy New Year TC Ohana!

MadDogMike all my tiki men are stunning.

TikiHula that's cool the Mug Makers of America welcome you! Master Wendy thanks you and Dan says don't blow up her head shrink it.

TikiAno your wish is to be fulfilled.

WaikikianMoeKele Tiki Hula is here and watching me type. Thank you and may you have a healthy new years too.

LoriLovesTiki the persective is off, it's really only 3 inches wide...NOT!

lunavideogames hang10 is many things and creative is one.

(Last thought of 2013... I want a Dan mug! He needs his own mug. We all know how he loves tiki! I would buy one and I bet others would too! Not near a computer or I would have tried to photoshop a picture of how it might look.) Now Dan's head needs to be shrunk.

Happy New Year to you both as well.

hang10tiki Dan loves his new mug and bowl.

TikiHula what a thing to say. He's here and I'm about to make him suffer. Clay all over his hands.

=============================================================================

Hi Friends, to celebrate the New Year I bought a $5 bottle of Champagne, the first I'd ever bought. When Dan tore off the foil it had wire all over the cork and we couldn't pull it off so Dan cut if off.

The we found it had a twist if off place that was hidden by the foil.

It took a lot of strength to remove the cork but Dan did

and we toasted the new year. Then Dan went back to his glass of wine saying the Champagne was too sweet.

Happy 2014 everyone.

===========================================================
We started the day with Tiki Hula bringing in the bowl to the work table.

He stared off carving the hair.

After several hours we had the three pony tails finished on the outside.

Front view.

Next we carved out the tops just how he wanted and they were finished or so we thought.

It takes a lot of thought to shrink a head.

So we began the process.

At the end of the day we had one roughed out.

Tiki Hula just exclaimed, "Wendy we forgot the bands around the pony tails". So friends we are logging off and going back to work. Cheers from Wendy and Tiki Hula

PS and from Dan too

Wow
That 200 pound bowl looks awesome........

hang10tiki 225 pounds by the last photo, we added Tiki Hula's head to the bowl!

The sculpting is done and now the bowl will dry for a month or two. This will prevent cracking in a bowl so thick with so many parts in different thicknesses.

Time to stitch up and shrink head one.

I like to sew.

I finished the threads and turned it over to Tiki Hula.

He added some wrinkles to the face.

He's a bit delicate

so I showed him how to carve deeper and we finished off the head.

While he worked on head two I finished off head three.

I added the strings

finished them off

along with adding more wrinkles.

Then we went for a hike to look for another shrunken head and Dan's teeth.

I even looked up a tree.

We ended up using Mike's head so now there are four on the bowl!

Happy Holidays, Wendy

Outstanding

That shrunken head bowl is spectacular!

I couldn't be happier with the way it's turned out and I'm so excited for the next step! I've never done anything like this before, and although Wendy did the heavy lifting, I tried my hand at sculpting for the first time and really enjoyed it. I can't even draw stick figures, but with a lot of practice I think I might be ok at sculpting. More lessons from the master are in my future.

Wendy, I'm glad we can trade computer knowledge for sculpting knowledge :)

Looks GREAT & fun

Wendy- the force is strong with young Hula

hang10tiki when Tiki Hula told me his idea I thought of the phrase, Go big or Go home! He certainly went big and I learned that the impossible can be done.

Big Kahuna Tiki Hula thanks you as do I.

TikiHula all it takes is desire and some good carving tools. You are on your way.

Holler Waller he has plans for its proper display when it's done. This will be an active bowl so fun really describes it.

hang10tiki he is young and so are you. Just give me a cola with caffeine and I can keep up with you boys.

=======================================================================
Thank you to all who have voted us up to Cool and Current #4 (last I looked). I appreciate the effort that takes.

When working on the AL DEAD bowl I would also work a bit on another project. A moai wall plaque. Since I changed the sculpt to make it mold ready I have to do a lot of carving such as rounding the hat.

If the clay is too thin after the carving I just add more to the inside.

Here I have carved the hat, behind the ear and along the side. I will need to carve under the arm and the rest of the side.

I started with the side.

Next I carved the arms.

Finished and ready for the stone texture to be repaired and added to the newly carved areas.

While I worked on a shrunken head Tiki Hula pressed a piece of large grained sand paper into the soft clay.

This was such demanding work he had to take his jacket off. He did a good job.

A few more steps to go before this one is finished.

Thank you all for the visit and comments. You are appreciated, Wendy

What, what are you all out having a wonderful Saturday and forgot to visit here? Good for you, there is a life besides tiki I just haven't found it yet and neither has Dan!

Now that the front of the Moai wall plaque has dried some I added more little indentations where the big grain sand paper wouldn't reach.

Next I flipped it over and started adding attachments for the wire.

I checked to make sure that these additions wouldn't keep it from hanging flush on the wall.

I added my name and copy write.

Now back to work. Keep on playing and enjoying your weekend, Wendy

Hi Wendy!

Don't worry, I don't have much of a life so I'm here checking out your thread!

If you're taking names put me on the list for a Moai wall hanging. I'd like to get one of those for myself.

Have a good evening,
Lori