Wendy Cevola - Zombie Hut movie and Sven's new book on display.

Yeah! It's like Christmas!!!!

I love the blue on my piece.

So happy with how the Kings Goblet turned out, you are the Master! I am humbled by your talents.

Mai-Tai for me (in my favorite lowball glass)
Double pineapple upside down cake for the wahine
:)

Fabulous, Fabulous, Fabulous....you are the master Wendy and so wonderful to be mentoring others.

All the fixes look great and love, love, love the Refuge Goblet. Love the shading you did with the layerd glazes on those. wow!

• Dale

There is nothing better than to wake up to all your messages. Thank you all.

MadDogMike me too. Remember my purple Tiki Bob bowl that took 6 fires to get it right and then it slid off the car hood and broke on the ground? I have Tiki Hula load and unload the kiln and carry his bowl everywhere.

hang10tiki you too.

tigertail777 I like Tavaura Tiki's wish too, I'm so happy the glazing worked out.

You newest painting is looking so scary good.

LoriLovesTiki that's one of my all time favorite glazes. Even better up close.

Tavarua Tiki there are so many great tiki artists that I feel humbled all the time.

hang10tiki my best drink is Hawaiian snow with pineapple juice. Dan bought me a Snowy machine for my birthday last summer.
Keep them coming please.

VampiressRN its fun to have tiki peeps so interested in what happens behind the scenes. Oh, that's what I do here too.

littlegiles the Wish List projects are so varied that they each teach me something different about how glaze works. This run has been one of the best learning sets for me.

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

Wow, when I put all the photos together I could see how much work I'd done to finish off this second to the last load.

I was so happy to see that the black glaze completely covered the yellow glaze where all the black letters had run.
So now I painted enamel into the indentations for dartharnie's daughter's name and

for one of her talents.

First off with Tiki Hula watching I hand painted his Zombie Village mug with enamel paint.

All done. He requested the nipples be left the same color as the rest of the skin.

Next I painted (starting at the front) Miss Monk-ii's, Corona Contessa's and VampiressRN's Zombie Torches.

After 24 hours they went into the oven to bake.

All right ladies do you accept the rose...I mean the mugs?

I granted my own wish which was to learn how to do the cracked glazing on the outside of mugs. So on this Tiki Atari kickstarter glaze test I covered it with a crackle glaze. However it ran to the bottom. This is why I always fire on spikes. It stuck to the spikes but not to the shelf.

There's a lot of glaze to remove so Dan got out the dremmel to use.

He showed off the bottom that he had fixed beautifully.

I bought some India Ink but I couldn't find where I put it. So I used some rubber stamp ink which is also permanent.

I smeared it all over the mug

front and back.

Then I put it in a bag of water so the mug would pull the water and ink further inside. I left it overnight.

In the morning I wiped off the ink and found the lovely

cracks. I am so happy.

Now it was time to paint a flame with white and blue and crack it too.

So the clear crackle glaze is brown when it starts out.

Next up the Sacramento Crawl mug glaze test. I am very happy with the flat brown glaze. Good thing because I've bought 12 pints to start with on this project. However wiping it off the tiki left it in a very pink color. Not good at all.

So I painted the tiki in the same brown as another test and then since the lettering didn't show up I

painted it all in black glaze.

The glaze on hang10tiki's Honu Hideaway mug came out perfectly but I found some more glaze skips on the inside. So I glazed it again and back in the kiln it will go.

dartharnies dad's NY Yankee's mug didn't have enough clear glaze on some places so I did it again too.

Bottom Shelf of the kiln and

the top shelf of the kiln.

Tiki Hula glazed the small strip on the top where the glaze came out. In this load I'm firing DooWop's creature mug and Tiki Wahini's Rat Fink mug. There were two really hard to glaze projects. My finger's are crossed.

Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-04-29 10:36 ]

I really like that crackle glaze and how that turned out after using the ink. Great look!

• Dale

Wow, I missed a few days and missed the kiln reveal! Love all the pieces- Hula, great job on glazing- well, almost as good as Wendy! :wink:

Jon, liked that pineapple parrot, too. And your custom piece- looks perfect!

Wendy, I'm curious, how do you prep the already fired pieces for another layer of glaze (to ensure that they "stick")? I'm not sure if there's a big difference on this process between high and low firing, but I'm always so impressed that your additions/ repairs are perfect!

Thanks for showing all!

Mahalo tikiano - yeah, Wendy might be better at glazing than I am :)

Wendy did such a great job painting my Zombie Village mug. I just can't get over it...

Just need some gold paint for the Al Dead bowl lettering and then it's fire photo time!

"But why is the rum gone?!" -Capt. Jack Sparrow

[ Edited by: TikiHula 2014-04-30 07:58 ]

I love that crackle glaze so much! It is such a great look!
And it is so exciting to see the pieces come out of the kiln. If they're not perfect, it is fun to watch you work your magic so they'll be perfect!
It was another exciting post, Wendy!

Wow- crackle looks amazing....

Ano- glad u liked the Parrot :)

Dan-0 and Wendy- you are the Dynamic Duo of tiki

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2014-04-30 20:34 ]

littlegiles isn't it fun to have a glaze that cracks. I liked putting it on a mug that was similar to Greek statues.

TikiAno Tiki Hula picked all his glazes for his AL DEAD bowl and did a great job.

To re-glaze a piece I never know what color it will change to but darker always trumps lighter. When I re-glaze and area that had the glaze pop off then I rub it with a wet wash cloth to make sure all the dust is gone then I do it again.

Also I always fire on the 13.5 hour slowest ramp plus I preheat for hours too if I'm unsure whether or not they have completely dried.

TikiHula I'm looking forward to using the pin stripping paint on your AL DEAD bowl this weekend. I hope that works out.
I so glad you like your Zombie Village mug.

DooWop I am so happy that you liked the last post because I know you'll like this one even better because here comes your mug...

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

This is the last load for Wish List #4.

Here's the kiln unloaded. Tomorrow I will put up photos of the Wish List items that I took using black velvet and the MadDogMike studio.

Top shelf of the kiln.

First out was dartharnies dad's NY Yankee's mug.

The black of the letters ran into the white a bit so I used enamel to fine tune the logo and then the next day I baked it.

The flame for the crackled blue mug looked good so

into a black dye this time. It also worked to color the cracks.

Tiki Wahini your Rat Fink in Disneyland came out just fine without any glazing imperfections. More photos tomorrow.

I had room to fill in the kiln so I glazed one of Dan's wishes. The glaze didn't function as well as I wanted it too but he was happy with this one and has already hung it on a wall.

hang10tiki in the end I'm super happy with how your prize mug came out. The darker glaze looks so much richer. I added a few spots on the hands before this last firing and it made it better.

This second test on the same first mug for the Sacramento Crawl mug shows that the black lettering works well. The tiki doesn't stand out enough using the same glaze as the coconut so I'll be doing more tests until I get it just right.

Backside.

DooWop your mug is done. It doesn't show it here but the creature does have green highlights. Better photos tomorrow.

The bottom shelf with only the AL DEAD bowl left.

He took it out and took a look and

all the glaze has stayed on. That means it's the fourth time that is the charm.

WISH LIST #4 IS OFFICIALLY FINISHED.

I will soon send everyone an invoice with the cost of the project. Once you write back that your Wish was fulfilled I will find out the cost for shipping and send you an invoice. If you are not satisfied you do not have to accept what I have made.

I had a blast making each piece and I look forward to the next Wish List near the end of the year.

Cheers, Wendy

Such a feast for my eyes. They are very happy eyes indeed.

I really like the tiki on the coconut being the same color. It looks like someone carved it out of the shell. Perhaps a bit of highlighting/shading to make it stand out? Just my little brain running around unsupervised again. :)

• Dale

:D :D :D :D :D :D
Awesome

Looks like we were posting at the same time last night, so I just missed your photos...

Jon

Ahh Wendy! The mug looks like it turned out wonderfully! I'm so excited!
It was my boyfriend's birthday yesterday (the soon to be owner of that mug), so I didn't see this post until now (so I am sorry I didn't reply sooner). We ate ourselves into a food coma and fell asleep on the couch (and that makes us sound incredibly unexciting).
Thank you so much! It looks fantastic!

littlegiles I'll have to try some black highlighting and outlining as a test. You may have hit it on the nail head.

hang10tiki I've done that with you before.

DooWop I miss the good ol days when I could do a food coma and sleep. Sounds like a really fun birthday celebration to this senior citizen.

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

Wish List #4 update. All the mugs/bowls have been shipped as of today. I work on the honor system. I don't collect ahead and I ship that way too. I depend on everyone to be happy enough with their orders to send me a check when the box arrives and they find their wishes fulfilled.

Here are the last photos of the projects.

My wish with the crackle glaze. It came true.

Dan's Moai bowl wish.

Tiki Hula's Zombie Village mug.

Tiki Hula's AL DEAD bowl. Gold paint may go on the lettering and sword this weekend.

kingstiedye's Frankoma shakers.

Chippy's Maori Mug.

Corona Contessa's Zombies torch.

dartharnie's wishes.

Float necklaces were a gift for his daughter's, they match their bowls.

The front of their bowls.

The backs and

inside.

NY Yankee's mug for his dad. Front.

Back and

the side.

A Frankoma War God tea light holder.

The back was modified.

DooWop's mug for Jerry's Jungle Room

ebtiki's Suffering Bastard Bob. The flash made him look like a vampire.

hang10tikis wishes where for a huge necklace.

I included this photo because the color is closer to the actual color.

He won this mug on one of my contests.

LoriLovesTiki's Maori wall hanging.

MaukaHale Tiki Tapa Bob

OK I've hit my limit for posting photos for today. I'll finish up tomorrow. Meanwhile I have to think about what I'll be posting when the Wish list photos are all up. Hummmmm, Wendy

Wow Wendy! What an awesome group of Wish Listers this time around!! That crackle glaze you did is so cool. And the bowls, well stunning! Got my pics of Bob Fink and he is just unbelievable. You really outdid yourself! Can't wait 'til he's here in my hot little hands!

A fantastic collection of ceramic art and photography Wendy!

Wow
Awesome
Cheers

Love ALL of these. I forgot to write (earlier) that the crackle glaze looks fantastic as well.

What will come next??? I'm curious.

Great looking lineup! If the flash gives you problems with the pics, try using ambient light, or take them outside on a sunny day. You can use plain, white paper to bounce the light back to the object you are photographing.

• Dale

Tikiwahini very cool, thank you. I sure hope you'll post a photo of you with the mug.

hang10tiki I hope you like the green I used on your Moai. It was the same shade as the Creature but had some rocky spots.

TikiAno next up will be the next mug I make or the swap art. Every day I work on one kickstarter mug. They have so much fine detail that to take them up a notch (I hope) I have to put in the hours. Same thing for 23 days.

littlegiles good information. I thought maybe he is a vampire and I caught it.

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

Miss Monk-ii's up next with her Bumatay fish with fins mug.

Side.

Ocean back.

Miss Monk-ii's next wish was for a Zombie Torch mug in light green

Moai Mike's mug weighs like it is made of rocks. Good to exercise when lifting it to drink!

Mondo-by-the-bay had five orders.

The first was a Volcano Bob with palm trees and a small tiki on the back.

Next was a King's Goblet. My photos are funky, it looks much better in real life.

This is Tapa Bob and the colors are deeper in real life. More yellow and darker brown.

This is Drunken Bamboo Bob. Even his eyes are off.

Last is a Bumatay Bowl with fins.

Tavarua Tiki's King's Place of Refuge Goblet. It's always a challenge to copy something rather than to just make it.
There were a lot of details to these tikis.

These photos show the real color better.

Tiki Wahini's Rat Fink in Disneyland took me back to jr. high where I was obsessed with carving these in soap.

VampiressRN's Zombie Torch was the last I made for this Wish List.

All three together.

WaikikianMoeKele (I have the spelling memorized) had this Hello Kitty made as a gift.

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

I kept everything until the entire Wish List #4 was completed. I did this so that I could take a group photo.

Tiki Hula helped me.

I figured out that putting them on the stairway was the best way to display them. However the walls showed a lot.
Tiki Hula said, I'll fix that with photoshop.

So after the photo shoot Dan boxed up all the tikis to ship.

Horrors the next day I found that I'd missed putting Kele's statue on the stairs. I thought this photo was all I could do.

But NO! Tiki Hula to the rescue. He took the little statue and added it to the final photoshopped picture.

Thank you Tiki Hula for the photo and thank you all for the projects that kept me busy for so many months.

Until next time, Wendy aka danlovestikis

How big can it be before it's no longer considered a mug?

Oops. Left off the smiley face. :D

On 2014-05-01 16:33, danlovestikis wrote:

=======================================================
LoriLovesTiki's Maori wall hanging.

Can't wait to see him in person!!!

Thanks so much Wendy & Dan for making so many wishes come true!

That's a whole lot of awesome! I like all the glazes and volcano Bob is great looking. Keep up the great work Wendy.

Amazing work Wendy, these would make a great collection for any collector.

Ok, that is just a whole lot of AWESOME!

I got my true wish and that was to hang out with good friends and create fun stuff! My second wish was to see the ceramic making process first hand. I'm still surprised at how much work it is.

Even after seeing everything in person and then looking at all the photos here, it's hard to pick a favorite. Of course the Al Dead bowl is something I'll enjoy every day. Working with Wendy on it is a true highlight of my life that I will cherish forever.

But all of Wendy's work is equally special because of who she is. She puts her passion and positive energy into every piece she makes. It's a win-win for everyone :D

Big mahalo again Wendy.

GROG just depends on the drinker. Remember when a woman's highheel was good for champagne?

GROG ah but when I think of you I always think of your smile.

LoriLovesTiki you are so welcome.

lunavideogames as long as I have messages to read here I'll keep making tiki art. These messages keep me going.

TikiHula - well that brought tears to my eyes. See you later for another fun play day. I have new pinstripping brushes
but we may just use regular brushes. This will be a first for me.

Friends today we will attempt to paint the lettering on his AL DEAD Fez.

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

I love coincidences. They are almost a hobby for me. I watch for them to occur. Today I had a good one.

Along with the Wish List I made things for Dan and just some extras to sell. One thing I made started out
as a Coconut Bob bowl but evolved into a Bob Honey Pot.

When I posted it here hang10tiki ran into a Frankoma honey pot in an antique store. I had never seen this and was surprised at how much they looked alike. Of course there's didn't have Bobs.

Today starts the Western Festival in Elk Grove where we live. Each year the parade starts off in our neighborhood so we go for a walk to check it out.

Today we were too early so we headed home. On the way there we came across a garage sale. They had Frankoma pottery for sale and I bought the honey pot to go with my Bob Bowl. Imagine that!

I still have 50 things I've made to glaze but first I have to finish the kickstarter project for Tiki Atari and to also glaze 50 Sacramento Crawl mugs. This will be a busy summer.

Thank you all for the visits and comments. Cheers and happy weekend, Wendy

That's a lot of honey, honey...

:)

Quick trip to Pittsburgh for my grandma's 90th birthday
Just got home and found these in the mailbox
Awesome.......
Biggest, baddest, necklace ever
Biggest, baddest, peanut mug ever
:)

The gallery

You guys are amazing

Sandy is going to check out her mug. They are beautiful....as is all of your work. I will link up with you to send money and don't worry about mailing them, we will get them at the crawl.

Awesome stuff Wendy! Moai Mike's mug and Drunken Bamboo Bob stand out in particular!

Thought of you and Dan last night, we went to "our" Cuban spot! :D

hang10tiki - You have good genes Jon. Thank you for all the fun photos. I hope you inspire others to do the same.

VampiressRN sounds like a plan. We love the crawl, thank you for keeping it going.

zerostreet thank you Robert. I just posted on your thread and told you to do exactly what you mentioned here! We artists read each others minds.

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

By the way it is OK with me if Wish List final photos are used on facebook. I do love photos with you all with your piece best.

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

Our plans for the AL DEAD bowl changed. Tiki Hula got to Mahalo Tiki's two hours early. He waited one hour and then read the hours of operation on the door. Oops. So he came to our home. After we had lunch we spent a few moments at the Elk Grove
Western Festival.

There was a small time atmosphere and lot's of booths.

We walked around the lake

and saw baby ducks.

Then we stopped for ice cream, just for Mike. Dan and I are still being good.

Now it was time to get back to our work day.

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

Tiki Hula wanted to work so I gave him the next glazing test for the Sacramento Crawl mug to do.

First I had him spray the inside and outside with water to start the capillary action to hold the glaze on tighter.

Next he painted three layers on the tiki with a small brush.

Dan played music for us while we worked.

The front is all done.

The back lettering is all done.

I took over for a few moments to use a wet washcloth to rub off the excess glaze.

Working on one mug a day to perfect it the best I can.

It was hard being outside working on a kickstarter mug for Tiki Atari so we moved back inside. Tiki Hula painted 3 layers around the rim of the coconut.

Next I had him pour in the jar and swirl it around until all the inside was covered three times with the rotation.

The layers of glaze around the rim act like a barrier to keep the glaze from spilling out.

The last step was three layers of glaze on the outside of the coconut.

This test is different because the black was added first and covered with the brown glaze. If the black shows up this is how all the mugs will be done.

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

It's in the 70's here today I hope you all have a good weather day. I'll back to work on the kickstarter mugs and a few other small projects.

Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2014-05-04 20:50 ]

Wendy, the package arrived Friday afternoon right before my oldest got home. My grandfather and my youngest pleaded to open theirs now, they were so excited. I waited to open mine after school. I'm glad I did because she was glowing.

This little cutie has been wearing the float all weekend but didn't want to wear it for the picture...sigh...

Dad grabbed a Signed Mantle ball and one of favorite cards to flank the Yankee's Bob

I found a spot in the Master Bedroom...

and snapped this right before falling asleep.

Mom taught me to fill the house with things made with love.
Thank you. So much.

Derek

So many incredible mugs coming out of this thread!
it's like the magic thread, I guess it's because of this magic lady and her magic husband that make all this possible. Cheers guys, keep up the great work and inspiration, to so many great folks. All the best to all of you guys :)

Now the fun begins. I love it when you all post photos of the projects in their new homes.

dartharnie the pictures of your girls tells me you are a wonderful dad. Did they like what I put on the bottoms? In a few years they won't remember me but they'll always remember the dad who wanted them to have these bowls. Love Dad. It was a joy to make them for you and for grand-dad too.

Clarita you are so kind. I just grin when I read all these nice posts. No reason I look forward to TC each day. Thank you.

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

Progress Report for on-going projects.

Tiki Atari's kickstarter project is a super hard one for me. Coming out of the mold every part needs work. It's all tiny detail. It takes me one day to do one mug.

I have just finished the first series a run of 12 and put them in a line to fine tune each one. By comparison I can see if I forgot anything.

Front of the mug.

One side of the mug with the girl having dived into the water.

After a day of fine tuning I turned them upside down so that the bottom can dry easier. Today I reverse this.

Next I start on a short run of a topless version. All total I'm working on 23 mugs with these 12 finished with the sculpting.

===================================================================
I decided to uncover the tables to see what projects I have left to glaze when kickstarter finishes.

I guess there will be lots of things to finish this summer. Several are Dan's wishes that I put aside so I could finish faster.

At least I am months ahead on the Sacramento Crawl mugs. Cool.

Thanks for the visit, Wendy

PS we are keeping sheets etc. on our furniture because our cat has gone crazy. We remove them for company.

I put sheets of Masonite on our furniture to keep the dog off!

Those kickstarter mugs look so good all lined up. And I can attest that they have to have a TON of Wendy's golden touch added when they come out of the mold because of all the fine detail that isn't picked up by the mold process. When she's done, each one is a work of art!

How much do I love Cold Stone's ice cream....let me count the ways...wait, I can't count that high :D

Wendy,

Just got my mug and already took it for its first trip to the Bali Hai for my birthday. So stoked with how it turned out...Pics to come soon!

Chris

With his big brother..."Mr.Bali Hai"

[ Edited by: Tavarua Tiki 2014-05-05 20:16 ]

Happy Birthday Tavarua Tiki! Did you take it inside for a drink? One of their strong Mai Tais maybe? Don't you just love the lava texture and how much detail she added to the City of Refuge tikis?

"But why is the rum gone?!" -Capt. Jack Sparrow

[ Edited by: TikiHula 2014-05-06 16:14 ]

Chris- happy bday bruddah
What, no hat? :)
Da mug is awesome
See you in Palm Springs for Caliente

Jon

Wendy,

My Moai arrived safely today and I love it! As usual, Dan did a fantastic packing job.

I'll post a pic when he's hung in the hut.

Wendy,
Bob Fink arrived safe and sound yesterday but I didn't get a look at him 'til today - unbelievable! Your work is just fantastic. He turned out just as I imagined him. I couldn't be happier!! I'll post a pic if I can figure out how!

MaukaHale that's a good trick. At least she doesn't rip anything that's not attached.

TikiHula your peanutbutter banana ice cream is waiting for you. Did you get any sleep after eating the Chocolate Cookie Dough batch?

It's great to have a witness to all the hard work.

Tavarua Tiki I love love love the photo. Did you drink from the mug? Are you glad I talked you into the gray glaze?
Happy Birthday.

hang10tiki I'm so sad to miss Caliente.

LoriLovesTiki I look forward to the photo, I'm glad you are happy.

Tikiwahini I was so lucky with your Rat. Sometimes the glaze does exactly what I want, sometimes it doesn't. Your mug was a lucky mug.

To post a photo long on then on my thread click on Post Reply. Then Choose Add images to your post. Then click on Browse.
Then choose pictures and then from your own files click on a photo. Next click on open and then on Submit.
When you have the photos highlight them and do control C, then in the dialog box when you want to post it click on control V.

One thing to remember is you choose them in backward order so that when you transfer them they are in the right order. I hope that helps because I look forward to photos.

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

kingstiedye has a huge bowl by Gecko that is very fragile. I have repaired smaller versions for other friends in the past. So when this one had three pieces broken off (one by a housekeeper, one by Bullet and one by Dan) I volunteered to fix it.

First I put glue on the bowl and the piece broken off. When they got tacky I stuck them together.

One in place I used tape to keep the piece steady.

Then I did it on two more pieces.

After these had dried overnight. I took off the tape and added Elmer's wood putty.

I did it on the front and the underside.

You can add matching texture or smooth it with a wet finger or

sand it after it dries. I speed-ed it up with a high dryer.

I painted it with a matching red enamel and

did the lava highlights.

When I finished even my cat couldn't find the repairs.

The bowl is now back home at kingstiedye in his wonderful collection.

Cheers, Wendy

Always the busy lady. :) Great repair.

• Dale

Great bowl
Great repair
But I still wouldn't let Grog take a bath in it