The Lurid low-brow Tiki-Art of Brad (tiki-shark) Parker

Aloha Tiki Tribe!

Pretend you're in my swanky Enchanted-Tiki-Room.
Lowering the lights in my Home-Tiki-Bar…
Everyone still happy with their Mai-Tais?
Cool!

Vacation/Business-Trip slide-show a-go-go….
Next Slide Please….
(CLICK)

The tall dude is my art agent, and guy in da' hat is you-know-who.
OK…. the very first ever "Taste of Hawaii on Capital Hill" business Expo was a great idea that became an amazing event!
Great time! Great People!
Next Slide please.
(CLICK)

A Really fun bunch of folks - each from their Hawaiian Island... representing their island, an' small (or sometimes big) business.
Yeah. I know. Coulda' been a snoozer …but the people were FUN, and FULL of ALOHA!

Here's a News-Story on da' expo…

http://www3.hoh.rollcall.com/capitol-hill-feasts-on-hawaiian-hospitality-video/

Aloha Tiki Tribe!

Next Slide please….
(CLICK!)

Started out with a really swanky tour o-da' White House! Great! Never been!
OK, now it was a little bit …ah funny that the Hawaiian delegation was slated for a White House tour at 7:45AM the first day when there is a 6 hour time difference tween Hawaii and DC. Oh yeah, that was funny!
However, the energetic, perky, and super-nice Leighton Kim Oshima (Senator Hirono's husband) was our VIP Tour guide zipping us though Security… which involved a dog sniffing us (hidden behind a wall) and if the dog made a happy noise you can go ahead, but if he makes a unhappy noise…no White Casa for you! I didn't know what was going on till after, n' I asked "Hey you all hear a dog?" I was sorta' startled - thinking I shoulda' worn clean underwear that morning, but guess it was cool with da' dog!

No photos allowed inside the W.H. Amazing Art is all I gotta' say! Wow! Totally worth it, even if security took as long as the tour! Amazing!

Next Slide please….
(CLICK!)

The hotel we stayed at was total swank! Amazing history! Where we were in D.C. -every building was built like a Masonic Temple! Beautiful!
The streets were spotless, the people were all very culturally mixed, (we stayed on the edge of China Town) and everyone was soo freakin' nice!
None of the horror stories we had been told were true. The place was SWEET! ...and dripping with history!

Next Slide please….
(CLICK!)

Inside the hotel, - a cool Disney Haunted Mansion feel, yet swanky. The folks working at the hotel, the museums, the stores, the food trucks, even people on the street all had this great 'tude. Very much like being at Disney Land… really. A tourist town, where the people know you be nice to the tourists so they blow their tourist bucks…that, or they are truly proud of all the awesome history all around you.
….

Brad (Tiki Shark) Parker
"You have not appropriated the Culture of Hawaii…the Culture of Hawaii has appropriated you."
K. Angel Pilago (Hawaiian Elder & my own personal Yoda)

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2014-07-31 00:55 ]

Aloha Tiki Tribe!

So we spent a quite night in the Haunted Mansion…except for some weird noise in our room we could not identify, but we were so jet lagged we just fell asleep anyway.
Next day another cool tour for the Hawaiian delegation!
Secret under-ground city beneath D.C. ...and the Capital Building!

We met up at Senator Hirono's office, then she took us all down stairs to an under ground level with a lot of doors leading off to very interesting offices: I swear N' one room I saw some important looking' guys in suits sitting at a table with a bunch of documents & photos all spread out, but the meeting seemed to be lead by a nine-year-old kid! Strange.
In another room, I caught a glimpse of a strange machine that looked circa 1940's like something outa' a Flash Gordan episode, but it was turned-on, working, sparking snakes o' electricity- And the old-guy wearing 1940's style clothing fiddling with it caught me looking and like gave me the stink-eye… I kept on stepping!
X-files! Very X-files!
Then we got on a under ground tram and went really fast!

Great ride - right outa Disney Land!

Then we got handed over to a guide named Chris, and the only person I've met taller than Abbas.

We enter the Visitor's Center - huge room like Grand central station.
The very first statue you see is…

King Kamehameha!
Wow, everyone in our group goes nuts, we all gotta get pictures!
Our Guide, Chris, tells us the strange story about the statue.
Seems it's bigger than all the other statues in the capital buildings… like he's 7 foot instead of the usual 6 foot. He weighs a LOT! The engineers figure out the only place they can put the heavy King Kamehameha statue is in a certain part of the "Hall of Statues" that has a huge support pillar beneath it. However, it's a little out of the way, and kinda' in the dark. Well, seems King Kamehameha is not happy there. A mysterious crack forms in the marble floor beneath the statue. This spot is no longer safe to hold this massive statue… the engineers figure out the only other safe place is in the front of the visitors center, right by the entrance.
So he's now the first statue greeting visitors to the capital.

No one from Hawaii is surprised to hear this. This kinda stuff goes on in da' islands a lot.

OK…6 hours time change is catching up with me…that's all for now, Tiki Tribe, I'm off to bed.
More laters!

Brad (Tiki Shark) Parker
"You have not appropriated the Culture of Hawaii…the Culture of Hawaii has appropriated you."
K. Angel Pilago (Hawaiian Elder & my own personal Yoda)

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2014-07-31 00:57 ]

http://www.kitv.com/news/taste-of-hawaii-on-the-hill-entertains-crowd/27122526#!bsdrws

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
So, there we are: We're having a great time in Washington D.C. Representing the Big Island….
meeting up with folks in delegations from each of the other Hawaiian Islands

This is the actual plaster cast of the Figure of "Liberty" which stands atop the Capital Dome!
She stands and looks across the room at King Kamehameha!

Inside the Dome looks like dis'.

Laters, we broke up into a smaller group of die-hard history buffs and we made the tour guide take us
to the only Other famous "Hawaiian-based" statue in the Capital - a statue of Father Damian! Yep - Father Damien aka Saint Damien of Molokai !

It's a cool Bronze stylized pop modern statue. It's block-like style, mislead people to think that Father Damien
wore some weird cage to prevent the lepers he ministered to from touching him! (Not True)
His tale is just one more amazing story of Hawaii…if you don't know about him, please, read up on this incredible man:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Father_Damien

At the swanky party at Google HQ we were treated to live Hawaiian music.
Like... the amazing young ukulele phenom Aidan James!
Rawk-On Aidan - U should meet my friends "The Crazed Mugs!" - I feel another CD cover-painting coming on!

Senator Mazie Hirono, and her husband Leighton Kim O Shima, kept the event Up-Beat and full of ALOHA!

I think I kinda' lost my fedora hat and my innocence at the Hawaiian Caucus Party at Google HQ.
-( boy, I gotta tell ya', I kinda' got a personal weakness for Awesome, Brilliant, Curvaceous, Inebriated, Funny, Women from Maui! ) ~
OH-KEE….Lots of stuff! So much I can't even remember it all….

Some How, I found time 'Tween Events to work in my Sketch Book… (like Kenny told me - on 2015 Tiki-Products we're doing hand in hand with K.C. Hawaii -

More Laters!!

What a fun trip. I especially like your comment about Maui girls. It's good to see you having fun as well as working hard. Thank you for the fun tag-a-long. Wendy

Wendy - Thank you - I figure I can let the Tiki Tribe here on TC know a little more about the details of my off-beat miss-adventures, and I get a lot more aloha for just being one of the Tribe….
A lot more went on, but after D.C. I was asked to join a friend out at this vacation home - named "The Tiki Shack" out at the Colorado River. I'd kinda missed 3 invites already, so no missing this one!

Even though we got up at 5 Am D.C. time, and took a long flight across the mainland, and then drove until…
at 1 AM we ended up in the middle of nowhere, aka "Parker" Arizona!

Time (by way of LAX)! I think it clocked out at a solid 24 hours of travel….ouch!

Before I get to all dat, Here's some nifty Tiki-Art I'm working on this week end I thought you'd dig.

New Tiki-Product I'm working on with a big souvenir company in Hawaii we partnered up with.

More to come…. HAPPY ALOHA FRIDAY!

http://www.kona-kohalanews.com/chamber-news/item/hawaii-on-the-hill.html?category_id=1

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Check it out!
Mr. Tiki Goes to Washington!

So at the Expo, I showed the "Hawaii 50th Anniversary State-Hood Tiki-Mug" that's the one with the "Hawaiian Quarter" embedded in it. Also on display was the "Diga Diga Doo" Tiki Mug, and the "Little Dig" Tiki Mug / shot glass - they sat in front of their matching full sized giclee on canvas art-print of "Diga Diga Doo"."Tiki Cat" sat on the other side, and lots of Tiki-Art calendars, art cards, key chains, stickers, decals, and post cards were grabbed up off the table by some new and some long time tiki fans alike - I signed everything I could. But... for a while it was like watching a Feeding Frenzy!! folks grabbing stuff as fast as they could! SHEESH! Then, things slowed down a bit. I made sure I talked to everyone who seemed interested in "What is Tiki?" Good stuff! A huge hit were the "Monsters N' Hawaii" Post Card sets! Wow, nice to know Tiki and classic movie monster fans are running around the capital… I think. Right?!

We also showed the now sold-out "Body Glove 60th Anniversary Tiki-Mug. People were entranced by all the detail on that baby! All the Tiki-Mugs were made by Tiki Farm. (...some one almost made-off with the highly sought after "State-hood Tiki-Mug at the end! We had to keep an eye on that one, and Abbas's long arm nabbed 'it back just in time once!!) Wow!

Huge success… I think the word of "Tiki" got out there in a really good way that day!

Brad (Tiki Shark) Parker
"You have not appropriated the Culture of Hawaii…the Culture of Hawaii has appropriated you."
K. Angel Pilago (Hawaiian Elder & my own personal Yoda)

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2014-08-01 19:05 ]

Aloha Tiki Tribe!

At the Business Expo in Washington D.C. I explained to the crowd of Senators and Representatives and businessmen and other such folk, why tI only show in the "Kona Oceanfront Gallery"
They show my Art …exclusively… for mostly for the entire globe!
Only one gallery.
In small Kailua-Kona-town.
On one of the "outer Islands"… one of the most remote active-volcanic-islands in the world: the Big Island, of Hawaii.

A curious business plan.

Is it the only gallery that would show my Art?
Nope. Several others have asked.
Big chains.
But, I only WANT to show in one Fine Art Gallery. All year.
ONE - (1) Art gallery.
In one small Kona Town.
On one remote island.

Very retro-old style. Like in the "Golden-Era" of Early Hawaiian Tourism: Steam-Ships, and prop-planes, and WEEKS of traveling, a real journey, to get to the paradise you were traveling to.

I think, if you journey for THOUSANDS of miles to get HERE, you should be rewarded by seeing something unique!
Something you won't see back home! Something you can't find on the East Coast, West Coast, Gulf of Mexico. Florida. Or the Caribbean.

If you make the long journey to HAWAII, you should see something made in HAWAII (not china) by an artist living in Hawaii.
There is something intangible and powerful about living on an active, remote, volcanic island, ...dripping with a sanguinary history that could make your hair stand up and turn white!
This place..….it effects your art.
A lot.
So, you should find some thing that reflects this unique place you have traveled so far to find.

Like a gallery that has a Whole WALL of my not very commercial, strange, "what is it?" Pop-Surrealistic Tiki-Art!

…and you could, maybe even meet the low-brow-tiki-artist.
He could "talk story" with you - tell you about the strange things that happened to cause him to paint each and every painting!
Yes, that's correct. Each one was inspired by something that happened to me …right here. On the Big Island.
These paintings are "what I see…filtered through my "artist-mind." Explained as best as I can with the visual voice I have….and the skill set I am trying to improve.

I didn't want to make da' same kine Art you see all over: in Florida, & New York, & Las Vegas, da' same kine Art you see N' every major city.
It's the kine art the gallery KNOWS it can sell.
As soon as I wonder if the painting I am working on is worthy of selling to some poor sap…I have taken the fast track to "Crappy-Crap-Crap-Art", instead of spectacular "Low-Brow-Pop-Surrealism."

I do not make paintings that are distributed by major printers in big time Fine Art Gallery chains, or what's "liked" by Art critics. .

I wanted folks to find Art in Kailua-Kona, that discover this is a very unique to this place.
This is a very special and unique place.
I want people to make a discovery on this "outer island".
I want them to purchase a painting or a giclee Art print that intrigued them, spoke to them, visually spoke to them about the Big Island.

• Then, they will take it home to Nebraska, and show it to their friends.

I hope their friends say something like this:
"JEEPERS CREEPERS! Good-Gosh-All-Mighty-jumping-Jack-Cat-Fish-Where-in-Tar-Nation-did-you-Buy-that… that… that… ah…what-did-they tell-you-it-was-again?!"

Oh how sublime the conversation could be from there. Tourists from the Great state of Nebraska (where I was born) talking about "Low-Brow Art".
I dream of this blissfully.

Every couple of years, I would very much LOVE to show up at La Luz with about 13 paintings that looked like they were created by an inmate/employee of a duo-purpose psychotic-ward and Hilo-Hatties Tourist Gift Shop .

Showing at La Luz every few years or so, is exactly what I dreamed I would love to do as an artist. I think that it's so fulfilling I'm scared one day I will fall out of favor and loose this wonderful time in my life. I'm very lucky they find my work worthy to show.

My Art-Agent ponders this "unique-thing" side of my "ART" … he knows it's really not the big-cash way to go…but he respects my creative needs.

Sure, you can see my Art on line. I survive by "on-line Sales"…because Kailua-Kona just dosn't have the sheer foot traffic it would require to sell enough art to live on here. It's not Oahu or Maui. Of course, there, they may not understand my Tiki-Art, as they do here on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Each Island is very different.

Here, on the Big Island, you can talk-story to your art friends, and tell them about the dream you had, the hike you took, or the "Love Ball" you all ate that some wonderful earth-mother baked for every-one at a party held somewhere in Puna (on the wet-side of the island aka deep jungle rampant with 4th generation flower children and folks who just wish to be off-the-grid for whatever reason. )- Plus, you can all chuckle how every-one sat on the floor and ate their "Love-Ball" dessert, and had very interesting after dinner conversations with each other, or in my case, it seems with my "Low-Brow Art Muse" Ron Perlman - yes the Actor Ron Perlman, dressed as he was in the film "Pacific Rim" in which he played an underworld figure named Hannibal Chau, who, I can see, feel, and hear, while no one else can. He has a vast knowledge of Art history, and frequently tells me & my friends if they inquire of him, while I interpret, whats going wrong with my/our art as it's in- progress. This usually happens while a D.J. tests/plays his special 7 hour special mix of music he's put together for a great party in Dubai coming up - but, don't worry it's only about 7 hours long or so.

Yes, each island is different in person. The Big Island is a very different and fun experience. Has everything from the highest rate resort in the western Hemisphere - to camp-out out -door full moon raves. if you are ready to hear some unusual things and just enjoy them with out wondering if they are exactly what happened or only one person's perception of events, nothing beats talk story with my Hawaiian Friends.
So, I try very hard not to paint things I "Think you will like" but try very hard to paint with all the beauty I can the amazing experiences that seem to happen every day here.

Please, contact the "Kona Oceanfront Gallery" for any interest you may have in purchasing my Art Work. That is, if you can't wait for the 2 to 3 years (yep, at least two YEARS to make the amount and quality of Tiki-Art I feel is an appropriate "body of work") till my next LA showing at "La Luz De Jesus Gallery.

To Contact my Big Island gallery...
Go to …

https://www.facebook.com/OceanfrontGallery

Tell them you hear they are the only Art Gallery to show my Tiki-Art in the northern Hemisphere. Let them know if that's a good thing to be so unique, or if that sounds crazy. They are pondering too. They used to show only happy dolphins and flowers and such things.

Me and my good buddy: Art Gallery Owner Mark Hanna. On the big Island, Mark's the only Gallery owner who believed in me, when everyone else told me they only wanted "happy dolphins" and closed the door in my face. Mark Took a chance, let me have a small space to start, and slowly after many months of working hard to make better looking Art of my visions, (which he NEVER questioned once) he kept giving me more and more wall space. Now I am the entire whole right side of the front window area of the Gallery. "Brad's work is so visually intriguing, he pulls people in from across the street." He smiles. ""They walk in, make a bee-line to the painting they saw, stare at it and ponder why "Dracula" is drinking a Mai Tai". Then they have a good laugh when one of my art experts or I walk over and we chat about it. And then they start looking around at all the other local artists I am making a space for …Who knows? They might walk out with a painting of a happy dolphin, but Brad (Tiki-Shark) Parker got their butts in the Gallery!"

I'm told the Kona Ocean Front Gallery likes now sometimes people come in "looking" for Brad Tiki-Shark Parker Art work! That tourists have changed their travel plans, and traveled very far to come see "IT" in person, and displayed all in one place.

Well, a humble, Big Aloha, and Huge Mahalo Plenty if you are one of those wonderful tourist people. I promise, very soon, newer and even more Unique Tiki-Art is coming!
Maybe, you can plan accordingly?

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2014-08-03 00:29 ]

Aloha Tiki Tribe,
Hey, Jus' found out that our Washington D.C. Trip made the Local News Back Here on da' Island! Check it out!

http://www.kitv.com/news/taste-of-hawaii-on-the-hill-entertains-crowd/27122526#!bueVwh

See if you can catch a glimpse of us at the Expo!
A L O H A !

Well put Brad! Your art was and is to me an amazing interpretation of what reminded me of Hawaii once I had to leave and go back home to Seattle after many wonderful vacations here. Your story has helped to push me to quit living the rat race and city life and just move to paradise an pursue my love of what I really enjoy which is playing in the ocean. Like Bob said "Do what you love, love what you do" truly words to live by. Now I live here in paradise making a living as a dive guide, and enjoying this wonderful place called Hawaii. No more looking a your sunset pictures on-line and being jealous, now I live them. You may not know it but you were an inspiration for me to finally make the move and for that I thank you! I look forward to seeing you and Abbas at the Mai Tai Fest on the 16th at the Royal Kona and if you need any help you can count on me, I have already taken that day off so I'll definitely be there. See you soon my friend, and Mahalo Nui Loa!

Kai Koa~

Father Damien from Molokai - aka Saint Damian of Molokai.
Don't know him, read up. We made our tour guide take us to all the Hawaii stuff.

King Kamehameha the Great!
Read my blog for the (of course) supernatural tale that follows ANYTHING from the Islands around…and this statue is no exception~!

We just got back from Washington DC - high points were the stuff that had to do with Hawaii - after a while you really do become very attached to the islands…or you don't. I am so in love with Hawaii now I could never imagine living anywhere else - it's super charging my creative urges….
Wow… I'm kinda smiling, but I also feel kinda worried that everything works out OK - I and I know Abbas both went through some major adjustment times… we took jobs that were not really glamorous to make ends meet, but things, finally took of. Then, of course, a big company creepy mainland company steels my art and refuses to settle to our very generous "live aloha offer" - they wanna be a-holes…so what-evers….NOW they seem bent only on our destruction because they can do it with their seemingly endless $.

So..I'm so happy you are here as my friend - and Uncle Bob was so right! I could never move back to the big dirty trash covered Rat Race….but.. hope things go smoother for you than us…I don't always put up the insane crazy things that happen….I don't wanna bum every one out…would rather make fun it all…if you don't laugh at it all, (you may cry)… because screw it - we're in HAWAII…. 99 % of the world get here once of at all, and never come back. We're LIVIN' here!

Anice deep breath and watching the sunset really does make most things seem better….Welcome to Paradise… hey, there's good and bad everywhere… however the bad here is just a lot more beautiful than the crappy any where else where.
Big Aloha Brother!
See ya at the Mai Tai Fest!

That is always fun.

Weird moment, they showed "Captain America: The Winter Solider on the flight back to Kona, and I noticed that at the end of the movie the room they are having the Senate hearing with Black Widow as a witness, is in exactly the same rooms ...they question Black Widow…we're snorting and laughing...! I don't think anyone is allowed to film at the REAL Capital So they made perfect duplicate on a sound stage somewhere.

On the Plane, we both started laughing and snickering about how we were in that room…the other passengers gave us some weird looks!
Were those guys just at a Senate hearing? Wow Guess so!

Course this looked kine'a lot like something waiting 4 for us at home too! HEH! A L O H A

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2014-08-03 02:49 ]

idea I had on da plane while listening to a mix of Polynesian and rock ,music…

who really had paint on stage?

Wow, I dig it! Rawk on!

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Wow, my link to TC was down for a few days - I was getting Tiki Withdrawal ! I don't know if it was the Hurricanes hitting Hawaii or what! Freaky!
First off, check out the Swank new Tiki out from to f the Royal Kona Resort!
Fantastic! A beautiful specimen of the "Modern Tiki" style, If you ask me, -
like all modern tiki's it has a little "cartoon-like-expression" to it.
Really well done! Great Looking!

Second off, at the Royal Kona's Resort Mai-Tai Festival, Sat, Aug 16th, I'll be selling my new Tiki Towels!
This is "Beyond the Reef" based on my painting, which was in turn is based on the Classic Exotica Tune by Martin Denny.

Hope to see you there - if you find your self in Kailua-Kona Hawaii, sat, Aug 16, at the Royal Kona Resort, teen 11AM to 2PM, come
by my booth in the Market place - I got new towels, stickers, cards, and even some Tiki-Mugs Left!

ALOHA!

Happy Aloha Friday - Tiki Tribe!

I took an evening walk , and watched the sun set…

…and the sun made a beautiful glowing red exit beneath the curve of the big blue.

"Dragon Wrapped Tiki"
Original Pencil Drawing
SOLD - excited to hear the rumor that it's fated to become a Tattoo! Cool!
Hope I get to see photos of the finished work!

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Today was the Mai-Tai Festival at the Royal Kona Resort here in Kailua-Kona Hawaii.
We had a great turn out. Our usual wonderful booth.
This year we showed our new towels and had magnets, stickers, calendars…but the big item
was the mugs - which we sold out of. A real feeding frenzy!

I got to paint in the open sea breeze coming off Kona Bay….real sweet!

We were proud to host some local V.I.P.s:
(L to R) Councilman Dru Mamo Kanuha, Councilwoman Karen Eoff, you-know-who, and Resort owner Jay Rubenstein.

I joked with the Council-folks that in the old Hawaiian days you'd be the Ali'i.
They chuckled, Karen said well, "Well Dru would be."
Later on, someone told me Councilman Dru Mamo Kanuha is an actual descendant of King Kamehameha the Great! (Yikes!)

Then, local music legend, Henry Kapono came by, with his family, and stocked up on lots of Tiki Swag!
I told Henry, "Hey, when-ever you got an album coming out, I'm happy help out with any cover Art!" He smiled and said
"Oh I think somethings in the works…" (Oh-Boy!! How Cool!)
That would mean I got to do art for the Tikiyaki Orchestra, The Crazed Mugs, and …oh…we'll keep our fingers crossed!
Check him out at http://henrykapono.com/bio.htm

I suggest if U dig Hawaiian music, and Rock n' Roll, try out his amazing album "The Wild Hawaiian" - it's awesome!
http://henrykapono.com/wild-hawaiian/
Lots of Tiki Tribe came by to spread ALOHA!

Big Mahalo to a certain friend and TC member for being a great Art Patron, and friend, and helping me break down the booth,
and lug all that stuff back to the TIKI X5!
He's hard core Tiki-Tribe: made the BIG move to the BIG Island!

Some of the Tiki-Tribe were well into the Mai-Tai part of the Festival by early afternoon!

But, 5-0 was on hand to keep things Pono… even got some Tiki-Swag while keeping' da' peace!

My painting "The Wanderer" received a moving tribute from the sister of the guy who the figure in the painting strangely resembles.
Big Story:
He was a local guy, everyone knew him, you always saw him on his skate, or his surf board.
In a strange turn of fate, the painting that had sat unfinished in my studio for years -
was suddenly finished when It all fell into place visually for me one day.
Later on, I found out that about that same time, the guy who has an uncanny resemblance to the figure in
the painting was surfing at a local beach & had an accident & couldn't be revived by the Paramedics.
I had just seen him the week before - I had no idea it had happened till his sister contacted me and told me
how moved she was I painted her brother's portrait - that he was truly "The Wanderer" his whole life … I was speechless
as I had no idea he had died just as I finished that piece.
Wow…
Anyways, his wife & kids, came over from Hilo, and Mary came over from Oahu - and I gave them #1 of the Giclees.
Mary draped the Giclee with a hand woven Lei she made… this was the first time they saw the piece in person and it was emotional.
I had already sold the original before I ever heard the news, or maybe I would have given her that…but no worries. I repainted the giclee slightly
giving the figure blond hair; her brother was out-side in the sun all the time... and his hair was sun-bleached. That made it resemble him
even more…….
Just another strange-tale describing the mysteries of the creative process.
Anyways…

No matter how young or old, Tiki Tribe of all ages had a blast...

...At this year's Mai-Tai fest, at this amazing, beautiful mid-century venue: The Royal Kona Resort.
http://www.royalkona.com
If you have not, you gotta' check this joint out!
It's really a classic Tiki Style Resort, being meticulously kept that way!

Did I mention they just bought another Brand New Tiki to grace their highly Tiki populated grounds? It's terrific!

(Plus, I got great parking!)
ALOHA!!

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2014-08-17 01:23 ]

"The Wanderer" story was so very moving. I always take note of coincidences and find them fascinating. The very first photo on the last post is of this painting? I looked back several pages looking for it. I know I have seen it once before on your thread. I would like to see it again.

I love your photo journals. You have an extraordinary life. Wendy

Had a great time hangin with you guy's at the Mai Tai Fest Brad! Thanx so much for the Tiki swag and the Luau passes, I owe you big, my friends and I had a blast at the Luau. Again, Mahalo Nui Loa Brad! You Rawk!

No worries it's all about spreading' da' ALOHA!

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Hey Check this out…. I'm going to F L O R I D A ! ! (no, I'm not helping in the filming of JEEPERS CREEPERS 3) I'm going to Aku Aku Tiki-Bar, and I'm bringing the Body Glove Ohana With me!

Billy Miestrell and I will be signing BODY GLOVE TIKI MUGS!!

Yeah - the REAL rare ones! come early we only got one box each!

plus, my Art Agent, Abbas' very first EXTREME WAKE BODY GLOVE SURF FILM will be shown in the BAR!!!

Ya' gotta be there!!!!
Come and get a DVD disk signed…. we might even get the Body Glove Surf riders team to show up!!

(how big is Aku Aku again?)
Hmmmm….oh well, it'll be fun! Check out the details!

http://damontucker.com/2014/08/27/renowned-big-island-artist-announces-first-ever-appearance-in-florida/

Time for an update! Wendy

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
danlovestikis - yeah, crazy busy summer! Sorry for being so behind on my up dates. Don't even know where to start, so lets start with what I'm working on now….
It started with a conversation with my Hawaiian friend from Honolulu about some recent "Goose Bump" stories that have recently happened to him. This is Hawaii, and ghost stories and things like that happen here All the freakin' time. So With October coming up, this image became a hot item in my noodle.
I do have some commissions I'm also working on, but the season really got me in the mood to work on this one.
It's called "Hotel Honolulu Haunted Hoot N Nanny!"

This is the work of an amazing Low Brow Artist named Shawn Dickenson. "WOW!" is what I said when I saw it.

That image inspired this drawing named: "Hotel Honolulu Haunted Hoot-N-Nanny!"

Then I needed to add a "Haunt"… A "ghost-tiki" was suggested by someone, and I thought that was a GREAT idea!

This is the "Tiki-Haunt" in the hotel room.

This is a small canvas I started almost as a test - or to get this painting out fast. But popular demand on FB made me switch to a larger canvas - so for a 11" X 14" I up graded to a 24" 30"

I put the sketch on the larger canvas - note the old fashioned way I do it, just like your 6th grade teacher taught you: the grid system on the sketch and the canvas.

Here's a larger version of the "Hotel Honolulu Haunted Hoot-N-Nanny!"

Cat almost on…

Stray Cat Strutting on the canvas.

Jeepers Creepers! LOVE Shawn's work!
So... That means I respect him too much to just rip him off.
I contacted him and told him what I was doing, and how do I do it with-out ripping him off. I figure He'd have an idea, and I'd get to tell him how cool his art is. So…..found him on the web…on FB…
I Told him I ws worried about just "ripping-off" Shawn Dickinson (while loving and being inspired by him).
Talked to him about how much I loved his work, and asked him how I could paint my latest piece and not just rip him off. We chatted about my style vs his style. He said just do "it" in your style - which is also influenced by high Renaissance painting, and especially the kind coming from the north, where it was all about natural lighting coming in from windows. Dark rooms with bright windows… So follow those rules, as well as 1930's cartoon style and - do my strange / funny cat heads which after looking at our work we both noted were different than his cat heads.. Go ahead and just start painting it, and we both thought it'd turn out different seeing how our styles were so different…no idea what it would be like, but it was worth a try. Who knows hat this miss-mash is gonna come out like. He felt it'd be very different than his, and he was OK with me doing it. I felt good having his blessing to move forward. And I really liked talking to someone as talented as he is.

Ha! Weird for sure! I at this point have no idea WHAT this painting is gonna' end up looking like, but have a strange feeling in my gut about it...and that usually means "ART" is gonna' happen…. cause I'm pushing my limits again.
I'm scared.
I'm scared it may be a total disaster - scared I got no idea where it's going - and scared is a good place to be while making "Art".
Problem.
"How will people know we are in Hawaii?"
That is the major question one of my publishers on Maui always throws at me when We are making calendars and Art cards and souvenirs etc…

Answer: Make sure you put the world famous view down "Waikiki Beach" to that unforgettable view of "Diamond Head". (the extinct volcano. ) and put in the classic WAVE.

Here's the re-sketch of the hotel room with a nice view of Diamond-Head out the window.

OK, putting The Stray Cat Strutting to the Haunted Ukulele jam in the haunted hotel room in Honolulu…

Here we are now… MUCH more to come.
I Just found out my Art Agent's Time-line to get commissions done and keep up with a time-line that will allow me to do my best work for my 2016 summer show at La Luz De Jesus Gallery.
So gotta' get some canvas time in, and get this next show where I want it to be.
"Bigger and Better" than the last - that's the motto, as always.
Each canvas has to be better, have to learn something more, get a little bit better.
Big Aloha, sorry for the long summer.
Glad to be back in the Art studio making da' Tiki Art!

More laters!

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2014-09-29 14:47 ]

That was a really good story progression. I was worried as I looked at the two and you set it right. Diamond Head out the window is so cool. It kind of sets back the era since we know what really is built on the beach now. It's like time travel.

Thank you for putting these up, I know it takes time and effort and we all really enjoy watching you work and think! Wendy

Nice work Brad! Look forward to seeing the progression on this piece!

Thanks!
Here's the latest

Starting to put in the view out his window. Still needs a record player - and a ghostly tiki rising up out of it.
More to come!

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Working on the Cat in da' Hotel room painting…. working out all these wood boards and general lighting, Did some sketching on the Ghost-Tiki that will be raising up outa' a old record player….
Here's the canvas with some smoothing out of brush strokes... Thinking of the sea and a wave and water on the beach… getting Diamond Head right ( and everyone whos been to Honolulu knows what that famous old volcano looks like so I GOTTA' get it right or folks will notice !) stuff and such…

Here's some sketches on what the Ghost -tiki should look like…

A tiki with Ghost-Sharks and Flaming Skulls hovering around it? Maybe….

Or that idea with a "ghostly tail" like in the old 1930's Popeye Cartoons? That way he (or it) can be directly coming up out of the record like the visual gag of music coming out of a record. Getting there…

More later!

Aloha Tiki-Tribe!

…and here's tonight's sunset from the Big Island!

Aloha Tiki-Tribe!
Happy October 1st! or as they call it in Hawaii "'OKAKOPA"!
To celebrate I'm gonna sell something seasonal every day this month - or try to.
Today's offering is a classic "giclee" before they were ever called Giclee - they were called "Nash Editions" (yeah, the guy from Crosby Stills NASH and young) he worked with Iris Printers to make 'em bigger , better, and with many many more inks jets! You can see special embossing in the beautiful heavy paper declaring it as "A NASH Edition"! (swanky!)
I worked with NASH at the Beach in So Cal making the first real Art-Prints to come out of "Computer Art".

This one is called "LIMESTONE" (the name of the comic book like monster) …it was total Sci-Fi Horror/comic-book theme - much like the computer games In was making back then:the print is of a monster in battle with a Wolverine-Like Comic book character. No original painting was made - Just a computer painting. . Painted in Photo-shop with a Mouse! (like painting with a bar of soap while looking in a mirror!) There only 3 prints of "LIMESTONE" left in my studio vaults, the digital file was lost long ago! No more will ever be printed out.

So here ya' go…...
Purchase one of the very first historical "Giclees" . or as they were known back then "Nash Editions" - made by a rock star, (and me.)

"LIMESTONE"
16" x 11"
A/P
Signed, Numbered 1 of 3
"A NASH Edition" on beautiful heavy, museum, artsy, paper. (Paper was picked out by "Nash".)
$150.00

…AND since it's the High-Holiday of "HAWAII-WEEN", A FREE piece of Holiday-Art is also offered!
A real-deal-original sketch from my latest painting - "Hotel Honolulu Haunted Hootenanny"; This Here's a pencil study of the "Haunt" playing a ukulele.

If you buy the Ultra Rare "NASH Edition" you get this cool swanky spook totally FREE!

Message me. or e-mail me at [email protected] or at [email protected].
First come, first gets it!

Happy Haunting!

Aloha Tiki-Tribe!
Happy October 5th!
Check the Tiki market place for news on getting a museum quality giclee that's perfect for the season!

Monsters on Vacation!
It's a popular combination of 4 very sought after paintings - the four classic monsters …on vacation in Hawaii.
Sammy Hagar has asked to use them in a promotion of a Halloween event he's doing this year at one or more of his fine drinking establishments! (or so my agent tells me)
I now offer a awesome high quality giclee art print of them to you….
Take a stroll through the Tiki Market place and give 'em a look see!

I bought my "Limestone" in 1993 and I'm looking at it now hanging on my wall. Personally, I would not saddle it with the term "computer graphix." It's simply a masterpiece.

Tikifool!
Awwwwww…. Thanks! You are a man of great taste! It was quite an endeavor… I remember "painting it" with what seemed like a bar of soap while looking in a Mirror…. (a regular wired mouse and looking up at a computer screen!)

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Todays Tiki Art in progress….
Fighting with the Cat in the haunted hotel Honolulu!
Did some sketch work after I work up in the middle of the night with ideas bouncing round my head.

The original sketch is a tad worn and "shows much love" now as it's been used as reference.

After talking to the artist who inspired this painting, we agreed it should show "My version" of cartoon cats…this led to a dream that my cat my not have a Micky-Mouse glove, but a fingerless Low-Brow Glove instead…

The light sours will be a sunset coming in da' window… with a classic wave on Waikiki Beach…

Here's where we are now…. the rooms starting to RAWK!

The wave is giving me a little trouble…but I thin this monochrome is about to loose it's usefulness

Here you can see the cartoon glove in it's low-brow state. Problem is it's complex and doesn't "READ" quickly. So color should help…

So it's starting to happen…still need a "old timey record player". It's been hard to pin down exactly what form a 1930's record player technology looked like… the net jumps around a lot!
The light and color will all be coming in the window…into a black and white 1930's cartoon room.
Never tried this idea, should be interesting…. (fingers crossed!)
ALOHA!

!

I think his house is being swept out to sea with him playing on. It sure is rockin and rollin. Wendy

yeah, that wave is getting bigger and bigger If this hotel is a rocking (on da' aves) don't bother Knocking!

Hey Frankenstein goes Hawaiian is very poplar this season!
Sammy Hagar is using him on a menu, and
he's featured in a science fiction podcast!
http://esopodcast.com/earth-station-one-episode-235-frankenstein/

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2014-10-08 18:55 ]

Aloha Tiki-Tribe!
The War of the Worlds is an episode of the American radio drama anthology series The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938, and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds (1898). It became famous for causing mass panic, although the extent of this panic is debated.
http://vimeo.com/107454954

Aloha Tiki-Tribe!

Still painted my 1930's haunted honolulu hotel room…
Now how do you paint a record so it looks like a record and not a floppy uncooked pizza?

Perspective…the evil word that sends chills through all art students.

I plotted out the perspective lines on a circle laying down.

And then kept painting the edges till it "looked right"

And kept painting…

And then painted some more…

more painting to come….. (!?)

i think it's getting close. .. maybe…

Things that still gotta' be worked out
1.) ghost tiki - being transparent coming out of the record player speaker.
2. the uke the ghost - tiki is playing being solid NOT transparent (that just came to me last night)
3.) The color and the light all coming in from there one light source the sunset out side the window.
4.) making Diamond head look like diamond head
5.) Making there wave on waikiki beach look like a wave on waikiki beach…
6.) Notice I changed back rom there fingerless gloves back to full fingered gloves.

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2014-10-11 21:53 ]

Bradley! Coming along Famously!
Love the idea of the natural world outside
affecting the lighting inside the Max-Fleischer land room!
It's comforting to know that all us arteests have the same toils
and troubles and problem solving when it comes to producing masterworks!
Your curiosity,enthusiasm,and talent seem to be designed to tackle this one!
Cannot wait to see,as this baby comes to LIFE!
RAWK!

Thanks little lost tiki - Always nice hearing your sage words… helps when I hit the rough parts.

Here's the first color in the sunset….

And a bit more of that orange y glow…
Got this in the mail - talk about inspiration! Sheesh Dig this new piece from Low Brow Master Todd Schorr :Atomic Vacation"
Truly jaw-dropping amazing!

This guy's work changed me forever… it still is!

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Working on the Sky for the Sun-Set out the window of the Hotel Honolulu…

I wanna give another go at the Sky I did in "Diga Diga Doo"…I like the wavy clouds, and the Twinkie shaped clouds in front of them.
And I wanna do extra wet and cartoony water drops on the beach.

Aloha Tiki-Tribe!
Here's me working on the wood work….

More to come…

Aloha Tiki-Tribe!
Here's the current work in progress..

Sunset starting to light up,

And the wood work looking woody!
It's October so time to re-read my favorite Halloween books (or one of them at least)

This one's awesome!

Speaking of Awesome, check out tonight's sunset!

aloha Tiki Tribe~
Here's the new-Art work.

Sketch on the sky and sunset.

Here a sketch of the ukulele the ghost -tiki will be strumming.

Here's the ghost-tiki….but it didn't look right.

So I repainted the design of the tiki on the canvas-
This is one of the most important things to go on the painting and it HAS to be just right.

He's looking better - more in the wide mouth "Kona-Style".
'
needs some work still, but better…

And the ghost - tiki is starting to appear!

Haunting the corner of the room…

I think it's right, better check the lines of the ukulele though…

more laters..

Aloha!

Discovered major f-up on my painting. WHERE IS THE LIGHT COMING FROM?

It's coming from the Sunset…course!

So had to re-paint the ghost-tiki first..

Now going through everything and making sure things work with that in mind.

I was looking at Tim Hildebrandt's art book and theta very important fact hit me today.
To sell any kinda realistic lighting idea you gotta figure out the light source for everything. One slight source should make it more dramatic, so even better. Sure I use a cool fill for the shadows, but the hot sunset out the window HAS to be the light.

more laters!

Aloha Tiki-Tribe!~
Here the "Hotel Honolulu Haunted Hootenanny" still in progress… I got the light sourced better figured out…

And the Waikiki Sun-set is starting to look a little better….

I want to do a few layers of Clouds…this should be the farthest back…. Then a thin darker layer in front of this? We'll see….

More to come!

aloha Tiki Tribe!
My Art Agent and I R visiting the island of Oahu.

We rented a VW and were driving…

Driving on what must be the most beautiful highway in the world.

The road goes right up to the mountains

And then goes INTO the mountains!

And you go..and go…and go… long enough for you to think about how much MOUNTAIN is above you…
and that it was really a Volcano…

And then you think how the HECK did that do this?

And Finally you see the light at the end of the tunnel!
(WHEW!)
What was at the other end of the highway tunnel?
KC HAWAII.
Where they were showing me new mega-swank tiki-swag made with my Tiki-Art

Check out these Mini-Surf Boards…
(Hand made in the USA, not China.)
Check out the Tiki Market place if ya' wanna buy one.