Practice Makes Progress (Have A Great Day) Laz

"Gave the tiki a break decided to get back to my roots"

See to me that is your best carving, the seahorse, and it's your style.
Plus you miss doing it.

Why fight it?
Your tiki are having a Surf Soul Mai Tiki mix look to em cuz you are taking bits of other
tiki carvers styles and making tiki carvings.

But when I look at the Seahorse it looks like YOUR style.
That's why I think it's your best as you have not found your own tiki style yet.

Would think there would be as big or even bigger market for a Seahorse carving than tiki.

Good luck!!

Tiki Skip. Thank you for your time. Yes I am trying to figure this tiki thing out. I came on here not knowing anything about wood palm or tiki . or tools paint stain poly..I can say I have inprove some. picking the right palms , find moldy ones ones that crack some are soft others are hard some are hary. just endless challenges. what to do with the carving when finished is my biggest struggle.But I am going to keep my head up my chainsaw sharp and just keep carving. I welcome all suggestions.. I guess I will just keep carving tikis until I find something that is my style.. I guess I can also carve some of my Ice carving designs along the way, The great thing is that they do not melt, Thanks again tikiskip for your guidiance,

I agree with skip, that sea horse is killer and looking forward to seeing how it progresses. Like the frog also!

Both those guys are right on.
We all copy others until we don't need to
& that becomes "your style".
You're right on track.
What's next?
BTW,
You have to give a lot of Tikis away in the beginning.
Some are harder to get rid of than others.

Seahorses are part of the Tiki art genre in my opinion. So is everything else that lives on, in, or near the sea. We'd all be in a pretty tight little box without other ways to express ourselves. Once again, just my opinion. Will is correct about developing style. It will come in bits and piece as you go. So, just keep going. I have left many of my carvings on the beach. It's a real kick to watch some kid come along and find it. To them, it is a treasure!

Tiki Skip ,Cy Will Carve, A mate. Thanks for the replies. I carve in my back yard and I feel like I am all alone.I wish you guys could be back here with me. Guiding me or just keeping me company while on this journey,But your not,Thats why I am grateful for TC. because I am not alone and I can not do this by myself. My story is when i lived in Los Angeles My Ice buisness thrived but when I moved to Orlando. the Ice buisness is only 6 months a year. so I did that for a while. Then I went back in the kitchen cooking. I was so use to doing my own thing that it was difficult for me to adjust. So I kept a cooking job part time, then I realized I could not serve to masters. So now I am a full time palm / wood carver. With little experince in this new medium. TC members have helped me so much and I am very grateful. So I am just going to push it forward. Practice makes progress. Have a great Day

Nicework you are obviously talented. Your pieces are coming along great. I agree with willcarve in that you may have to give away many of your carvings at first though. But that's a good thing. There's not much more satisfying than surprising a friend or family member with a free tiki. They will love it and spread the word and before you know it the orders will come in from others who see it. Your seahorse is really impressive. Maybe you could do something like timbercove's mermaid stuff and put a seahorse on top of a tiki of your design? Maybe have it's tail wrap around into the tiki's mouth or something? That would be rad!

Aloha Texas, Thanks for the encouraging words and cool Ideas, its a beautiful thing, comradery, its all good and spiritual.

Aloha Texas I Have a friend in texas, Quite a Character, mad talent but his gift is being himself, He runs a ice company in Huston,called DLG Ice Factory. His name is Reverend Butter, Look him up, Thats if you have not already heard of him,'

He was one of my early Heros in the Ice Game He gives it all Hes Got and for me that makes him the best, I might as well send you a link of my favorite videos he has made, but you have to watch it all the way till the end. for a smashing surprise

Reverend Butter,
http://youtu.be/Y-tSZ1WopUE

Ice Throne
http://youtu.be/KEI1p3tqOTM

http://www.dlgicefactory.com/

Cool video.

So is your main love ice carving?
Looks like it is.
And do you love tiki and or carving tiki, or is carving tiki a way to make money
more than a thing you feel the same love as you do ice carving?

The marlin in the first part of Ice Throne would be a cool wood carving as well.
Would think that anything you make of ice could be done in wood.

Do you have a name that you carve under and sign your name to all of your works?
I think that is important to do, if you are making art and selling art you should sign your art.

I'm not a carver, (took down a bunch of trees when young as a job) but I do make tiki lights and
I do this because I really like doing it.
Selling these lights only helps me offset the costs of the things needed to make more lights
and buy tiki crap.

Most of the tiki carvers here first liked tiki then started carving them.
Seams like you are carving them and growing into liking them, and that's fine.

But the best work will come from you when you are doing what you really love
as it's more a part of you than "will this sell"

I would bet most of the carvers here did not so much develop a style as it just kinda came about
when they started carving more.
I do look at other lights (not only tiki lights but all lights)for ideas but try to put my spin on them and that spin can be seen as mine.

When one can look at your carving and know it's your style then you will have won.

Good luck though making a living.
Making a living off of any art form is not easy.
Not many here can make a living off of tiki.

Tiki Skip, Thanks for your time, and your ideas and comments, I started out as a dishwasher with dreams to be a chef
In that journey I was trained by a chef to carve Ice and fruit sculptures, So I am not a tiki carver I am just a carver in general. I stumbled into tiki by a freind who knew a friend that did tikis. We met and I told my self I can do that. I have seen people carving Bears pelicans goafers and beavers on the side of the road. alot of ice carvers switch to wood in time. that time has come for me now, So I found TC and I am grateful I have been learning alot, because of people like you who give me feed back, on my prosess, thanks again for the comment have a great day,

I gave thought to the sighning name thing My Name is Lazaro my friends call me LAZ, so I thought about sighning my Name LAZ711, 7-11-09 is my clean date. and I have been living the dream ever since

TANG with Dolphin

School of hard knocks. No turning back now. White latex base foundation. Colored paint on top.

38 x 16 x 15. 150 lb SABAL PALM this one is going to be fun

Hey Nicework- I looked at the Reverend Butter stuff. Very cool. Thought I might have lived really close to him but it was a different ice carver. Nice touch putting the dolphin on top of the marq. Just out of curiosity, what made you decide to paint that last piece?

Aloha Texas. Thank you for your time and thoughts. Well the reason I painted the tiki is I live in orlando fla. I live 1 hour from Cocoa Beach. I have been influenced from the Happy painted tikis that are all over Beach communities. I did not know anything about tang ku maqui kane lu all the authentic hawain tiki Gods. I learn that here. So I guess I paint them because of the influence i have in my area. I personaly like them painted. I am just learning how to. I have been making alot of mistakes in this prossess. I have also done some staining but the stain i used was to dark or to light so i am still in the learning stages, I am developing a style little by little some say it may not fit in TC. But I do not think I can find another forum that has so many great carvers and knowlege and my finger tips. So I hope that people tolerate me figuring out my self in this journey I have inbarked.Thank you Texas Have a BIG day!

Hey Nicework I was just curious about about your process. I think you are doing GREAT! Where I live I see no tikis except for watered down mass produced stuff in chain outlets. My first exposure was when Clouseaux played Tiki Oasis 3. California carvers like Crazy Al, Tiki Tony, Bosko, and Bamboo Ben all had a big effect on me. In general I don't see much painted stuff so I was just wondering. Keep up your work brother. It's great!

Thanks You Aloha Texas. Make it a great day and keep the passion ALIVE!!

Well this was what I have been working on the past week or two Its all been practice trying to figure out difrent designs painting staining I have made alot of mistakes along the way, But theese are behind me, now to go on a new aproach.
So many derections to go can be overwelming, Thats why I try not to think and just start carving,.

[ Edited by: nicework 2015-01-13 20:12 ]

lots of nice tikis there nicework. i like the marq alot, and the dolphin one is interesting, and that seahorse is just badass.

Domin Thank you for your time and thoughts, Those words are incouraging. It aint easy being me, I am never satisfied and my head tells me I am not good enough. I believe I am a average carver with potential to be a great carver if I take my time and not rush through my carvings, Patients is not a very good quality I posses. Always looking for the quick fix and end result. Being in the Ice game I have carved shoulder to shoulder with this nations top ice carvers, so I feel like I am not good enough, I see alot of Carvers on here that take their time and enjoy the prosses,I am so grateful to be on TC, it is molding me to be a better Artist. And when I get feed back on my work it helps me tremondously thank you so much Domin. Have a productive creative peaceful happy serene Day

You should pack up that pile of tikis and head south for Kreepy Tiki's "Revenge of the Tiki 4", Saturday, January 24 in Fort Lauderdale. He is looking for vendors. http://www.facebook.com/kreepy.tiki

Nice! thank you for the lead, I will look into that.

Well. I Had a Idea to make some Valentime Carvings for Febuary, I think the next one will Have a Heart incorparated in it, The last 15 carvings I made where Hard Knock Classes, I made so many mistakes. I painted some mixing water base paint with oil paint that did not work, I stained some and did not like the darkness of the stain then painted on top of the stain and that changed the color of the paint, Well as long as I learn from my mistakes all will be well. TC members have been so helpful Thank you so much, I am truly grateful. Still have so much to learn but practice makes progress.
All my carvings are under 2 hours I am not going to get better that way. I base my price really on time I am just making $75 - $150 carvings . I understand that if I make a carving with awesome detail. I can hold on to it and sell it for $500. I can only think like this because you guys are teaching me Thank you

Hello. Been a long time since i have been here, Thank you for helping me get started with my buisness, I sold all my tiki for $1000 the day before i went on a cruise last month. I met this mayan decedent cutting planks out of a large drift wood in mexico , the guy was short but look how straight those planks are, Of course the hi-light is the ice carving demo and i came back and started cutting palms so i have been busy thank you all for your help and have a wonderful day.

[ Edited by: nicework 2015-02-06 07:25 ]

You're good.
I like watching you dial in this thing we call Tiki.
We could all end up taking lessons from you.

Will You are my Hero! any progress you see in my work is from the experince strength and Hope you have givin me Thank you so much, I spend more time now on marketing my Art on face book and other avenues, so I will come by here and thier . Or I might just spazz out like i did when i first got to TC and posted several times a day time will tell thank you wiil have a great day

Thank You !TC

That last set looks great!!! I think you've got this down.

Thank You Tiki Central. I am starting to get into the swing of things! Practtice makes progress! Looking forward to do more traditional tikis soon

Hello TC working on a Beach Tiki with a mermaid head dress. Thank you for showing me the way!

Thank you TC! 3 14 inch tikis

thank you TC

Thank you TC

thank you TC!!

thank you TC

You have certainly become a wood carving machine.....lots of nice things. I
really like your seahorses.

CONGA Tiki! You the man! Thank you so much. Yes I have been carving up a storm, I have to! I quit my Job! I made a commitment to do one carving a day sometimes i do more. I guess it may come from my carving Ice background where i would carve all day long, Most my carvings are 2 hours long so carving one is just me be lazy. I thank you so much for your incouragement . It is a great motivating factor. I like to do diffrent designs besides what i call tiki, and some people may call not a tiki, but right now I am still in the beggining stages, I am indebted to the members on TC for I have learned many things. I will eventualy do Tikis that are more palletable on this forum, out of respect to Tiki Central Guide lines. As far as carving wood, I have not carved any YET, All my carvings have been sabal and washintonian, They are not good for 3D carvings because the center is some times fibourous. I just do not want to burn out my electric 140 stihl. I am waiting to get a 150 gas stihl, If you have the time I would love to see what tools you use. thank you Brother CONGA! May the God of your understanding continue blessing you with the spirit of comradery Have a Great Day!

love the mermaid, that would make a great full-size carving!

thank you Big T getting ready to paint it. I never know what it comes out like when i paint it it just happens

Thank you TC

thank you TC for looking!

That's a knockout.
We're not worthy.

Will love you Brother! thank you but all my carvings are rush jobs. I just do not have the Patience to take my time. and do work like you and other great carver on TC. I rush the carve and the paint, I do not even let the paint dry. So impatient. BUT I think i was inderectly challenge by a Carver, And I will slow down a bit to nail this design inqustion.

my first root ball !!!

Trouble finding these things you guys call root ball So I made my own lol, Thank you TC!!

Ok I am going to make this one over it was just practice, Practice make s progress

My first maori!
still needs a florida beach tiki base and paint . thank you TC! IOU!