Florida

I agree with cardcheat on this one ,I also make a living on my art alone ,and gotta tell ya that in my work tikis, Drawings ,Tatoos, ect. I have "borrowed" and yeah even downright "stolen" a set of eyes here, and a tiki nose there.but never would I duplicate anything so close and call it my own the way some guys here in Florida do. so close is the Tiki resemblence that it is now called the "Florida style". that is simply not fair to Wayne, or anyone else for that matter .I had the pleasure of meeting Wayne at the Hukilau ,and the first Mai Tai induced words he said to me and my partner were "respect", you Guys got respect" although we both went to the Hukilau to meet new Tiki Fiends ,and have a great time .we were also there to sell our art. we went on to talk for a while, and got to find out we are from the same miami neighborhoods,went to the same schools ,and we took the same artistic path in life,he also said very encouraging words to me and my partner about what we do ,and can only tell you that despite the years Wayne has on the Kreepytiki, we both sold our tikis throughout the days ,and everything was kool. now, I can only imagine what if I was one of those guys who may I add ,are very talented themselves .set up a booth ten feet away from Waynes Mai Tiki with those "lookalike" TiKis selling them right to His face .I can only say I'd wouldnt've felt too hot.and my meeting with Wayne would probably have been a little more like Wayne trying to stick his foot in my ass.(well deserved) ever heard the one about the guy who's tikis were "MASS PRODUCED" in plastic (yikes)by home depot ,and sold for peanuts. not kool dude.hey tikitiki, a gathering in florida is destined to happen soon.if you live in miami or close email me...KREEPYTIKIJAKSIN

Do you folks really think that kind of tiki is the creative idea of just one guy (Wayne Coombs I guess)? If so, he must be a very very old guy and his work must've been seen by a LOT of people not just in Florida but around the world. If creative ideas are the pinnacle, then has WC had any other ideas?

That sounds worse than I mean it - no disrespect intended, honest. I just don't see how someone could claim that there's a whole lot of original thought contained in any derivative tiki style, and WC's style looks pretty derivative to me. Even in less hazy subject areas, I think it's reasonable to distinguish between ideas and execution. With music, it's easy to draw a line between the writer and the singer - Elvis and Sinatra were both great on execution, but not much on songwriting. That Palm Tiki guy might be good at carving that kind of tiki, but not so great at coming up with other ideas. But so what - it's a commercial, decorative art based on a derivative style. It's not fine art and the basic iconography by its nature is definitely not copyrightable, in obvious contrast to using a Disney character or something like that.

If an artist wants to carve out a niche ("carve" - haha) for himself, where he can develop a unique style and receive credit for unique ideas, then it would seem like a bad choice to restrict himself to an iconography that has been woven into pop culture commercial art with nearly endless variations for over 50 years. But it doesn't have to be so complicated and planned. If he chooses instead to become part of the pop-commercial art world and make tikis that people will buy just because they're fun and cool, then great! In that case though, it seems unreasonable to expect fine art recognition for derivative commercial art. This is actually more consistent with the attitudes of people like Shag, who openly claims to be a commercial artist, and who doesn't feel threatened by others who ape his style because he knows he can always dip into his own well of creative ideas and skills.

-Randy

Actually I saw some of Wayne's work in Cannon Beach, Oregon earlier this year, and I'm sure his stuff is in various places in California. So his tikis are definitely known outside of Florida.
I suppose his style also could be around the world, since he sells and dispalys lots of stuff here in Orlando and our little theme park-laced hamlet is one of the top international tourism destinations on the planet (Why that is, I'm not sure).
I don't think anyone needs to defend Wayne's style. I agree with TikiJaksin that Mai Tiki really has become recognised as THE Florida tiki style, and that's probably why it is being immitated. Also, I know Wayne and Becky sometimes run short on their carvings, which means demand is pretty good.
To me, the idea that Wayne should be modifying his carvings or doing other things with it seems silly. I also think the fact that KreepyTiki is down in Miami doing carvings in their own style, selling them and building a reputation is a big credit to their art. I thought having KreepyTiki and Mai - Tiki showing and selling next to each other at the Hukilau really showed the Aloha spirit we should all share. My only wish is that GeckoTiki could fly in from Hawaii the next time we do this, and bring some of his carvings.

The wheel's been made. Everybody's just adding spokes! - Al Jourgensen.

:sheckymug:

[ Edited by: Turbogod on 2002-09-04 08:38 ]

Better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation--Herman Melville

And fail I will!

On 2002-09-04 11:33, Kentiki wrote:
Better to fail in originality than succeed in imitation--Herman Melville

Amen to that brother, AMEN!!!
TG
The Tiki Gardens Memorial
http://www.exotic-tiki-gardens.com

Hello! I'm new to this group but I lived in south Florida for 15 years! The Mai -Kai rules! It's by far the best in the US and if you are Tiki Buff in Florida, it's the oly choice for a convention. I remember playing in it's gardens as a teenager and I was there some 5 years ago and it was pritty much the same.

Don't know about the right thread for this, but I have some more pics from the Florida panhandle that I thought I'd share. Last time I had to go to the Fort Walton Beach area it sucked because it was in the middle of a hurricane. But I still stayed at an amazing place - no tiki per se, but really beautiful.

http://www.ramadafwb.com

They have a BIG rock waterfall in the middle of the pool, and inside the waterfall is a bar that you can swim up to or walk into from the other side. Here are my pics (some are a little blurry since it was windy and raining).

Walking around on the grounds.

The pool and waterfall.

At night, looking into the bar.

Unfortunately the bar was closed because of the storm and the off-season, but they had the lights on still. I sidestepped their little chain to get some pix.

The walking entrance to the bar.

You can see the swim up side and the walkup side.

-Randy

WOW! Great photos...don't you feel any pain showing those to some of us who are stuck here in Canada? I'm cold!

Damn that is one cool bar! I'll add "Make walls look like rock cave" to my list of things to do in my future home (don't think my landlord would appreciate it here).

Wow! Someone else is from Bradenton-Lages. Hello there...