Carvings from Frog Island Tikis

The smell of cedar has been in my yard lately.
A tall table.

Still a long way to go.

I am cutting out the the back, bottom section.

This one is 4 foot tall and big in diameter.

I did some glass eyes in cobalt blue. then added a matching acrylic to the bottom of this guy.

I have been laboring on this piece of purple heart for what seems a century. It is so hard and heavy that it would make a better boat anchor than a carving.

Nice to see ya chipping away CY
Lookin good on frog island

As Laz from Orlando often states," practice makes progress."
This cedar stump just screamed Ku because of his stout nature.

Looks great so far.

Nice compact Ku. Like that purple wood one too!

This may be your most "tiki" tiki.

KU time on Frog Island
Nice wood bruddah

Thanks guys, Aloha I really debated about that and remember often chastising myself with " What next cy, a moia? A Bob?", but I am having a lot of fun with it so what the heck.

What's up cy?! Always amazed at your creativity! That purple heart carving is gonna be amazing!!

Thanks bt, it is nice to see some new tiki carvings going on! I started on a 8' x 7 1/2 " plank of bass wood.




I used will carves cool New Caledonia mold as inspiration for the top portion.

"Coo" is almost done except for teeth and toes.

This table has seen some chain saw work as well.

[ Edited by: cy 2017-10-30 16:34 ]

I like the way you're using all the wood.
Like Tom says
" wood goes all the way thru."
Good stuff.

Chris, where do you find basswood like that? I'm thinking that's not something you pick up at Home Depot or Lowe's.

Thanks Will, I learned more than I can tell you about using all the wood from you and Tom in just the short time we met long ago! Mike we have a hardwood store here in Portland called Crosscut that is a candy store for guys like me. I originally went to get my favorite wood, jelutong, but that is getting harder to find, but they will usually have a nice block of bass wood available. The shape will dictate the design, which is fun for me.

Like that Bass wood
Working on a lil piece myself
Cheers

Thanks Jon, basswood is so forgiving, which I need and appreciate. Very heavy rains have brought things into the garage which gave me time to refine a bit.

[ Edited by: cy 2017-10-22 15:25 ]

This story board/totem- looking basswood plank is almost ready for paint.

I really had to crack up when I noticed the guy holding onto his own nose. This is one tall tiki pole and a lot of creativity and work. We hope to make it to Tiki Kon 2018 so we can see all your work together. Wendy

That guy holding his nose
must be related to this guy.

Damn, I thought I was being so original and clever.

Great minds think alike

Another panel going, this one made of Alaskan yellow cedar. It carves like clay, is the color of butter, smells great, (it is actually in the cypress family) and is my new favorite, similar to basswood and jelutong.

Chris and cross

:)

Looking good my man

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2017-11-28 09:49 ]

That's a pretty good name H10, this is what I have been working lately.
"Koo", a large cedar stump.


The floats are sure to sell, and help my gasoline bill for the long journey to Tiki Caliente, just 5 short months away.

The lobster buoy is from Maine, which I know is a long way from Maui, but it is nautical, been in the ocean for much of it's life, and therefore qualifies as being tiki, in my opinion.

OOOh, I love everything here, lots of fun stuff.

Nice
What’s going in the top of koos head
Sand?
Swizzle sticks?
Beer caps?
Fire?

Floats look great
As always

Cheers

Worst sound ever, slurp of an empty tiki mug through my straw!!!

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2017-12-17 20:35 ]

I remember those fly guys.

Hang10 you know me well, the top will be filled from the sands of your favorite beach, then sea shells, umbrellas, bottle caps, swizzles, and of course your favorite beverages. Will that is some great research brother, I'm going to get me that same outfit for carving. Are their overalls on backwards? If not, mine will be.

:)

With the past week off I had time to complete a few projects.

Sand added to the top H10


This one is made from Alaskan yellow cedar.

Love that cedar stump Tiki Cy!

Nice, real nice stuff cy. I'm lovin those panels. Now i know not to throw out any leftover old stumps!

Yes, save those stumps, they are chock full o' character.
Almost done with "Webster", a piece of purple heart. I wish I knew more about explosives as this wood is so hard I should have blasted it like they did the granite of Mt. Rushmore.

When I saw the panels that were for sale at La Luz Galleries Art of Tiki event I knew what I wanted to do with the planks of yellow cedar I had in the garage.

Wow
Killer purple and planks
Seriously Kool

Walkin the planks.
Crisp detail.
Good job.

Love those panels, I can think of a ton of ways to use those in a tiki bar, room, hut.

Once you clear coat the Purpleheart the color is really going to POP!

Interesting designs on the panels ! superclean work ...

Nice work on those last few pieces cy. You really have a unique style.

And sorry to burst yours, and anyone else's bubble, but i watch several different woodworkers channels on YouTube and just the other day they were talking about Purple Heart and they said that over time it loses it's colour and just ends up turning brown. They said that it didn't matter how you treated the wood (i.e. sealer used) and even if it was kept inside it would still change eventually.
Which is a shame because it's a beautiful looking wood, but it was said that if you want a purple wood the only way you'll get that is to stain it.

Thanks H-10, Will I am happy you noticed, I learned that from you, hil I'm not sure whether to add bases so the stand on their own or just leave 'em as is. ATTC they started from a very quick sketch as I wanted them to look "immediate". Aloha and swizz I have been wondering about finish on that one. I really love the purple color of course but people that have used it tell me the same thing - that it won't remain purple. I will try a purple dye on a scrap piece to see what happens, but most likely will just live with the outcome of age.

Gorgeous work, Cy. Your distinctive style really stands out! Please keep sharing...

Thanks for the encouragement Prikli, you are stuck with me and I will keep adding posts to TC! Recently I was able to procure a stash of cedar floats that have never been in the water. They sure do carve up easier than the ones that have been soaking for 30 years of their lives.
The box on top have been lathed to shape, the ones on the bottom are blanks.



The worst/best wood I have ever worked is eucalyptus that was a gift from MadDogMike. It's beautiful in it's complexity, color, and grain but splintery, hard, bends and turns in directions that don't make sense.

After experimenting with different finishes on this chunk of purple heart I decided to make it natural and easy and painted it with tung oil over and over. I mixed a black dye into the recesses, as well as the spiders and base.

Lobster buoy gets red paint.

[ Edited by: cy 2018-02-11 15:28 ]

Floats- sweet score, that will keep ya busy
Eucalyptus- looks good, do u smell the eucalyptus oil when carving ??
Spider Tiki- awesome, looks like he wants to fly around frog island on a spider web

Keep it up Senor Frog

Yes I smell the oil, it does not get me high but does clog all my tools, part of what makes it so damn endearing I reckon.

:)

Those floats are amazing! Simple and straighforward, yes, but sometimes that's sublime.

Agreed Prickli, how can anyone match the effectiveness of design with the simple form of a Moai? With that in mind here are a few more easy but time consuming floats almost ready for finish.

Those floats are taking on a life of their own.
I kinda like lobster boy.

Your floats are the best.