MadDog Mike's Platterful of Pupule - El Tiki/Ben Wilson Wall Finished

Look at Mr. Crafty go!

Keep it up MDM!

[ Edited by ernimator on 2022-11-29 19:05:25 ]

What Grog said

danlovestikis thanks. My kiln seems to have something against Hindu gods. I tried making a Ganeesh oil lamp TWICE and both times it exploded in the kiln! Hopefully I'll have better luck with a Dvarapala

ernimator and hang10tiki it's like Ping and Pong entered the room LOL Thank you gentlemen

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2022-11-29 21:21:08 ]

Go MADMAN Go! Love the El Tiki Sign!! The new project is diabolical also.

Thanks OGR!

The Dvarapala is coming along. Dried and headed to the kiln this afternoon. It developed a small crack at the base but it shouldn't affect anything

Well, the crack got bigger in the kiln and is quite a leak

I'll try to seal the outside with some Magic Mender and hope that the glaze will seal the inside.

In the plus side, I was concerned about the volume of this mug but it came in at a respectable 16 oz

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2022-12-03 09:02:18 ]

I think he had a bladder problem 😱

OGR, doesn't look like Depends is gonna fix that!

Pulled it from the kiln this morning after Magic Mend to the outside and glaze to the inside, still leaks :( I'll do one more layer of glaze to the inside, if that doesn't work it will be decorative or target practice LOL

That's a bummer...I like the design.

Glazed the outside and swirled some more glaze on the bottom inside. Into the kiln this morning, by tomorrow morning I will know what I've got.

Well, looks like I rescued it. Pulled it from the kiln and the leak is gone!

And here's the cocktail I created it for. A riff on Martin Cate's Alkala the Fierce from False Idol in San Diego

First make some Chai Infused Bourbon. 3/4 oz of Chai Tea (9 tea bags) and the peel of one naval orange in a 750 ml bottle of bourbon, steep 1-2 hours then strain. Or 1 tea bag and and a piece of orange peel to 3 oz bourbon if you have a fear of commitment

Dvarapala 2 oz Chai Infused Bourbon 1 oz Orange Juice 3/4 Lime Juice 1/2 oz Cinnamon Syrup 1/4 Allspice Dram 2 dashes Cardamom Bitters 1 dash Vanilla Extract

Shake with crushed ice and dirty dump

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2022-12-07 07:58:46 ]

Came out great

Made me thirsty

That turned out really well. It sure is fun playing with clay.

Success...Depends not needed.

Thank you all :D

Hang10Tiki - You'd better mix one up! Wendy - Yes it is! ORG - LOL

stolenidol made an AI generated Tiki mug that inspired me so I turned it into a real mug and sent it to him. Rolled a slab of clay and wrapped it around a wine bottle until it was firm. Added a lid, a base and some woven wicker. Left it with a matte finish on the outside to make it feel more like wicker.

Another of Stolen Idol's AI generated images, I liked the palapa style cocktail umbrella so I had a friend 3D print one for me, painted it, and mounted it to a bamboo straw

Mike...Loved the Card......Mahalo. Have a Happy Holiday with your Family...OGR

MadDogMike's gift was very much appreciated, and here it is in its new place of honor in the bar!

Or Got Rum? and StolenIdol enjoy!

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2022-12-24 21:30:44 ]

That was such a nice gift. Well done.

You card is hung on our shades! Merry Christmas.

Awww, love it Wendy!

I have a bare spot on my fence just the right size for a 20x30 inch mask. Coincidentally, I have a 20x30 inch piece of palm LOL

I'm going for a Maori Wheku. Cut a template so I flip and make it symmetrical

The fun part will be some big faux abolone eyes but I have a plan...

He's looking fierce!

"Fierce", I like that! Thanks Wendy

Cut out the shape

I used a pencil soldering iron to put holes all over my template, used it to put dots on the wood, and connected the dots

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-01-05 09:27:35 ]

I incised my lines with a trim router

Then used the router and an angle grinder to do some carving

My piece of wood is really crappy and fibrous in some areas, especially the mouth. I tell myself
One - The mask will be hung on the back fence and viewed from a distance so detail isn't real important
Two - The fibers give it more of a "vintage" look
Three- Worst case scenario, this was good practice for a better piece of wood if I find one

I took a torch to it to burn off some of the fuzzies, it helped.

This and my Tana'ao mask are pretty quick projects. Big and bold with not a lot of detail because of the viewing distance. Next is some dark stain to match the other masks on the fence, to contrast with the light fence, and to contrast with the abalone shell eyes.

Now the thought process for those 3 inch abalone shell eyes. I wanted something reasonably inexpensive, easy to work with, and sunlight resistant/weatherproof (my masks are outside here on The Anvil of Sun)
Abalone shells are reasonably priced, 8 bucks on Amazon, I would probably need two. But probably difficult to cut and shape and I think they faded in the sun
Polymer clay (Sculpty, Fimo, etc) can be made into faux abalone. It's easy to work with but requires several different colors of clay and other materials so price starts to add up. And I don't think it will last long in the sun.
My preference would be ceramic clay. I have the supplies and it lasts for centuries. But I couldn't come up with materials and techniques to mimic the shimmer of abalone

So I'm going with printed vinyl protected by epoxy resin. Found this printed stick-on laptop cover for $11. It has a bold pattern so it will be discernable as abalone from a distance rather than just some kind of blue/green color.

I'll cut 3 inch circles, drop them in 3 inch silicone molds, and pour epoxy resin over them. I don't think they will be very weather resistant, maybe a few good years. But I have material to make several so I'll have spares to replace them as needed.

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-01-05 11:29:46 ]

That mask looks really good.

I'd like to encourage you to pick up a few chisels & be a carver. Your imagination would be the limit.

And we can only imagine how far that could go.

Thank you Will. I have some carving projects in mind for "one of these days". I have a basswood log coming my way at Easter that I hope to use for a hanging canoe.

I hung my mask on the fence waiting for supplies to come in next week for the abolone eyes, I made and hung the name plate under it.

Then I realized I spelled it wrong - it's supposed to be wheKu not wheLu LOL

Very nice mask work Mike...isn't that slang for "THE LU"? 🤔😎

Thank you OGR. I think the correct spelling of that is "The Loo" LOL

OK my carved Maori Wheku has inspired me to try painting one. I have finally gotten to the point where I consider myself a ceramic artist (after 15 years LOL). But I'm not much of a painter, I can do fair if I carefully select my subjects and techniques. But my wife paints very well - so I challenged her to a Paint Throwdown! You know, if you want some street cred, you go into bar and challenge the biggest ugliest guy to a fight! Kinda like that. I have a feeling I'm gonna get my ass kicked :D The rules are a painting that is Maori inspired and features Abalone/Paua shell. If you want to get in on the challenge, post your progress and/or finished painting here. No prizes, no judges, and no swap - just a fun chance to challenge yourself.

My plan is for a black velvet style painting on a regular black canvas. A close up of a Wheku or Heitiki featuring a large Abalone/Paua eye.

This is my target

Supplies for todays experiments. Black foamcore and acrylic metallic paint. Zinc, Festive Green, Berry, Peacock Pearl, and Ice Blue

#1 Solid teal background, lines of other colors added on while teal wet, swirled with the tip of a pencil, then smoothed some with a brush

#2 Drops of all colors to the outside of the circle spread to the middle with a brush. A few random drops added and swirled with brush

#3 Drops of color placed all over the circle and spread with brush . Swirls of Zinc added with a syringe and needle.

Colors lightly swirled off the canvas on a palate then brushed on

Overall impressions - I thought I had picked up black but the Zinc is a silver. I will try adding some regular black at home later (I'm at work today). The colors are too thick and too dark. Will try to add some Flotrol/Pouring Medium and/or white pearl paint. I'll need to use some sort of mask or Frisket to get the edges cleaner.
#1 shows some potential if I can resolve the thickness and darkness issues. I think I used a little too much purple.
#2 seems overmixed
#3 shows potential, will look better with black instead of silver
#4 fail, way overmixed

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-01-07 12:06:08 ]

Added some Black Sharpie line to my samples after they dried. The lines are a bit too consistent in width, it will be better a fine brush and black paint.

#1 from above

#2 from above

Dude, you just compared yer wife to an ugly guy in a bar! Enjoy sleeping on the patio tonight with Phineas!

Oh! I guess I did!!! Fortunately she doesn't come on this site LOL

A couple more attempts at abalone shell. #5 A base coat of light grey pearl allowed to dry. Blues, green, and purple toned down a bit with some white pearl. Dropped and streaked on the dry grey and smeared with a brush. Black applied with a tiny brush.

#6 Same as #5 but I put some full strength color drops on top and blew them around with a straw. Black applied with a tiny brush.

I don't think I will ever replicate abalone shell with paint but it's getting close to what I want. I think I'll tone the black down with some white pearl for the next attempt

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-01-08 12:26:09 ]

Not perfect but I think this is about as good as I'm gonna get. I made a couple to use as temporary eyes for my mask until I get the resin ones made. Hard to get a good picture of the metallic shimmer

Here's a suggestion (FWIW) if you are going to cast resin eyes but want them to look like pau shell. First get your mould prepared but before pouring the resin in add a layer of silver foil first. This will provide the shiny reflective quality that paint alone cannot give. You could lightly crumple the foil to reflect in different directions. Then pour clear or very lightly tinted resin over the foil, add some drops of colour (blues/greens/purple, maybe a little black) and swirl gently before it sets. After it has set then add a few black wavy lines on the surface. Now this is only my theory. I have yet to try it but it just might give an approximation of the look of pau from a distance?

[ Edited by TIKIGIKI on 2023-01-08 21:27:05 ]

http://mopsupplies.com/

TikiGiki that is the exact same thought process I had! In the end I bought a printed vinyl decal that I will cut into 3 inch discs and pour in the resin. I think they are halographic so they get the reflected light? It's in my mailbox now so I'll find out when I get home :D

Swizz their paua is beautiful, and not very expensive. But it looks like their largest disc is 29 mm and I need 70 :(

I wonder if the natural shell fades in the sun?

What about the sheets/veneers? You could cut them to size.

That could work Swizz. Fortunately the eyes will just be screwed into mask and not permanent. My printed vinyl paua came in today, unfortunately it's just printed on regular vinyl sheet and not holographic or prismatic but that's OK. I'll make the eyes with that and epoxy for now and can switch them out later if I'm not happy with them.

"Great minds....etc." ???

Have you seen the price of those sheet veneers!

[ Edited by TIKIGIKI on 2023-01-08 21:29:07 ]

Great minds? Exactly! LOL

I'm not surprised at the veneer price. A little pricy but not too bad. I suspect it's fairly labor intensive to make those

I can report from experience that genuine abalone shell (pau) DOES fade rather quickly when exposed to harsh sunlight. The overlaying nacre(?) rapidly becomes whitish and opaque, obscuring the desired coloured effects.

Might want to do a test as those resins can get hot and maybe melt the printed vinyl? Maybe not.

Good luck.

TIKIGIKI Good to know! I suspected that, I've have an abalone shell outside for a few years. It's in the full shade but I'm sure it gets some bounced UV rays and I was pretty sure the colors were fading

tikiskip That is a good point. My 3 inch silicone mold comes in Friday so I will find out this weekend

This is so much fun to watch. I have a 2/3" by 2/3" piece of abalone that I have kept as a precious object since age 10. I think of abalone as a treasure. How fun to watch you create your own. Best Wishes for a great outcome MDM.

Thank you Wendy <3 And yes, abalone shell is a treasure!

OK, finished up my Wheku mask

Cast some epoxy resin eyes using the printed vinyl abalone, made some with glitter flakes.

Eyes in place, done!

I'm a bit concerned that the eyes will fade in the sunlight so I attached the extra set to the back of the mask where they will be sheltered from the sunlight and I will be able find them later

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-01-15 21:32:08 ]