Art Swap 2023 - Drawing Done!!!

And we're off! Let's go with no theme except "Tiki". Here are the official rules: Official Swap Rules - Artists create an work of Tiki art. Can be any media; clay, wood, paint, fabric, beads, digital, metal, glass, mixed media, etc. The intent is for this to be an original "one-off" work of art, not part of a mass produced run. If it is created from an existing mold it should be heavily modified. Digital art or screen prints should be printed on a nice substrate, not just run off on a piece of art pad paper. You must post a picture of your finished piece by the deadline in order to be included in the drawing, anyone who does not show evidence of a finished project will not be included in the name drawing. Drawing will take place the morning of Sunday 7/23/2023. Names will be drawn at random and paired together, these people will swap art. Remember that you will probably ship your art to your partner, don't make anything so large or heavy that it cannot be shipped cost effectively (We have even had non-US Swappers) If you are not an established Swapper and/or established TC member, I will ask for real name and cell phone number so we have a solid contact in the event of a problem. Most of all, have fun and interact with some fellow TC folks

Hamo reminded me it's time for an ART SWAP!!!!!

Tiki Oasis starts a little early this year on August 2nd. If we are going to have the Swap wrapped up on time to accommodate anyone who will swap in person at TO, we'll need to end the Swap and have the drawing on Sunday July 23th.

We can entertain ideas for a theme of we can just leave it as TIKI

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-07-23 09:07:49 ]

This is my year for retirements. I have retired from all the art shows run by Baby Doe at Tiki Oasis events and now I must retire from this wonderful swap event. I am having a hard time finishing off my black velvet orders. I've been learning how to procrastinate. I will have fun checking in to see all the wonderful creations and who swaps with who. Keep the fun going MDM. Wendy

Wendy it will be sad for you not to participate in the Swap, this is probably the first time in 15 years :(

But we completely understand. Enjoy your "retirement"! <3

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-05-24 07:53:58 ]

I can help you with that, Wendy. Procrastinating is what I do BEST!!

LOL

I have an extremely full travel schedule between now and the end of July. I have some ideas for a project. If I can fit it in I'll participate.

I’m in woohoo

MaukaHale I hope it's fun traveling and not work. I hope you get a chance to participate
anthonymaye Whoooohooooo! We can always count on you!

Oh no, Wendy--does that mean I'll never have the chance at possessing a danlovestikis black velvet? Could you possibly find the time for something small for Swap, say even 3x5? Not that I'm trying to lay on a guilt trip....

Mike, you asked about a theme. Given that there's still no Mai-Kai, Wendy's "retirement", the final Portland Tiki Kon--maybe it too should be "the final voyage"?

Shoot, it's been pretty quite around TC lately; will there be anyone participating this year? WILL THIS BE THE END OF THE ART SWAP?!

I want to try my hand at being a voyeur and just see what you all come up with. I've been working on my latest black velvet for Chris P. and I started it months ago. All my effort has been going into our home since we didn't do much during the crawl mug years. I hope you all can keep it going. It's been a lot of fun. Thank you all for the nice comments!.

Same. I’m interested to follow this but I haven’t seen it before so I’d like to see what kind of stuff gets traded. Also I just started a big project that should occupy me all summer.

BlackWater we would love to have you join us this year

Here is a link to last year's Swap Oceanic Arts Swap.

And this link will give you some history back to 2007! Art Swap History

Over the years we have had a range of artistic talent from beginners to professional artists. But mostly it's all about the fun

Hamo I'm a stubborn bastard, I'm not ready to give up on the Swap yet! :( LOL

I’m in, theme or no theme

Wendy, say it ain’t so

Glad other are in, including Grog. Lol

Yay hang10tiki!!!

OK, I’m in 🗿

Will wait to see what the theme is. Due by Tiki Oasis early August? I’m trying to go to that too, I’ve never been.

[ Edited by BlackWater on 2023-05-31 17:48:14 ]

Whooohoooo BlackWater I sent you a PM with some extra info.

Everyone else, I have updated the first post. We'll just go with Tiki as a theme and I posted the official rules. No changes but let me know if you have questions

Thanks

Sorry hang10tiki it's so. I've been working on a painting for months and it still has a way to go. I have a list of requests, so I need to keep plugging away on those. Time flies.

Well, it'd be pretty bad if I reminded MDM about the swap but didn't participate, so I'm in. I'm planning on another lithograph print but not sure on the subject yet. I am thinking about taking inspiration from the Polynesiacs book, or maybe the Exotikon auction.

Wendy, I hope that next year you're able to "come out of retirement."

Thanks, Hamo. You never know what going to happen next time.

Ohhh! I would love to be a part of another art swap! I remember doing 2 of these many years ago before the tikicentral shut down. In fact, I have one of your "birds of paradise" mugs maddogmike, along with a plush mug from Amybean? I think?! Please let me know if I can participate!

[ Edited by pennjones on 2023-06-11 15:02:08 ]

Pennjones!!! Of course you can join. Just have pics of a finished project done by the deadline and you're in like Flynn! Good to hear from you again

Awesome! Good to be here my friend! I should update my profile too, because I see that it looks like I'm in FL, but I'm on the other coast now!

I've got a couple of possible inspirations for my Swap project

1. A mug based on the restaurant building at Humphreys on Shelter Island in San Diego.
   

2. A working Spider Box mug with Polynesian Story Boards carved on the sides

What do you think?

Go for the spider box. Now that's funny. Might even bring me out.

OK Will, I'll give it a shot. It should be a challenge:

1. Needs to be ceramic instead of wood so it can be a mug as well
2. Tolerances will be interesting because clay shrinks as it fires. Hopefully the grooved box and the sliding lid will shrink at the same rate
3. The spider and mechanism will have to be removable so the box can be fired. Plastic spiders don't do well at 1900 degrees LOL
4. As clay dries it reaches a perfect consistency for carving. The key will be holding it to that consistency until all the carving is done.
5. Spider mechanism should be food safe and rust proof since it will be immersed in the drink. Maybe stainless steel

Let's do this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cQCc-Zr1gg

I better get busy too.

Mike- awesome

Will- what WILL you be making?

I will no doubt be making a pendant keeping in mind I may have to send it out to a land far, far away. But, a pendant of what nature? Dono.

Sounds good Will!

I'll post my thought process here just in case it entertains anyone.

Either the spider has to drag through the drink, in which case it needs to be food safe. Or the spider and mechanism need to be in a separate compartment.

A separate compartment would make the mug/box too big and bulky so I'll go with a food safe spider. I can do a stainless steel or NiChrome wire and make the spider from the same wire with glass or ceramic beads, all food safe

https://youtu.be/jnTnqKiZhE0

Time to break out some clay. But what size do I make it? 4x4x6 inches is a manageable size and would be about 51 ounces. Subtract for clay shrinkage, thickness of the sides, the fact that you don't fill it to the brim, etc and I should be around 25 oz.

Rolled out some 3/8" slabs and cut the 4 sides. Added a support shelf for the lid to slide on.

Boxes like this are done with a hard slab technique. They will be allowed to dry to about the consistency of a chocolate bar.

Hard slab construction is a lot like wood. I mitered the edges at 45 degrees.

Joined the pieces together with some slip ("glue"). Put a roll of clay in the corner to fill any gaps.

Smoothed out the corner roll of clay.

Used a trisquare to make sure everything was lined up.

Box is ready to set up a little more and clean up. Haven't decided exactly what to do with the sides, may go for a tapa pattern. Then carve and/or sculpt the lid. Want to include a spider and then a Tiki, palms, a hut? Note to self, wet dimensions of the lid need to be 8x14 cm. With those dimensions I can make a new lid if I screw up the original.

The itabori or Palauan Storyboard is a carving that tells a story. This itabori tells of the legend of Mingidabrutkoel, the spider demigod.

Some traditional Palauan designs to incorporate into the sides

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-06-16 07:52:44 ]

Tonight's progress. Carved out the sides based on the Palau motifs.

Bottom

Top

Lots of clean up to do as it dries I am really just wingin' it on the spider mechanism. I put a bracket-ish thing on both sides to hold the reel

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2023-06-16 21:31:13 ]

I can almost visualize a spider jumping out of this box! LOL

While researching Palau storyboards I came across a couple of interesting facts -

1. Storyboards are not a indigenous practice. After WW1, Japan held Palau as a territory. A carving master from Japan was sent to Palau to teach them how to carve the story boards based on a small number of Palau myths and/or historical events. These storyboards were sold in Japan, and later to the US and other countries.
2. The story of Mingidabrutkoel is one of the tales frequently depicted on storyboards. Mingidabrutkoel was a spider demigod who fell in love with a human woman. He changed himself into a human and married the young woman, she became pregnant. It is said that prior to this, all childbirths were done by Cesarean section with a bamboo knife (I cannot find if this is historical fact or fable). Understandably, many women died as a complication of these C-sections. Mingidabrutkoel didn't want his wife to suffer that fate so he "invented" natural childbirth.

Here is a Palau storyboard carved in the shape of an eel.

Will- unless it’s one of your 16 lb necklaces

Mike- Holy cow look how far along you are

Looks awesome

I on the other hand I’m not quite as far along:

I went though This Day in Tiki History to look for any anniversaries in five-year increments as inspiration for my swap piece. Here are a few that I found, if others, like I, desire more theme than just "tiki" (even though I still haven't decided on anything yet):

PLACES: MISC
2018 Inferno Room opens
2018 Omni Hut closes
2013 Ventiki open
2013 Three Dots and a Dash opens
2008 Frankie's Tiki Room opens
1963 Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room opens
1963 Polynesian Cultural Center opens
1953 Beverly Hills Luau opens

PLACES: DON THE BEACHCOMBER
2018 Don the Beachcomber Huntington Beach closes
1953 Don the Beachcomber Palm Springs opens
1933 Don's Beachcomber Café opens

PLACES: TRADER VIC'S
1963 Trader Vic's St Louis opens
1958 Trader Vic's NY Savoy opens

PLACES: MAI KAI
2023 Mai Kai (hopefully) reopens
2008 Founder Jack Thornton dies
1958 Molokai Bar opens

MEDIA
1973 Elvis’ Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite broadcast
1968 “Hawaii Five-O” premieres
1963 Final episode of "Hawaiian Eye" airs
1958 "South Pacific" premieres
1958 "Cinerama South Seas Adventure" premieres

MEDIA: GILLIGAN'S ISLAND
1938 Dawn Wells born
1913 Jim Backus born

PEOPLE
2008 Yma Sumac dies
1968 Duke Kahanamoku dies
1953 Edgar Leeteg dies
1933 Arthur Lyman born
1928 August Holland born; dies 1998
1918 Esquivel born
1918 Harry Yee born
1903 Eli Hedley born
1848 Paul Gauguin born; dies 1903

[ Edited by Hamo on 2023-06-17 17:22:34 ]

I LOVE the storyboard eel.

Hamo that is some great info for a historical tie-in! BlackWater just to be clear, that eel is NOT my work (I wish!) LOL Looks like you are working up a canoe, looks great!

Black Water- looking good, makes me want to paddle out!

Man this ash is hard. My Vegas garage is like a kiln.

Broke a chisel handle today!!!

[ Edited by hang10tiki on 2023-06-19 11:40:55 ]

Totally bitchin' Hang10Tiki!!!

Blackwater wow! MDM wow! hang10tiki wow!

I love watching you all work.

[ Edited by danlovestikis on 2023-06-19 19:22:48 ]

Wendy I'm glad you're still checking in on us <3

Started work on the mechanism but I'm off the map here, not really sure where I'm going? The YouTube videos show how the mechanism works but I am heavily modifying it to make it from food safe materials. Then I need to make the mechanism removable to facilitate cleaning which complicates it even more. I think I may have mounted the cam wheel too low which may bite me in the butt. But I can't change it now.


The wheel is mounted on a stainless steel axel.

The box will be glazed Butter Toffee, a light wood-like brown that will accentuate the carvings. I put black underglaze on the spider just to make it POP more. I moved it outside into the desert blast furnace (it's been hot and windy outside) to finish drying. It could be ready to fire by tomorrow.

WOW!! I mean everyone...WOW!! You all are doing some amazing stuff !!!

Mad Dog- looks amazing, hope it works out

PineappleWhip and hang10tiki thank you gentlemen

The box survived the first firing, max volume without the wheel is 20 oz. Usable volume with the mechanism wheel in place will be about 12 oz, should be just right.

The plan is that as the lid slides back, it pulls the string, which turns the wheel, which lifts the rod and the spider. Will it work? Who knows LOL The wheel will be glazed ceramic, axel stainless steel, and spider lifting rod brass- all food safe.