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

Did your book list any detail on the origin? The one I saw only said "Lower Sepik River"

Couldn't remember which book that came from, but I remember it saying Lower Sepik River. While digging around looking for it I found another one pretty similar out of a book from the 60's (The Arts of the South Pacific) that said it was also Sepik River.

Cool, thanks Chewie

You have never had idle hands! Cool to have a pitcher rhino. The mask is such a famous style of PNG it's a fun one to make your own. Your fence is an art display. Keep having fun and we heard that 2024 is going to free up more time for these projects. Very cool.

Thank you Wendy <3 Yup, big changes in store for me in 2024. About 10 minutes ago I contacted HR and told them to post my position so I can retire in April! I'm excited!

UnkleChewie I contacted an expert who has made several trips to PNG collecting art. He says that style is from the Iatmul people of the Middle Sepik River in Papua New Guinea.

The mask is finished, here's the rest of the progress pics.
Used a router to recess the mouth and around the eyes, and to chamfer (round off) the edges. Burned and brushed the areas that would be hard to reach after is was assembled.

Screwed and glued everything together, finished chamfering, burning, and brushing. Although I really like the look at this stage, the char color does not last here on the Anvil of the Sun and soon it would be too light.

So I used an ebony wood stain on it. Now it's a bit dark but by summer it will have faded to perfection.

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2024-01-02 15:01:02 ]

April 2024 the start of something creative with endless amounts of time!!! I'm looking forward to you retiring too.

The mask is wonderful. I like seeing the layers stacked. Very cool.

Thank you Wendy ❤️.
I forgot to add a tongue to my mask so now that's done.

And sculpt is about done on Rhino #2.

Not sure if you call that a carving but he looks good.

As for the Rhino, the 2nd one is always better.

You are right on both accounts Will LOL

I missed noticing the tongue too. I bet it will look great when it's painted. The Rhino is very special. What day in April?

Wendy the last Friday in April. The 28th I think. 110 days :D

26th is the Friday. We are so excited for you both.

We are excited too :D Last actual day worked will likely be April 19th. I have a week of "use it or lose it" Sick Leave that I need to use use

A little tongue is always better...😈 That Rhino is haunting your dreams, correct?

LOL Yes, he is haunting my dreams! Slowly drying, so far so good.

Into the kiln this morning. I has a crack in the bottom but doesn't seem to go all the way through. We'll see how it fires. It ALMOST didn't fit in the kiln, I got a bit carried away with the size LOL

The 19th is even better!

The Rino crack will be interesting. I hope it doesn't change. You know all the tricks. I loved your magic mend. Best wishes for a good outcome.

Thank you Wendy! The crack didn't get any bigger with firing and I'm filling it with Magic Mend so we'll see what happens

Some glazing work today. Plugged the nostrils with some plasticine clay

Secured the clay with some tape

Poured a pint of pink glaze inside and rotated it all around to (hopefully) coat the entire inside. Poured out the excess and painted on 3 coats of dark grey glaze. Need to work on the eyes then fire again tonight

It got really exciting when you said you were firing tonight! Being in the desert your glaze must dry fast. I had to wait days after glazing to make sure it had all dried. A few times I used fans to dry it out. Only once did I glaze too soon and had it boil in the kiln. I just added glaze, let it dry and fired again and all was well.

Wendy!!! You know well the excitement of opening the kiln when everything is smooth and shiny and just a little warm to the touch. That never gets old <3 Yes, with the dry climate glaze dries pretty quickly here. Even in the winter when it's cold, relative humidity is very low.

I like the way my Rhino turned out but I have a few things to fix. Looks like the inside glazed well, I'll have to look with a scope when I'm done. Several places on the outside didn't cover with glaze. I didn't analyze them closely but looks like shivering rather than crawling. I touched them up with more glaze and popped it back in the kiln this morning. The biggest one is circled, about the size of a dime

OH, I once had a bowl that did that. After a couple of tries of glazing and firing, I sanded the areas really well, scrubbed them and re-glazed. That time it came out perfectly glazed. I set it on the hood of my car while I turned to pick up something else. I hadn't taken but a few steps when it slid off and crashed to bits on the floor.

May your rhino have a much better ending.

Wendy it's so sad when you lose something that you have poured your heart into :(

A happy ending for my rhino seems elusive. The glaze is repaired, but it developed a crack near the ear, if you look closely you can see it. Unfortunately it leaks.

I am thinking I may pour a bit of epoxy resin in the bottom and tilt it to cover the inside of the crack? From my research, FULL CURED epoxy is generally considered to be food safe but is not usually labeled "food safe" because of the hoops required to get that certification. If I do that, it will only be used as a water pitcher and not for alcohol which would stand the chance to leach more chemicals from the epoxy. It holds half a gallon!!! LOL

I want to mount the head on a wooden plaque like a trophy head but the boss (wife) says NO!!!! So that's that.

"I want to mount the head on a wooden plaque like a trophy head but the boss (wife) says NO!!!! So that's that."

We are glad to see your priorities are straight, Hu?

Te he he Ha Ha Ha.

LOL ?

But it sure would look good mounted like that.

Especially if you could take it off to use it, then put it back till you need it again.

Jus say'n.

Great Idea WC...Mike he looks Great!

Forgive me Teresa but I like the plaque and on the wall idea. It looks wonderful.

Or Got Rum? thank you much!
Will carve that was my plan, make it removable from the plaque. I don't quite follow the logic - it looks like a severed hunted rhino head on a plaque but not when sitting on the table? You know what they say? "Happy wife, happy life" LOL
danlovestikis, she says it is too cute to hang on the wall.

Maybe I can make it hang with broken wood around it like he stuck his head through the wall

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2024-01-18 10:12:48 ]

"Maybe I can make it hang with broken wood around it like he stuck his head through the wall" Now that's a great idea...foam board for the splintered wood...I did that with a skier (mnagin head/gloves and old ski's cut in half, at one of my Restaurants

OGR, I love the skier coming through the wall! I don't suppose you have pictures? I once cut a car in half behind the front doors, replaced the hood with a table top, and made it into a Taxi. Used as a serving table in a coffee house. I wish I had thought to make it crashing through the wall! (no pics, sorry)

Well, looks like there is a happy ending for Rhino II. I mixed up 3 ounces of epoxy and poured it inside, then propped up the rhino so the crack was at the bottom.

After a few hours, I looked at the bottom and epoxy had oozed out of the crack. I took that as a good sign that the epoxy had filled and sealed the void. Once it was fairly hard, I used a blade to scrape the excess epoxy off the outside

Let it cure overnight and filled it with water, no leak! I'll call that a success. Again, I'm not positive of the food safety of fully cured epoxy but I figure filled with water for a period of an hour or so it can't leach much.

I like the punching through the wall idea. Teresa is right he is very cute.

Yes Mike..a Keeper....congrats on getting it so you're happy. I'll try to find the Skier

A friend was telling me about a favorite short horror story of his, The Monkey Paw. 1902 by W.W. Jacobs. I decided to make him a monkey paw and send it to him. https://www.sfu.ca/~swartz/monkeys_paw.htm

A wire armature

A bit of JB Weld epoxy to hold it together well

Some black oven bake polymer clay, some paint, and a bit of fake fur. Then a red felt lined wooden box.

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2024-02-12 07:37:27 ]

The stuff night mares are made of.

good job.

Thank you Will LOL That was a fun, quick project

That's some scary Chit...looks like you robbed a grave..

Thanks OGR, it it pretty creepy LOL

Awesome work Mike

Thank you sir :D

My mug was featured in the most recent Exotica Moderne magazine! OK, maybe "featured" is the wrong word LOL Tiki Tom Tom visited the Pele Bar for his book "Polynesiacs". Tom was featured in the magazine and one of the pics coincidentally shows my mug :)

Mike the Media Darling ...Congrats

That hand could give people nightmares!

What an excellent photo of your mug. You are such a fine tiki artist, this is really fun. I told Dan we had many friends in this issue, and I'll be sure to point that mug out so he doesn't miss it. Very cool.

Or Got Rum? or something like that LOL
danlovestikis I make those mugs as give-aways for people who visit the Pele Bar. You are such a sweetheart, thank you

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2024-02-19 11:03:58 ]

Mike, you are tiki famous.

LOL OK Hamo, if you say so :D

Collaboration with Hang10Tiki. He sent me a cool cottonwood burl volcano awhile back. It was flat on the bottom and back. So I attached it to a board and made a self standing sign.

[ Edited by MadDogMike on 2024-02-28 10:50:50 ]

🤙🏽

It's so wonderful to have tiki buddies.

Yes it is!

Great AOK...Nice! I "Lava" good clever sign! 😎

Thanks LOL