New Tiki Carver Here

Hello everyone!
I am so happy to find this forum, and to discover that I am not the only person out there who has this insane, uncontrollable desire to carve these wonderful Tikis!
Truly, I feel as though I'm possessed by some odd unseen force which compels me to create them!

I started Tiki carving about two months ago as a favor to my wife, (who has always been a Tiki fanatic,) and after my first creation, I found myself unexpectedly driven like a madman to make more and more!
This is the most fun I have ever had in my life I must say, and there is no end in sight!

Here is a link to my humble offspring:

http://tom.la.hosting.com/tomutiki/

(server is a bit slow)

Please advise me on how I can make these better, or what you like, dislike about them.
I need all the advice I can get~! LOL!

Thank you all,
In friendship,
Tomu-Tiki

Welcome To The Madness. Look around, look around.

Nice carving man! Definately take some time and look at all the stuff coming through this website. It's awesome, the talent here is overwhelming and yet, they are friendly and helpful too! keep em coming!

Thank you!
I find that Tikiroom.com is highly cool, as are the people, and I highly intend to peruse it thoroughly as a habit.

Indeed this genuinely IS a form of sweet madness, isn't it?

"Tiki-Madness!" lol!

The ones that I started with are small, about 6 inches.
I admit, I have absolutely NO clue what I'm doing, but I am having fun learning and creating. I have never done any sort of woodcarving at all, and I feel this is a real calling. (regardless if my Tiki suck, at least I'll have a blast making them)
That's what it's all about for me these days. :)

This weekend I will embark on my attempt at a larger sizes, around 12 to 14 inches.

My only problem at present is learning where to find good wood.

Any recommendations?
Tips?
Advice?

My goal is, within a year, to work my way up to 4 footers or more, and more and more!
Muhahahaha!

(I had a dream of making a giant 20 ft. Tiki. I have a feeling that for better or for worse, it will happen.

The best part about all of this insanity?
I get to freak out my neighbors by putting them in the garden in my front yard.

-In friendship,
Tomu-Tiki

I used to live in Manhattan Beach Cali, and I know there are many Palms in your area. Most tree services that collect palms but, will not shred them along with deciduous trees due to the fiberous nature of the wood that can damage even the best shredders. Contact these folks and kindly ask if they could call you to pick up these rascals as we know how to properly dispose of them :)Or, take a trip to the county landfill if it's allowed and see whats there. Good luck brudduh!

On 2005-01-12 11:22, McTiki wrote:
Nice carving man! Definately take some time and look at all the stuff coming through this website. It's awesome, the talent here is overwhelming and yet, they are friendly and helpful too! keep em coming!

Here! Here! I'm fairly new to the group, as well, and have gotten nothing but positive feedback, encouragement, and friendship. Everybody here is amazing. I love the creating tiki forum, as everybody seems to be like-minded in creating art forms of many kinds.

I, myself, work with clay, but enjoy the carving aspect of that. Most the stuff I do is more 2-D in design, but I love making new personalities to join the ranks of my tiki population.

Your tikis are original and fun. Keep carving and posting pics. I'll look for more of your stuff in the future.

Kimberly

Thank you McTiki,
That's an Excellent Idea!
I honestly never would have thought of that!
Definitely I'll try that and let you know how it goes! :)

Beachin:
Thank you for the post!
Your art looks fantastic by way, I saw it in another thread as well.

Thanks for the encouragement, you guys!
:)
In Friendship
-Tomu-Tiki

Hey Tomu-Tiki, for your first tries those are really good. Keep carving and you will definately improve. There are carving tips and pictures scattered throughout " Creating Tiki" Starting at the very top in the "Carving Post". down at the bottom right you can go to All 16 pages of Creating Tiki. You can learn how to post your pic's here in the "help/Fag" section, look in the upper right. With your computer background you should pick it up pretty easily. Need help? Ask and you shall receive.
Keep up the good work.

On 2005-01-19 10:17, Benzart wrote:
You can learn how to post your pic's here in the "help/Fag" section, look in the upper right.

Um... I thought we had a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy here.

Not that there's anything wrong with that... :lol:

[ Edited by: finkdaddy on 2005-01-19 11:14 ]

Fink, I had thought about a Beavis and Butthead reference, but, you beat me to it.

Oops, Soorry I forgot! I remember now :(

So sorry Ben, I should have just left it alone. :blush:

Yeah thats right, you aren't allowed to have fun Are you. Or was that someone else we know?
No biggie

Tomu-Tiki, I really like your style. It's sort of dark and primitive. Just how small are those? I guessing 2 or 3 inches?

If your looking for encouragement and feedback, you've come to the right place. Benzart, Aaron, and way to many to list here are about the nicest and most talented people you will ever find. Welcome!

Tomu-Tiki,

I'll give you a few palm logs if you want. I can part with 2 or 3 if you want them. They are about 16-18" long, maybe 9 or 10" diameter. They are unstripped, have a little mold on the ends, and probably smell a little funky to boot. Welcome to the wonderful world palm carving! You can pick them up if you don't mind driving down from Glendale. You may also want to check with your local tree service, but you'd definitely want to give a fresh palm several months to dry out before attempt to carve it. Mine are at least a year old and still a little damp inside.

Aaron

Good stuff Mr. Tomu....oh yeah its a sickness, we may all have to start going to meetings and stating our names......"HI I'm Dale and I've got a tiki problem......."
Welcome to your support group.

The tiki carvings are looking good Mr. Tomu....

I am just starting to do a little carving myself and I am just about done with my first one....but I am not sure how to put the finishing touches on it. I like the look of your carvings. I was wondering if you would mind explaining how you gave your tiki it's primative aged look. What kind of stain did you use? What kind of wood did you use? Did you burn the wood with a torch? Thanks for any help that you can give! Keep up the good work!