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

Super keen Idea with the faux-mosaics MDM,(fomos)are better than mofos!

Great thread. I really liked the batik shirt you did, you wanna make some to sell? Put me on that list!

The matching mug/shirt and the resultant tiki guy pix are a hoot!

ST

Nice work on the fishy Mike! I think the grey grout looks better than black would....choice. Your other one is firing in my kiln right now. I will unload tomorrow.

ST & Babalu, thank you. "Fomo", that's funny! I doubt that I'll make any batik shirts for sale, too much work. Now I know why they make those in Indonesian sweatshops where the prevailing wage $1.35 a day :) Babs, may the kiln gods smile down on you and your "Platter That Would Feed Rhode Island"

I'm working on a new experiment; woodgrained clay. This is a technique that they use with polymer clay. I started with brown clay and tan clay, layered and rolled them, then made a loaf and sliced it. Butted the slices together and rolled them into a sheet. I'll have to see what it looks like when I fire and clear glaze it.

Cool! I can't wait to see how it turns out so I can rip it off.

BTW: I really like the way you worked out the design for the lettering on the Kona stained glass mosaic thingy. Well done!

Buzzy Out!

ha! a lot of activity around here! all very creative and fun! congrats!

Thanks Clarita, you know I'm having a good time.

Buzzy, I made that slab into a little lidded box and it's bisque firing right now. I'll glaze it tonight and put it back in the kiln. By tomorrow night I should know if my little experiment worked out. I hope to be at the Chop on the 22nd, I can show you how that woodgrain works if you want. I tried a concentric circles slab, it looks cool but it didn't work out like I hoped.

I made a little heitiki to put on top of the box. Do you know what the green glaze was that you put on yours? (This is Buzzy's Heitiki, not mine)

I can remember exactly what it was, but Babalu is going to check when he gets home this evening. It was three coats of whatever it was.

Stay tuned
Buzzy Out!

Dude....Duncan IN1036 - Bluegrass - cone 06

Thanks

I made a little ceramic box out of my woodgrain clay experiment, I'm stoked about the way it turned out! About 3x3x2 inches, just clear glaze on the box (not the heitiki). You can see on the lid how the "woodgrain" extends completely through the clay.

I had also tried another marbled clay, hoping to get concentric circles like malachite but it didn't turn out as well. Then I manhandled while it was dry and busted it! No big deal, it was just a test. Here's a picture unglazed, the colors would have looked like the box above when glazed.

MDM-you're unstoppable!
What kind of batteries do you run on?
Lithium?

I'd say he runs on plutonium!

Great woodgrain effect. Keep kickin' ass.

Thank you LLT & Robb. Actually I run on Tobasco Sauce, that and the inspiration and encouragement of the great artists like you two on TC :)

I am one of the 20 national finalists for the Skutt Kilns Peep Show Contest! SNAP!!! OUCH!!! (MadDog just broke his arm patting himself on the back) :lol:

Actually I found out about the contest last Fall while researching about kiln gods so I made up several and submitted 3 to the contest. They accepted the boar (Kamapua'a) as a finalist. Winner gets $500 but you have to be present at the National Council for Education in Ceramic Arts in Phoenix to win and I won't be going :( I guess I can put that on my "Artist's Resume"

Blurring the fine line between art and crap.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2009-02-12 21:02 ]

Well what do you know :) Congratulations Mike!

If there is any way at all you can make it to NCECA this year you should go...you really will come away with a ton of knowledge and inspiration. There are killer shows happening everywhere. Hotels are starting to get scarce I hear. Phoenix is relatively close to us dude...it doesn't happen that NCECA is happening in a city that is that close all the time. You should go and win that 500 bucks...you deserve it, and it really is a nice kiln plug. The boar has as good shot as any on winning.

Good for you man!

Hi MadDogMike!
I just found this posting.
WOW! you are mad creative!
I absolutely love your spitting tiki
fountain!

And cannot get over the batik tiki shirt
Really cool stuff!!

I also read that you do your own ceramic castings,
I hope to learn how to do that some day.
Do you use plaster?

Mad Dog, gone for a while and come back to tons of new work, man that Samoa mug is killer, and those float ornaments are cool, you have been crazy busy

Are you going to have stuff in the Tonga Hut handbuilt art show in April?

Grog, I have a concept for a 4 mug series and have played with it a little. Do we have a date yet?

OceaOtica, thanks. You know what they say- "Idle hands are the devil's workshop", we wouldn't want that! :o

Hula Lula, love that name! Everything I know about casting I learned right here on TC from this thread:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=24647&forum=18&start=0&670

There was another old thread that was also very informative but I can't find it now. When you get ready, PM me with questions - I can either answer them or point you to someone who can.

Way to go Mad Dog! You MUST go to the event, get the prize, and share the TON of ceramic knowledge you pick up with the rest of us! :)

I may be biased, but that is the coolest kiln plug ever :wink:

Henrik

Hi Mad Dog,
Thanks for the link, good to see how it's done.
Also thanks for PM offer!

Thanks for the pep-talk Van :)

Got to attend my first SD Chop today, had a great time and met some great people! Worked on a shark-toothed warclub mug. Woodgrained clay with white paperclay sharkteeth. We'll see if my homemade paperclay works out? I had intended the "handle" part to be more tapered but it didn't work out that way.

MD, that graining paint job is excellent. I am confused though, paper clay for the teeth, so you are not going to fire this?

Cass, the woodgrain is marbled brown and tan clay, not glaze. I don't know how the paperclay will work out. I'm trying to get a discussion going about paperclay, hoping an expert will share their treasured insight, here's the thread http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=31101&forum=18&8

Damn club looks like something from the Flintstones gone evil.

My first swordfish faux mosaic was sort of a test tile to see if it would work. I made a new one (smaller so it would fit in my kiln) for the Kona Show.

Very nice work. I especially like the color palette you used.

Thank you Tiki Kaimuki. Usually ceramics get 2-3 coats of glaze, I made gradient colors by doing 1 coat at the top (with 2 coats of clear), 2 coats in the middle, and 3 coats at the bottom.

Finished and glazed Hawaiian War Club, 10 inches tall and holds 3 cups. Robb is right, looks a bit Neanderthal. Polynesian war weapons look so graceful, I failed to capture that grace :) I have lots of projects in mind for the woodgrained clay.

This next project is not tiki by any stretch of the imagination but man shall not live by tiki alone (a gift for a biker friend). Mixed media - ceramic mug, CNC plasma-cut aluminum diamond plate, rubber handlebar grip, foamed rubber foot, & pewter buttons. Clay is faux leather, textured with crumpled foil and glazed with satin black.

EDIT - New picture

Blurring the fine line between fine art and fine crap.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2009-02-27 16:07 ]

Mike, that biker mug is cool! Is that your concept, or did your friend ask you to make it?

Thanks 4WD. It's my design - I had originally planned to make it all out of ceramic including the base and the post for the rubber grip, but I couldn't find an affordable silver glaze. I've got some white gold luster but it's $15 for half a thimble full.

Good Morning Sir Mike!

Brother your really starting to take some giant leaps lately...these latest two really show some "damn fine" creative thinking!

A war club as a mug...now, how cool is that! I could be wrong I don't believe anyone has gone down that path before. Not only that, your exploring with marbling the clay your using, and adding paper clay to it. Giant steps.

I just love, LOVE mixed media clay work! The concept and execution of the biker mug is my favorite....a found object (handle), and real aluminum diamond plate combined with the clay. Did you tack the plate to another base there?

And to top it all off, your photos are looking really nice (be careful of the flash). Red is a hard back ground color to shoot work on as it tends to pull the viewers eye more towards the red than towards the work, but in this case, it works well behind the Club Mug. Tasty.

The blue jean also works behind the biker mug. Thematic yet subtle.

There is no bluring a fine line in this work...Nice job Mike.

[ Edited by: Babalu 2009-02-28 07:23 ]

Cool stuff Mike, I was looking forward to seeing you at the Kona art show, I heard your not going to be there? The kiln plug is working very well, Thank You!

very kool the polished Diamond plate is very kool .

Is that the same war club you started at the Chop?
It hasn't even been a week!
You really are a mad dog!
Great looking piece. Love the woodgrain idea!

Bowana

Thank you all for the kind words Gentlemen :)

Babalu, I ended up putting a high density rubber foam pad on the bottom of the diamond plate, partially for looks and partially to protect the table from the aluminum plate. The paperclay worked cool. I don't know if you saw on the paperclay thread, but I broke off one of the shark teeth after everything was bone dry. I added wet paperclay to the dry tooth stub and it worked fine - that dog don't hunt with regular clay! I originally posted that club picture with a leopard print background but it was too busy and the teeth didn't show up so I switched to red.

Gogo - no, I can't make it to the show but it would have been fun. One of these days I'll make it to one.

Yes Dave, that's the same club I started Sunday. It was fairly even in thickness so it dried fast. I bisque fired it early Thursday morning, glaze fired it Thursday night, pulled it out Friday noon and posted it. I'm sure someday my lack of patience will bite me in the butt :lol:

Wow Mike! That war club mug came out great! I saw it in progress at Babalu's chop.

Awesome biker mug, too. Even the background of the photo is cool!

Thanks again for yor work for the Kona show... FauxMo #2 looks fantastic!

Nice going on the war club mug, man! What drink would you propose for the biker mug?

Thank you Cass & Eric. Cass, I'm not much of a bikier but I would suspect you drink Budwiser and/or Jack Daniels out of it :)

Dude, can we build a raku kiln over at your place? RAKU PARTY!!!

My new book has directions to build a raku kiln and I have lots of space, hmmm......

If we do a raku party, we have to invite BooBen. I did a search on "raku" and almost every hit was BooBen suggesting that someone should raku their (wooden) tiki :lol: I think my first project will be a downdraft barrel kiln, should be able to make some killer stannous chloride/alcohol fumed pendants.

That Faux mosaic is really well done - very classy.

Interesting mug design! very cool stuff

Hi MadDog!
Your Swordfish tile turned out gorgeous!
And I absolutely love the war club mug, so great!

The wood grain clay is amazing, I can't even imagine
how that was done.

Really nice!!!

Hula Lula

I concur. Nothing like having a drink from the war club mug and then defending yourself
in a barroom brawl without having to crack a bottle. :wink: Genius!

Great idea with the swordfish too!!

[ Edited by: Iokona Ki'i 2009-03-04 12:45 ]

Folks, thank you for the strokes. Seems to be some interest in the woodgrained clay, I thought I would do a little "tutorial" so you can get in on the fun if you want.

I think this is probably classified as a milleflore or caning technique, I have seen it done with polymer clay. In the past I have done this with Soldate 60 (high fires to yellow) and Laguna WC373 dark brown, but it can be done with any contrasting clay colors or even clay colored with Mason stains. I am out of Soldate so I used Babalu's EM347 white and Amaco Indian Red 67.

I started out with a chunk of white, a chunk of red, 2/3 of a chunk of white and 1/3 chunk of red. (all measurements approximate :) )

Mix the 2 smaller chunks together, now you have 3 equal size blocks in 3 different colors.

Flatten the 3 chunks out and stack them light to dark

Roll this out to about double in size, cut in half and stack again

Roll, cut and stack another time or two. Be careful not to roll the layers out to thin or the colors will blend and you will lose your "grain"

Shape the stacked clays into a loaf

Cut the loaf into 4 slices

Lay the slices down and butt them together. The slices need to be gently but firmly pressed together. The clay needs to be fused together without disrupting the pattern too much.

Roll the clay out to the desired uniform thickness, flipping it over to roll both sides. Rolling will also help join the clay together. Look at both sides, one will have a better looking pattern.

Since working the clay causes some surface smearing, scrape slightly with a stainless steel rib to clean up the surface. After forming into your desired shape, you may need to clean it up again.

On 2009-01-14 08:15, MadDogMike wrote:
I see plenty of bold, masculine mugs - skulls and headhunters with bones in their noses. I thought it was time for something for the wahines...

So here is my prototype with the new and improved version. I tried a new color, a new stamped background, and a taller more elegant shape.

"Leilani (flowers from heaven) Tiki", this is an Anthurium flower. I am planning a series of 4 - all with different flowers. Maybe for Grog's Handbuilt Tonga Show?

---

Blurring the fine line between fine art and fine crap.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2009-03-06 21:29 ]

Love the woodgrain demo, even though I'm not sculpting these days!

My gal loves the swordfish faux-mosaic... me too.

COOL - we're both doin' flowers! Never forget the ladies!! The mugs turned out very nicely.

shine all that clay stuff!
what we really want to know is if
you are going to bring your chile
to the next chop!

ps your stuff is really cool!

Awesome demo MDM! I'll pass that on to Hula Lula.
Really like both mugs, especially the Antherium flower
one. like how you caught the shiny almost plastic feel
those flowers have. Nice color combo too. More please!