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

Great to see you Mike & meet the lovely Teresa
we really don't see enough of you, man!

I'm blind, I can't see!!! Mike, stop smiling! Hahaha

You didn't unveil to her the splendor that is MadDog Mike in his Cannibal Kufi and Tiki Dashiki? Perhaps you were wise . . . Yes. I feel you were wise.

Now that is one awesome mosaic table,Mike!

looks like y'alls had a BLAST at Caliente!
and some Wendy Hugs!
:)

Thank you for all the love folks. I am smiling because I'm happy and that is a good thing :D

As I have said before, I really believe that anything worth doing is worth doing to wretched excess. In keeping with that philosophy I am making a shrunken head cat food dish for the Headhunter Harbor.

Blank cut from 1 1/2 inch Styrofoam and edges rounded with foam shaper. About 8x10 inches

Styrofoam covered with damp tissue. It is sitting on my kiln template to be sure it will fit in the kiln.

Covered with a clay slab, trimmed and smoothed.

Flipside

Partially dried and foam removed, inside smoothed.

It is important to remove it from the mold before it gets too dry or the shrinkage will cause it to crack. I probably should have made my clay slab thicker, the walls of the container are a bit thin for being kicked around the floor of the deck.
Next a bisque firing and some glaze

Very cool Mike ... I thought at first you were going to fire it with the foam still inside ... Dumb me ... Must have been hard getting it seperated ... Great idea ....

Mike,

The mug you made for Dan looks great! Post a pic of the front if you get the chance.

Theresa is very lovely and you always look happy. :)

Mike, looks great- can't wait to see the next steps. I've used plaster slump and hump molds, which absorb moisture from the clay, I assume the styrofoam doesn't- or does it? If not, does the clay pull away from the foam as it dries (as it would with another material)?

Thanks for posting, the latest piece to dock at Headhunter Harbor is killer.

Tiki Ano before I write to MadDogMike I'll jump in and answer your question. As the clay dries it becomes smaller. So in a mold it pulls away from the sides. However if you have something inside the clay like his styrophome (I need to look this up) it will shrink and trap it or crack the work.

Mike you can add clay to the sides of your bowl when it firms up. I do that to the tops of my mugs. I'll be posting photos of that in the morning.

We love Teresa and you MDM. We had such a great visit. One day you should bring her to our home. Meanwhile Oasis is just around the corner. The mugs have been placed. Soon I'll get a photo to show where he put them. We are so happy to have your work and we show it off when we have guests.

Lots of hugs, Wendy

Mike, Your smile can light up a city block! Glad your having a good time.
Looking forward to the new progress pics. MP

Gene - In theory I could fire it with the foam inside, but that much foam would smoke and stink like crazy. One trick I have used with polymer clay is to bake it in the oven at 300 ~ the foam shrinks down to about 1/3 of it's original size and be very easy to remove. It was a little difficult to seperate but the layers of tissue paper help and you can't let it dry too long first.
Lori - Thank you. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the front :(
TikiAno - The foam does not absorb moisture like plaster does so it's not as good as plaster but it is very quick and easy to make a temporary form. Although the tissue paper helps, the foam is also rougher than the plaster so the inside needs to be smoothed when I take it off the form. Wendy hit it on the head: clay pulls away as it shrinks when it is inside a cavity. But when you put it over a form it shrinks tighter to it. If you wait too long it will either get a death grip on the form or, more likely, crack the clay.
Wendy - Thanks. Too late for more clay, I popped it in the kiln this morning. I saved my form so I can make a thicker one if I need to. I don't make it up North very often but Teresa would love to see the wonder that is the Dan & Wendy Studio and Tiki Mug Collection Extraordinaire! :D See ya again soon!
MP - So glad to see you around these parts. I am having a good time :D See ya at Oasis?

Can't wait to see what you do with this bowl. That is one KittyKat that will be eating in style. I have refused to show this post to my cats (or dogs) as they will be demanding such an item.

• Dale

Thanks Giles. Just for the record, I don't give a rat's a$$ about the cat; my daughter left it when she got married and moved away. Just needed an excuse to make another headhunter :lol:

One of the nice things about a little kiln is that you can fire one piece at a time and you can rapid cool bisque ware. I put this piece in the kiln this morning and pulled it out tonight :D

Next to start glazing and see how well a convex face translates to a concave dish?

Back into the kiln this morning but I'm off to Mexico for the 3 day weekend so that's as far as he'll get til next week.

So far it is looking great. I think you have done well turning it into a bowl.

Have a great weekend getaway.

• Dale

Mike- and Wendy, thanks. It makes complete sense- I realize I've only used "slump" molds, rather than "hump" molds- or vice versa. I usually press slabs into a plaster mold and let it dry- easier to separate, etc. Mike, thanks for showcasing this- now I want to try this method... :)

Love it!

But you know we will be expecting you to come up with a Shrunken Head themed camper now as well my friend :)

Have a great time in Mexico!

You're not right, Mike. :)

With all this shrunken head nonsense, I think you need one from my Cabinet of Curiosities!

Go Mike Go
Lookin good brother

This is great Mike! My cats would dig eating out of a shrunken head, cool idea!

I tried my first sculpture this week and ran into a classic first timer problem... I did the sculpt around a piece of PVC pipe, and didn't remove the pipe in time so it shrunk and cracked :( I read somewhere that you could use objects to sculpt around, but guess I didn't read about pulling them out before your clay dries! I saw your styrofoam trick just now, good idea!

Here he is:

And here are some of his cracks.

Oh well, learning!

Too funny, Mike!

MDM that looks like it's going to be wonderful. I hope you have a perfect trip to Mexico.

Woodtiki you need to start a how I made it thread and add to it each time your work. Your first mug is super cool. I like it a lot.

Cheers, Wendy

Woodtiki, looks great. I agree with Wendy (2x), start your own thread to showcase your work (and progress), and 2) your first work is way more impressive than my first clay piece (as well as my 3rd, 4th, 5th.... ) Ha!

Mike hope you're having a great trip in Mex!

Don't drink the water Mike
:)

Dale & Big Kahuna - thank you.
TikiAno - big difference between slumpin' and humpin' :lol: Have fun trying that out.
Liz - I don't know about a shrunken head trailer, might have trouble sleeping!
Lucky - you got that right; I'm not right! I'll have to looks for your heads.
Woodtiki - Great looking sculpt. PVC is a great form but you have to remove it as soon as it gets firm enough. Be sure to wrap it in a layer or two of newspaper first so it will slide off easily. Time to try again.
Wendy - I know you always worry about me when I'm in Mex but I made it home safely.
Jon - why would anyone drink WATER when they chop fresh pineapples and coconuts on the beach for pina coladas???!!!

Had a great time in San Felipe Mexico. It was beautiful there; perfect temperature for a weekend on the beach (73-87) with a nice breeze. Water was in the mid 70s. Tide goes out about half a mile which makes it great for seashell hunting. Got a nice big 3 bed, 3 1/2 bath condo a couple hundred yards from the beach for $135/nite (total, not each person). Try that on Memorial Day weekend in California!

My grandsons had a blast, especial the 3 1/2 year old. The 1 year old was ready for a nap here and fell asleep a few minutes later.

Picked up a Mexican toucan for the Headhunter Harbor, hope he's not too "Jimmy Buffett" for you :D

More ceramics coming up this week; will finish the shrunken head bowl and will make an attempt at a low fire version of Trader Tom's Mystic Blue glaze.

Your south of the boarder trip looks like it was a blast! Ms. VanTiki and I are heading to Cozumel in December so she can do an Ironman and I can sip margaritas and look at ancient pyramids :)

Love the toucan!

Henrik "VanTIki"

Mike
Glad u had fun bro

Jon

Hope ya had a great Mexican weekend. Love the mug.

You're so lucky Mexico is close to you! What a great weekend trip.

Looks like you and the grandsons had a nice time. :)

Three bathing beauties. (: Wendy

On 2013-05-27 17:54, VanTiki wrote:
Ms. VanTiki and I are heading to Cozumel in December so she can do an Ironman

That Tony Stark, he's a womanizer!

[i]On 2013-05-27 17:40, MadDogMike wrote:[/i

Picked up a Mexican toucan for the Headhunter Harbor, hope he's not too "Jimmy Buffett" for you :D

Don't think you'll get into trouble with the tiki purist tight-asses in TC with a toucan. It's the parrots you gotta be careful about---unless it's Jose from Enchanted Tiki Room.

Mike,

Ha ha ha. Yes, I only assume you'd go THERE... :wink:

You picked the right weekend for San Felipe. This upcoming one will be a little less quiet w/ the Baja 500 rolling through. Looks like a great trip- I used to do lots of Baja surf trips (Pacific Coast), miss heading down there.

I dig the toucan- looks more Baja than Buffet- which works for me!

Speaking of Baja, I hope to do a Baja-inspired tiki creation soon....

[ Edited by: TikiAno 2013-05-28 22:57 ]

Thanks guys, Mexico was a blast and the toucan is enjoying his stay at the Headhunter Harbor. I was wrong though about the price - the condo cost us $225 per night. Still a bargain for 8 people - less than $30/person/night. Yes TikiAno, it should be wild down there this coming weekend with the races. They were already starting to come in last weekend and they have a reputation for playing hard :D

Finished the cat food dish. It turned out OK except that the color of the face is a bit dark and the facial features don't show up well. That's fine, it will be filled with cat food anyway. Lucifer seems to be very impressed with her new bowl ~ NOT! :lol:

One of our TC members had requested one of my El Tiki mugs in Trader Tom's Mystic Blue glaze. That glaze is a high fire so I started doing some research for a similar low fire glaze and found a technique called Opalescent over Velvet. You put a base coat of Amaco Velvet underglaze first in whatever color you want. I used a red/brown that I brushed on light and a bit uneven hoping for more color variation. Then I brushed on 2 coats of Amaco Bluebell Opalescent. The Opalescent is opaque where it pools in the low spots and transparent where it thins on the high spots, allowing the base coat to show through.

This was my first try at this technique, it is much more transparent than I expected. I could have used a lighter base coat and 3 coats of Opalescent, I may put on another coat and fire it again.

Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2013-05-29 08:35 ]

What a great lesson. I didn't know that Mystic Blue was high fire so I'll stop my search for it. The op glaze was a new one for me as well. Looks good on El Tiki. Wendy

I just got home from work today to find this waiting for me:

I couldn't get it opened fast enough!
This is what was inside:
front

back

It's even nicer in person!!! Thanks so much Mike!!

- sorry for the horrible picture but I wanted you to see the big smile on my face. I'm so excited!!

You are most welcome Lori, glad you like it :D As you can see from the picture I posted earlier, I added 2 more coats of the Bluebell Opalescent and refired, it picked up more blue color

PS, Beautiful smile!

Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2013-06-05 15:56 ]

Looks like it was a fun vacation! Did you drive down or fly?

Beautiful mug, Mike - many thanks!

Nice Mug! That Opalescent glaze looks awesome!

Lorilovestiki, ebtiki, danlovestiki, who else has an El Tiki mug? We could start a club. That glaze with the blue outline is now my favorite glaze. Wendy

Luna, We drove down. It's only about 150 miles
EB, glad it made it safely and that you like it
Robert, that is a fun glaze. And endless color combinations with 60 colors of velvet underglaze and 13 opalescents. That's 780 combinations if you try them all :o
Wendy, Teresa has about a dozen of them she gave out to her family :D

Lil Loser #6 ~ Hippolyta, the Amazon Queen. She'll have eyelashes, sensual lips, and some flowers :D

On 2013-06-09 18:18, MadDogMike wrote:
She'll have eyelashes, sensual lips, and some flowers :D

Oooooh! Hot!

Sweet

Oh lord Mike, I have a mental picture of how this is going to look already. Leave it to you to up the bar on zany. :wink:

I know she'll be a shrunken queen among the guys. Wendy

Mike, you slay me.

Remember that little song from Sesame Street about "One of these things just doesn't belong here"?

Sensual Lips, Flowers, Eyelashes, Shrunken Head

Yet somehow I know you will make all four work. :)

• Dale