Big Bang Creations - new Yipwan Drum Mug pg 86

Thanks Cammo and Benjamin!

I think this guy glazed up quite nicely. Hope you all don't mind me posting so many pictures...he's very 3D, and their lots of angles. This Babaloon #2 will be showing along with a few Lapatikis at the Light Gallery starting next Saturday. I hope I can finally meet a few of you there.

Peace.

[ Edited by: Babalu 2008-07-13 20:19 ]

BABALU!!! That is sooooo off the chart!!! It's all too cool but I especially love the dirty fangs, Babaloons are not known for their dental hygiene! :D

babalu aammmmaazziinng!!!

sooo radd dude, the little tiki bob is awesome

way to go doood

Sweet!

BUMP!
More people gotta see this!
RICK ROCKS!

Insane. This must be a one off. It's a beauty.

The glaze is AMAZING!

SO much life in that mug - gives me the creeps! I can't tell you how much I love the sculpted bottom of the mug. How did you fire it? Was it on stilts? What temp? So many questions! You are the clay master!

Henrik

Bab-Tastic!

Just saw and held that fez wearing monstrosity last night
while we were setting up the FREAKOUT exhibition...
the attention to detail is off the charts....
Such expression and form and TikiBob! :lol:
Way to go Rick!
and the lapatikis are heavy solid masterworks....
Thanks for all the help last night with the hanging!
and for those flyers! :lol:

Scary man!! Looks like that little sucker could just reach out and take a bite out of you.

Mad Doggie - Hope your havin a blast cruising all around the South Pacific right now!

Thomas - Thanks man, Tiki Bob just needed to be there...glad you likey.

Aloha - I'm honored you stopped in...you da man! Thank you.

LLT - I loves ya brother!

Tabu - Yeah, I getting off on hand building one of a kinds right now...it just feels right. Thanks for bouncing in!

Henrik - Thanks sooo much for the kind words. And you sir are a clay master! You know I love, love your work ! He was low fired - bisque cone 04 - glaze cone 06....I put him on stilts in order to glaze the bottom.

Cheeky - Thanks for stopping in sister...your the bomb!

SunGod - He did bite Kate...check it...

Well, I finally glazed up Babaloon #1 which I gave to Hip Hip for being so nice as I continue to procrastinate on her bowlie...Here is a few angles:

Babalu,
Another beauty man! Great expression on the face. Hope to see one of these in person.

Whoa...I haven't been on this thread for a while. Still have some of the same stuffs under wraps on the table. That sloooooow pill is starting to wear off on me now...time to jump back in.

I started these 2 new mugs at Oasis yesterday at the Chop booth. I still have to detail and thin them out a bit, but there's enough here that I think you can kinda see the direction I'm going with them.

This guy needs to get a lot meaner looking...

Trophy Head Mug

I'm really intrigued with these Trophy Heads. I haven't found many images of them, so if anyone out there has a picture or two they might want to share I would sure appreciate it. These trophy heads below were made by the Iatmul people - Middle Sepic, New Guinea. The color image shown below was just posted not long back on the Photo Association thread of Bilge by some nice person. If you don't know about trophy heads...The Iatuul peoples collected real heads from their enemy's to make these. They would take a cleaned skull and build up clay around it in order to make it look as close to their victims as they could. In reality, they were going for realism approach on these works...interesting. Little shells for eyes. Real hair. They must have pit fired these a little to harden up the clay some...probably not much as to avoid shrinking of whatever clay body they were using. Whats so cool about these to me is that they were made with CLAY! I have hardly seen any type of sculptural clay imagery that comes from the South Pacific at all....Any of you?

Here's a few other cool pictures of a Waupanal (Men's House)- Kwoma Village of Bagwis taken in the same region in 1973.

Here is the start of a goodie that will be living in the House of Buzz eventually.

More soon...

great stuff Baba,
I have been wanting to do a cobra's fang mug for quite some time as it is one of the few mugs Tiki Ti had in the past. i will send you a pick of some trophy heads from PNG when i get a chance, there is one on my list to do, but would love to see you hand craft it as well. Looking very forward to seeing these pieces finished! Tops man Tops!

[ Edited by: OceaOtica 2008-08-18 21:25 ]

damn babalu. jonesEy bought your screeching baboon mug and i hadda sleep in the same room with that scary sucka! i hadda keep one eye open all night. dude, whatta beautiful piece. i can't believe it was still available. that trophy head mug looks like he's gonna be a scary sumbitch too. nice work, cuz.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2008-08-18 21:35 ]

Simply amazing work Babalu! I missed you at Oasis(or maybe we talked for hours, cause I forgot a lot of people's names). We'll meet next year and maybe I can see some of your pieces in person.

Excellent new stuff. I really like the Trophy Head! Thanks again for the favors while at Oasis. I may take up the challenge to try something new so keep your eyes open.

Man, I have been wanting to do a Fang mug too forever but after someone brought it up, I knew you or someone else would beat me too it. Still, I am going to need one of those for my collection. The other PNG mug looks like it is going to turn out great too. Well, I think the vault of great mugs to come has been cracked open and the flood will begin.

Rickaloo, it's all good! I was wondering what happened to the BUPT (Buzzy's Ultimate Party Tool) I saw the Trophy Head in your Hands Across Oasis post and knew you were up to something!

This photo came across my radar today

I have hardly seen any type of sculptural clay imagery that comes from the South Pacific at all....Any of you?

here are a couple clay pieces I dug up. There is one that isn't clay and it's the one with the teeth

http://flickr.com/photos/60757442@N00/sets/72157606836106465/

Cass - Hey thanks for hunting down those images for me. Those trophy heads are very intriguing for sure. I'm only going to do a couple of these hand built Cobra's Fang mugs...The Cobras really need to be black on these few mugs I build, but I think I would like to do just one that has an albino cobra on it.

Bullet - thanks for the props! I also had to sleep with one eye open while that Babaloon was floating around here...he scared me too :) I'm glad you and JonesEy had a killa time down here. Counting the days down till next year.

Kaimuki - I sorry I missed you at Oasis too. It would be wonderful to post up with you and talk shop for awhile...09 for sure.

Aloha - Man it was really cool meeting you...you is one talented hombre for sure. Glad to hear that the weather didn't take you out down there. Next year brother, we can do it all over again.

Teaks - Hey thanks for those images!! It would be cool if someone started a thread that just focused on original Polynesian clay works. I'm sure there is more out there, it's just somewhat elusive as wood carvings seem to be the main focus in all the reading materials.

Mad Doggie - Great talking to you on the phone last night...It makes me soooo happy that your jumping into clay so hard. Keep up the momentum!

Well, I'm starting to get the shape down a little better on this guy now. After one more sitting with this guy tonight, I should be able to start drying him out.

I got the sculpting part done on this Cobra Fang Mug tonight...time for the big dry out. On to the next...

That looks to me like a Green Mamba (OK, so I happen to like green) Nice work!

Babs, pull a mold of this guy, slip cast the sucka, and you could sell QUITE a few of 'em! I for one want one!

Hey Mike - Yeah he doesn't look much like a cobra to me either, but I wanted to stay with a look that was somewhat close to the menu mug for this first one anyway. I really had to twist my own arm to put those fangs on it; snakes fangs just plain don't do that...Your picture of the mamba is pretty darn cool. Jeez I hate snakes! If theres a real snake in the room, I'm not.

Camalama - Naw brother, Let some other artist do the slip cast version of this menu mug. The one thing I found out doing that last Man of War mug was that I just get "over the top" bored with doing slip casts...after about 20 of them my mind gets more whacked out than it already is. Hell, I STILL owe a few folks MOWs yet! My favorite part of working in ceramics is hand building...gots to follow the bliss dude.

[ Edited by: Babalu 2008-08-21 07:57 ]

lookin Awesome Babs!
once the glazing's done
it'll feel just like a real snake!
you're brimming with creativity and genius lately.....
time for some ZIPFIZZ energy drinks!
:)

turned out great man! Here you on the slip casting, repetition is death to any artist. Your cobra's fang is a beautiful tribute. Looks cobra like to me, when they arent flared up in defensive mode, they really just look like any other snake. Hope this makes it through the drying and kiln okay.

looks killer babs!

Man that is nice - those scales are just perfect. You've certainly got the knack for doing animal studies and capturing their essence. I agree on the "original vs casting" issue too - as much as I'd like one of these if they were slip-cast, there isn't the same mana as holding an original artwork that was created by a pair of these:

[ Edited by: Paipo 2008-08-21 14:17 ]

"gots to follow the bliss dude."

And I'm sure you will....and I will be watching you and loving it!

-G$

Freakin sweet!

Oops! I meant slip-cast THIS ONE!!!!!

YOW! Is this to smoke out of, drink from, shift to second gear, or kill with?!

Maybe you could partner up with Gecko and let him produce mugs based on your original. He's done this with Basement Kahuna and Wendy Cevola/Joniece Frank. I think he's done some work with Squid too.

i think what LOLtiki is trying to say is...."will you hurry up and find someone to produce these a.s.a.p. so that we can all get one!!!!!"

..i agree.

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2008-08-22 04:58 ]

LLT - Why thank you brother....I'm going to run right out and gets me some zippy-fizzy...do they make that stuff in a dark rum flavor?

Cass - Man you and I gots to get in the studio together sometime...we could have some fun, fun!

Thomas - You is one rockin dude...thanks for jumping in!

Paipo - You always make me feel so good when you visit here...thanks man. I'm honored.

GeeeeMaaaan!! - Glad your popping in over here on this side. I was just in the Keys 2 weeks ago and didn't see one croc...lot's of crocs crossing the road signs, but no croc.

Duddy - Thanks for the props dude!

Cammo - :lol: - Yup all those things you mentioned is exactly what the Buzz Mong is for.

LOL & Tipsy - Hey thanks for for the input gents. I would be happy to do an oil based master of that Cobra mug for Gecko or Squid if they wanted me to, but really...neither one of these fellas would need my help to do this mug if they wish.

Ok, on with the stuffs...

There should be no surprises here...you all knew I was going to have to do this...Lapatiki #1 - mug 1

But wait! What is that mug in the upper right hand corner? :up: ...It looks like a LLT design...could it be? Why YES, it is! Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing LLT's first hand built mug...built with his own 2 hands! I was up at Kinny's studio last week kicking it with Master Squid, Bi and LLT (how's that for name dropping). I made this little clay canvas up for Kinny...he took to the clay like a duck takes to water. I think he said something like "psssst - mugs, shmugs, I don't see what all the deal is in making these".

BUT WAIT! That's not all!...If you order in the next 15 mins...

Buzzy, not wanting to be outdone by Kinny, showed up to the House of Babalu last night with his resin molds in tow and popped out this little beauty...once again, Ladies and Gentlemen....I'm very proud to introduce the Buzz Masters first mug! The House of Buzz Mug - mug 1 - number #1

Nice group shot of the some of the stuffs for the next kiln load.

I started this wall hanging slab at LLT's...

and yes, I'm still working on this guy...I just had to think about it a little more is all.

Thanks for looking.

"Bartender, there's a hare in my drink!"

Buzzy & LostTiki, great mugs (we're not surprized, carving mud has got to be easier than carving wood) Bab, love the head and the drinking spout on the back.

Anything worth doing, is worth doing to the point of wretched excess.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2008-08-22 12:34 ]

On 2008-08-22 10:15, Babalu wrote:

There should be no surprises here...you all knew I was going to have to do this...Lapatiki #1 - mug 1

Yeah! Mugs Bunny!

On 2008-08-22 10:15, Babalu wrote:

Nice group shot of the some of the stuffs for the next kiln load.

I'd love to have one each of those four in the back; nice work! It's interesting to see guys like LLT and Buzzy crossing over to other mediums.

I'm with Tipsy and LOLTiki.
I'd gladly pay for it. And not like I do with hamburgers.

Hey Babs -

The colors of the 'Blue Belly' guy are - Bluegrass, wipe on/off, then Light Turquoise for 2-3 coats. I've got both if you need 'em, these would all look nice with those glazes (especially the Cobra.)

Hey, I have an idea for a hand-built one (or two), am I invited over to throw one up?

Laytah!

MAN, Gimme All 5

Some Incredible stuff coming out of your corner Babalu, Just Lookit what you're doing to these guys. You know Buzz and LLT will Never be the same, Shame on you, you should be Proud!
Haven't been here for awhile(dammit!) and I'm glad to see Your new Killer Mug. Gotta get back!

Wow, Buzzy, I thought you were a model not a artist who models clay! We want them all. Wendy and Dan

Mad Doggie - "Bartender, there's a hare in my drink"...ok, now that's funny! Instant visual.

LOL - Mugs Bunny = :lol: I would imagine that there will be a few other versions pop up down the road

Uncle John - Big thanks to you and the others for the input on this mug...ok, I won't take the possibility of doing the slip cast versions of this Cobra Fang guy off the table just yet. I would still need to put a good amount of time into the slip cast versions as I would most likely be impelled to work a great deal of the textured surface of each casting. I'm really having fun with the hand built versions right now and would like to try doing at least a few more before I re-entertain a mold. I start these hand built ones start with a solid wedged hunk of clay that looks like this....

Cammo - Why sure man! Your welcome over here anytime. I have a few of these little clay canvases made up with your name on them.

BEN!! - Hey Ben...You sure know how to make a feller happy :) Hopefully, I can get more than this out of these two...I have a big kiln to fill.

Wendy and Dan - I have that same signed Picture hanging up in a dark corner of my studio someplace. I really thought that one of these two should have been the official poster though...

Buzzy's Bath House

and of course my personal favorite...The Thinker.

On with stuffs..

First, Freddie sent me this great picture yesterday and it totally made my day. This traveling dude looks totally JonesEd! Bless your House of Ku Freddie...thanks!

Speaking of collecting...I've got the bug. My little collection my not be that big yet, but I sure really enjoy each one of them :)

It took me all day yesterday, but I now have the sculpted part of a Cobra Fang mug #2 done. I took a few small design liberties away from the menu mug with this one.

I also hollowed out the snake from the inside of the mug on #2 here for a few reasons...it cuts the weight of the mug down - the less clay used, the less you have to worry about cracking - I can dry this one faster than the way...less thick and thin areas meeting each other...that how cracks begin - The reverse spiral visual effect on the inside is also kind of nice.

Thanks for looking.

oh wow the greatest mug family ever! You take out the best in everyone Babalu!!
And you do it first of all inspiring with your own work! I totally admire your originality and permanent search of uniqueness! your are a very magical person it shows!! Love your passion! Thanks!! and those inner swirls! a master touch!!

Hope I can make your day more often :) Alotta people really loving your work! I'm one of them... Freddie

Babalu

Those are totally sick! You rock!

Buzzy, thanks for the autographed Chippen' Males photo. I have framed it and put it next to Chuck Liddell's autographed poster.

Jen

awesome babs! that second cobra fang mug definitely solves the problem of the first one not looking so mean.

Fantastic pieces!! Babalu
I can't believe I have not seen this thread.
Totally bummed that I have missed out on such great work.
Have to comment on the Babaloon Mugs, glad that my little girls weren't up looking at the computer screen when I came across the screaming babaloon. That would have scared them. Not to mention male layout pics.

Love what you are working on.
I am glad to see that you are still working on the bird bowl.

Can't wait for the next update on the mugs.