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

Creative to the max. I hope that when your room is done you will share a dozen photos. Wendy

"Now it's really pie time. I finished the 5 pie birds"

Cool idea Mike!
That's the stuff, make new and different tiki items, these must be the first tiki pie birds ever one would think.

I want to have a guy here make a few for me now.

Great job.

John, Jon, and Wendy thank you :D

Finished up the Hornbill but his bill isn't near big enough for the size of his head. Looks more like a Drag Queen Vulture :lol:

I wanted to actually try one out so I baked up a pie. They are all about 4 inches tall and they were a little of a challenge to make them functional and still decorative. They couldn't be too big in diameter or they take up filling space. They couldn't be too tall, but they needed to have the theme element on top so it showed out of the top of the pie. My first wife was the pie crust master and made AMAZING pies. I never learned how to make pies because I figured she would always be around :( Fortunately she taught my daughter so we still have a pie maker. This was just a quick store bought crust with canned Apple Caramel filling with a caramel drizzle. Mt Pie-atoa? :D

"I want you to shake the freak tree and invite anyone that drops to the ground. Dwarfs and giants, magicians, Zulu tribesmen, contortionists, fire eaters... and priests. We're going to need to confess" Freddy Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2018-12-05 18:47 ]

Those are great, Mike! Looks like a tasty pie as well.

You sure do know how to describe your art! Always such fun to see what you are up too. Are you doing the weird pie in a cake tower for work this year? Wendy

Looks great Mike
Send a slice to Vegas so I can see how well it worked

Three years ago I made the Shrunken Ned/Colonel Mustard/Jumanji VanPelt mug on the right. Recently a restaurant owner in Helsinki saw it and asked if I could made a small production run (30-50 mugs) for their Jungle Explorer Room. I'm not sure I'm up to that task, I don't have a lot of free time right now. But I figured I would try to make a mold and go from there. I kept the same elements like the mustache, sideburns, and monocle but gave it a major overhaul to make it easier to produce and more durable for commercial use. We'll see where this goes but it could be fun :D

Sweet

Wow, molding that head will be a fun challenge. I will enjoy watching the process. This is great. I think I have a request for one of these on the Wish List. You and I so often are on the same wave length. He's really a fun mug, good job. Wendy

Thanks Jon and Wendy. I've decided to change the mug name to JESIQ - Jungle Explorer Sinking in Quicksand :lol:

:up: :lol:

That was fun hang10. Good new name MDM. Wendy

I made what appears to be the ugliest mold in mold making history :lol: But it appears to work fine. Now to see if I can make 50 mugs from it in the next few months :o

I'll fight you about that one Mike. I made a new mold last week which would have to be one of the worst molds i've ever made. I thought you were supposed to get better at these things the more you did them? Lost about a litre of slip with the first pouring but thankfully was able to fix it and now it's working fine. Still ugly as sin though.

Swizz!!! :lol: This one actually didn't leak a bit, I was shocked!

I've made some molds but none as ugly as Ned!!! He turned out great. Was the photo of him before or after removing the mold lines?

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2019-02-01 09:13 ]

Wendy at that point I had spent a few minutes cleaning him up, he actually came out fairly clean in spite of my mold making inexperience. I'll clean him up more as he dries. I only made one mold, I'm hoping to pour one every other day.

Mike so cool to see you making a mug for a bar.

Lokking great MDM!

That's great. We put fans on our molds so that we can pour one crawl mug a day. We get up at 6 am to pour. Then empty it out at 8 am. We open the mold at 2 PM, clean it and turn on the fans. Then it's ready by the next morning to do it all again. We are in cold Sacramento, think how well this would work in the desert. Have fun, runs are a lot of work. Hugs, Wendy

Interesting project Mike, best of luck.

Thank you for you kind works guys. I have a couple of JESIQ mugs cast and drying, time to fire in a few days then figure out glazes.

My dad passed away this week. It's not a bad thing - he had been battling a neuromuscular disease for about 5 or 6 years. His brain was still active but he was trapped inside a body that he couldn't control. He was at peace and ready to go. It was his wish to be cremated and I am working on a urn for his ashes. He was a mechanic all his life so I'm making a well-used toolbox. About 10x6x8 inches, it will be blue-green with lots of rust. It survived bisque fire and I'm waiting for glazes to come in.

His urn inspired me to make a sunken treasure chest mug with a Moray Eel. I made a rookie mistake though - I put the lid on before the bottom. Since the box it tapered, it's gonna give me some trouble.

More details but still no bottom!

Mike
Sorry about your Dad
Thoughts prayers your way
Again so sorry

All your projects are amazing my friend

These as well

Damn Mike sorry to hear that.

My dad passed away when I was in high school and it is the hardest thing to lose a parent.

Mike that chest is off the charts.
That tool box is befitting.

Thanks guys. Skip I've lost a mom, 2 step-moms, a brother, and a wife. This loss of my dad has actually been the easiest. He lived a full and wonderful life but was dealt a bad final hand.

I got a bottom made for my treasure chest. On hard slab construction like this, I usually inset the bottom. This creates a "foot" so that just the edge touches the table. This makes a nice, clean foot.

This time I put a slab of clay on the bottom and pressed it in to make the foot. This method isn't as pretty but still effective, after it dries I'll sand it to make it flat.

Nice feet

Foot fetish Jon? :wink:

2 artists proofs for my JESIQ mug. The monocle needs to be more of a pale blue color and I didn't care for the way the "magnified eye" turned out. My potential customer likes the brown hair better but I may look for something a little redder. I like the ruddy pink skin color but that was a custom blend I made years ago and I don't remember what it is :lol: Will have to find a suitable replacement or work on blending a replacement.

Mike, first off I am very sorry for your loss. I haven't been on TC for a long time so I never got to chat with you, but going through an experience like that is devastating. My condolences.

With that being said your work is dynamite! For the monocle on the artist proofs, have you considered putting a couple streaks of a white-ish glaze over the blue to give it a more glass-like look? I know next to nothing about pottery glazing as I merely majored in Illustration in college. Whoops.

Lookin good Mike
:)

Sorry to hear of your loss, Mike. Even when it's time, it's still hard. That urn is really a great tribute!
Pretty cool that it also inspired the treasure chest, looking forward to seeing the finished version.

Looks like the mug project is coming along nicely, too!

Hi Mike, I said a prayer for your dad to meet my family and be welcomed into heaven. He would love you new art pieces and especially his. I'm so happy to know you and to see how you take care of your family and how you live on to honor them. Keep up inspiring the rest of us. God Bless, Wendy

Pocky, Bam, and Wendy - thanks

Looking so good. I wish I had a little kiln too. Wendy

Wendy, you can pick them up for cheap as long as you don't need an electronic controller. I saw this one at my clay store yesterday, it's about 8x8x10 deep. They are really nice for a small run or if you need an "emergency firing" to finish a piece quickly. At $50, it would pay for itself in a few firings.

Nice hand warmer

The other day Wendy posted about a wish list Zombie Village mug she's making, and a day or two later I clicked on this random page of your thread to discover this great piece:

She thinks you should do a run of them, and I agree (though you could omit the handle). Maybe something just for Grand Members. You know, since you're not busy....

On 2019-02-14 17:09, Hamo wrote:
The other day Wendy posted about a wish list Zombie Village mug she's making, and a day or two later I clicked on this random page of your thread to discover this great piece:

She thinks you should do a run of them, and I agree (though you could omit the handle). Maybe something just for Grand Members. You know, since you're not busy....

Oohh, I'll take one of those too. :wink: Ideally without the handle as well (it's just something to chip and/or break off anyway- plus with my big mitts I can hold any mug or bowl one-handed. LOL)

Hi Mike, I see those too and think, "where would I put it". So I'll just hang in there and then retire in a few more years. Thank you for the photo. Wendy PS you should do a run of those zombie mugs, that's terrific.

Oh my DAYS - I would be sooooooooooo keen on one of those Zombie Village mugs!!

Thanks guys, that mug was great fun. I think it was part of the Poly Pop Menu Swap. I also used that Zombie Village genie-thing for a platter. The genie was attached to the platter and could hold a dipping sauce or a can of Sterno for a mini hibachi.

I got my urn out of the kiln, It turned out just as I hoped. Just in time, services are tomorrow :wink:

Finished up my Treasure Chest mug, holds 48 ounces :lol: A couple antique gold pirate coins in the bottom but they don't photograph well

Turned out great (as usual).

Mike nice pieces, you are a busy man.

Wow
All 3 great

Great new work Mike!