Conga....Wisconsin stuff!

Excellent! I'm really excited about how this one is turning out. All those through cuts are hard.
JP

:) :) :) :tiki:

-Gman

Very cool man

Conga,

That's quite an undertaking. How did you see them in there?

Awesome work!

Mc

Mahalo

thanks again Benz and JP..always appreciate your comps
Mahalo to GMan...you are (sometimes) a man of few words...but I always look forward to hearing from
you....
And thanks Hewey and McTiki...it's fun to get a big ole hunk of wood and start digging...I
don't sketch anything into the wood so it's pretty much flying by the seat of my pants after
getting the initial inspiration. The downside is some irregularity in design...but there are
plenty of irregularities in my own physical design too. The primary inspiration comes in the
realization that my friends are gonna be checking in...
see ya soon...gotta go back to work.

I like how the wood has some bark at the bottom. Its almost like the wood gradually goes deeper in.

Conga,

We're all watching - and expecting this one to get sicker and sicker every day. By the time you break out the hook knife this bad boy is gonna be attracting news media! Anderson Cooper is gonna be camping out in your front yard! I love your stuff!!!

-Gman

I agree with Gman, you are amazing!

friggen cool!!!! REALLY

[ Edited by: keigs20 2006-05-05 08:58 ]

Thanks everyone...and Keigs...it's a real honor to have you stop by. Itseems like I'm perched
on the ledge of a building...and all you guys are watching and yelling "jump jump jump." But
instead you're yelling "dig dig dig." I appreciate the encouragement.....Get Anderson Cooper
over here.

Very Nice! I have been thinking about trying a PNG piece, but just really don't know where to start. Are you going to just stain this one or paint it like so much all of the stuff from the Sepik Valley is?

Truly amazing!!! Inspires me to try something bigger on my next attempt

The thing about Conga is that not only does his work kick ass, but he lets it speak for itself! A humble and accomplished carver he is.
Three cheers for Conga
Huzzah!
Huzzah!
Huzzah!

Another great piece, Conga, can't wait to see how it turns out!

Good stuff Conga... working wonders up Nort 'dere.

You're doing the largest piece in Wisconsin right now and the challenge has been thrown down...

I'll see your 8 feet and raise you 10... as soon as I secure the log!

Man... keep up the incredible work!

thanks fer the kind words Tikisobayli...Sam...Kapu...and Lakesurfer...I am thinking of using
some color on the top carving...not sure where or what....Kapu...one better be humble in these
surroundings...big heads don't last long when you see the incredible work that is being posted...
always better and better....and Lake...the biggest carving in progress in Wisconsin has it's
own built-in drawbacks...like probably never getting done.

Great stuff Conga!

thanks Skip and everyone who's been pushing this one...things are starting to get a little
"sicker" as GMan puts it....and I am beginning to think I will never get finished. A little
update shot on the PNG figure

The last five hours have gone into the face and hollowing out the headdress...let's see...how
long till winter up here...am I gonna run out of time?

Happy mothers day....and it has been a happy weekend the chiseling into the big PNG/Tiki....
here are a few updates



and....it's funny sometimes what comes out of the wood...I heard a little pecking and out came this
bird figure


gotta go back to work now...hope you are all having a great weekend.

Conga,

Yes sir, you are walking with the ancients now. Every little tweak you do to this sucka is gonna set it off even more. I can't wait to see you start all the small work. So far, it is fantastic. We'll all probably be floored when you finally finish. Keep going!

-Gman

thanks GMan...starting to have a GOOD TIME now...the big basswood is coming to life...made
some progress on the birdman


gonna keep workin...more updates in a week or so!
thanks for checking in!

Beautiful work Conga. This does confirm I suck and later tonight will burn all my tools as a offering to gods.

Way to raise the bar up...........way up.

Stop Rodeo....DON'T DO IT....there's no bar that you can't reach. Sacrifice your tools into
more wood...you're doing just fine. All of us...the two tikis...the bird...and yours truly...
appreciate the compliment.

NICE openwork...hard to do...I love it.

Go Conga!! Go Conga!!

Hey bro a box is headed your way this week Mahalo for your patience. I've really had my hands full... Cleaners Painters, Carpet layers, Neon guys, and the phone ringing off da hook with people wanting to ship orders they've been holding for months! (check out link to Zappa's song about California's contractors and mechanics) Whew! Re energized at Oasis. Wish you'd been there we could have drummed up a storm! Next year EVERYBODY brings a drum and we'll have a shindig on the beach!

• Hodaddy

http://www.lyricsdomain.com/6/frank_zappa/flakes.html

[ Edited by: hodadhank 2006-05-15 11:29 ]

thanks Basement and Hodad....BK...I have fond memories of observing your detail carving on the
deck at coontiki...have lots of decorating ideas for this carving...hope I learnt my lessons well...
and hank...can hardly wait for the package...I'll be phoning home every day to ask if it arrived
yet...and...also enjoy your pic with the dancer from Oasis and your bio from the grand member
section...we'll have to get together when I bring Mindy out west!

Conga, the detail on this guy is really Excellent. There is sharp detail everywhere you look. You must be going Crazy trying to clean up all those corners and different angles and figures. Just hang in there and keep it tight.

thanks Ben...just the encouragement I need. Spent a couple of hours last night working on the
last six toes....such a good time...I love the hook knife! Thought about your toes (well not
YOUR toes) the whole while....will try to add a LOT of Benzart-Basement style detail to this
one...all over the face....the entire staff and headdress....oh boy. Thanks for noticing
Ben....charged up and happy!

Conga - this one is INSANE. As a matter of fact, all your carvings are INSANE. I imagine that if William S Burroughs carved tikis his inspiration would be PNG and they would look very much like the stuff you're pumping out. YOu're getting damn good at this.

So this thing is like 8feet tall, right? that's crazy. You're crazy. Crazy cool, that is! :wink:

I'm looking forward to seeing this one done and next to your other carvings!

Thanks much Polynesiac...I consider the Burroughs reference to be an extreme compliment...
I do have an affinity for Burroughs/Ginsberg/Kerouac and the whole Beatnik thing...My percussion
group actually recorded a couple of tunes with me reciting paragraphs from "On The Road"...to
show how messed up I am. You gave me another idea...maybe I should change my name to CrazyConga!

Anyhooo...sorry to ramble....left work early to suck a late afternoon mai tai...updates on
my latest effort are pretty boring cuz I am spending so much time on hidden detail and sanding
work...but here are the...drumroll...BENZTOES

Long live the "BENZ TOES"!!!

hi everyone...hope ya all had a nice day whittlin'. I apologize for this becoming such a long
post for a single project...but I thought I would throw up a coupla pics of the PNG/Tiki 8 footer.
Did tons of sanding today and finally completed the final "dig through" at each shoulder.



This week I will start "hook-knifing" the decorations on the face...pole and headdress...this
will take quite a while...but I hope to have some real progress by the end of next weekend.
Then....clean-up work will start on the lower tiki face...boy....this is turning into a
marathon. Hope it's worth all the effort.

Conga,

Man he looks so clean already. This is gionna be super smooth. It will be worth it..for you, and for us. This is great! I love seeing all the changes in this guy as you move forward. Good luck hook knifing....be safe. I'm looking forward to your next update...

-Gman

On 2006-05-21 16:50, congatiki wrote:
Hope it's worth all the effort.

Does the Pope wear a funny hat?

YES!!

It is so amazingly worth it.

Very inspiring stuff Conga.

Oh man, is this guy worth it. You have done a lot of clean up and it shows. All those cut outs are a pain, and you can never get a tool in the right angle but you are mastering it. Finished up with a little of BK's secret aging process (I'll have to attend the next event to find out just what that secret is) it'll look like it just came from the PNG men's longhouse to your bar!
JP

this tiki is so cool cant wait to see it finished

onga, did I mention the Toes? Those are really cool, there is Something I really like about them. This guy is really gonna be Killer.

thank you my tiki-loving friends....here's a little preview of what's to come

the hook knife is a lot of fun.

I appreciate all the comps on this guy...funny thing tho...and I know it sounds silly...after
a while of carving whatever is in the wood really seems to take over. The spirit in the wood
appreciates the comps too.

Tease.

Conga,

Yep, you're feelin' it now!!!!!

-Gman

On 2006-05-21 16:50, congatiki wrote:
...Hope it's worth all the effort.

Oh it'll be worth the effort! It's fantastic! I really dig the eye detail. Now get off it! Let's see the rest of him! At least the other eye!

I think the hook knife is damn nice too.

Wow Conga, you have really raised the bar. All of you carvers are putting out such good work that it's hard for me motivate myself. Yes that's right, I'm blaming you for my procrastination. :wink: This is going to be an amazing piece!

That's red hot...and creative as anything out there..great piece, Conga..

haha! no sleep for you anymore.

great work. i hope this is going somewhere where a lot of people can enjoy it.

thanks everyone...having a lot of fun up here in the Northwoods.
PDrake...this one...like my others...will find a home in the Congatiki Lounge where it
will get frequent visitors...but not true tikiphiles. My best friend is a chiropractor so
it will get a little time in his office...where a lot of people will see it. Overall plan
with all of this stuff is to enjoy what i create...and perhaps...to take some down to
Chicago next summer (assuming there will be another event) to take a hand at vending.
Some progess


thanks again for following this post...your comments are the motivation for this one as the
hours continue to pile up.

Dang Conga, how many hours do you have in sanding alone? It's so smooth. Keep going. : )

Looking good Conga!

Lookit You goin Crazy! I LOVE It!!

Hey Conga - thanks for the other eye view!

That sure is a nice piece of wood! Wisconsin Basswood huh? Did you hunt that one down in the woods or can you buy them that size? Nice going man!