Lake Tiki - 8/23/2013 - Red Cedar

Ouch !

Very good, man.

Sorry to ask but will you color the double tang too :D

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Lake Im sure its just me, but i see a big guy in a wetsuit also.
I like.

seek, Conga and Benjamin, happy to hear that this one pulled it off and thanks as always for the kind words.

Conga... that pile keeps staring me down. I made it bigger the other day... now I just have to start whittling it down. Hukilau is a ways off though, and I'll get it done by then.
Boards have been on sale lately so I've been stocking up and cutting blanks.

Benjamin, I think I'll keep the Tang plain. I'm going to be choosy with the color and only use it on certain pieces that have had a history of color in them. I like to stay traditional on my work.

seek, you're killing me with all this surf talk... I might as well be living in the desert as a surfer right now...

lake;

Love your work for the Foundation -- now I'm developing an itch, wondering when I will be able to return to Milwaukee, have more of their drinks, and see more of your work first-hand.

Vern, thanks much! I think you would barely recognize Foundation on the inside from your last visit. Layer upon layer has gone on in there, and we continue to add to it. The big fun is going to be the poles that will flank the entrance this Spring. That is if this friggen winter decides to lighten up and end. :wink:

The drinks at Foundation have also increased in type and quality to add to an overall good time!

Would love to have you up again if you are in town this summer! And you'll have to stop by my home bar and have a drink!

133 days until Hukilau...

A long time, but I've started building up inventory for it and the many other shows coming up this summer.

Winter is a good time to draw up new designs and take the mind off the snow and cold outside.

The new work is a by product of about a month worth of new research and many many sketches.

(Picture moved to next page)

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2008-03-06 22:10 ]

Great concept on that turtle.. they all look great.

Freddie, many thanks!

Just scratching the surface here... I've got some ideas that will come out of the sketchbook in the next month that are pretty sweet, and I've never seen anything like them in the tiki scene. Debuting them, and more in June!

Aloha Lake!!!
Lake the Masks lookSweet my friend and I do love the Turtle as well, keep up the good work and I did talk to johnny foxx last week and I'm tryin to get him down here this winter for a break so well see. p.s Had some 4-5 foot off shore surf on tues and wed this past week,stay warm sending good warm Vibes your way,Aloha , Mooney

Mooney, thanks for the good warm vibes... please don't stop as we are due for 20 inches of snow in the next 18 hours. Locked in on the lake with ice and snow and are fully in the grip of the White Death. Bummer.

Nothing much to do but think of the warm Marquesan Islands and keep carving...

23" H x 6" W

Off to their new owner, Tai Won On. Mahalo!

Gotta go... snow to shovel...

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2008-03-07 11:09 ]

Way to "make my day" LakeS. These are wonderful piece. After a
long day of work (mostly moving cars to plow out from another dumping
of snow) it's a real treat to click on TC and find these. I agree with
what Freddie said in the marketplace...a real favorite among the
recent postings around here.

Conga... thanks bruddah! :drink:

This is about the only thing keeping me sane these days. My part time day job involves snow removal at the same condo complex that I do summer groundskeeping.
While pushing that snowblower I've got some classic surf music on the Ipod and my mind pictures tikis and tropical waters. I have to come home and let it all out into the wood once in a while.

Glad I could make your day Conga... keep up the great work on your end of the state. :wink:

Very nice!!!

Now-I have to reciprocate and say your work is looking killer, man. Some of the most creative relief stuff ever.

Wow, the carvers are kicking some serious booty. Just awesome. GROG like.

:o :o :o

Wonderful.

Meheadhunter, BK, GROG and benella... many, many thanks for your compliments! They are great motivation to keep creating!

Your new flatwork designs are right on. This is a great new direction that you are taking your work to.

nice...i like those split marq's ya got...how much?? i need a pair to mount to either side of cabinet doors, so when it's close dit looks like a full tiki face......

Johnny, Mahalos!

I spent some time in the Arts and Humanities section at the downtown library again... absorbing photos and text descriptions of Oceanic Art.
I have a picture I want to PM you. Saw lots of stuff Conga would flip out on too.

Tipsy, the Marqs you mentioned are actually seperate left and right designs rather than full faces. That's an interesting observation I never saw. I originally sketched one, then thought an opposing one in a pair would look good on each side of a bar or a room.\

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2008-02-08 00:06 ]

On 2008-02-05 16:03, Lake Surfer wrote:
Mooney, thanks for the good warm vibes... please don't stop as we are due for 20 inches of snow in the next 18 hours. Locked in on the lake with ice and snow and are fully in the grip of the White Death. Bummer.

Im sitting here with the doors and windows open, in a shirt and shorts, listening to the soft rain. Summer's wonderful :D :D :D :lol:

Some very nice work there lake :D That colour piece is awesome

Lake, I really Love these last 2 guys, Lots of nice detail. I'd sure love to see you take a piece and finish it to the Nth degree with all the detail you could muster. I think you Might Blow some peeps away!

Ah, yer makin me jealous Hewey!
You guys down under don't have real winters though! :wink: Kinda like a spring, summer,fall, fall

Thanks fer checking out my new stuff and for the compliments!

Benz, thanks for the props!

I lean towards the Cook Islands & Marquesan tikis because I like the less is more look to 'em. Some detail work, but I love how basic shapes get the message across.

Hi Lake,
the last carvings are so amazing.
I agree with you about the basic look. These shapes are starting to be my faforite designs, too.
Man, you are so busy. Great stuff.

Tipsy, the Marqs you mentioned are actually seperate left and right designs rather than full faces. That's an interesting observation I never saw. I originally sketched one, then thought an opposing one in a pair would look good on each side of a bar or a room.

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2008-02-08 00:06 ]

great!! but that still doesn't answer my question..i would still like to use them as halves of a total face but what do you charge for them?

Wow, Man... more cool stuff I need for my walls!

Thanks again for the Luau piece! Totally dig it.

LS, those last two are great (not that the rest aren't, too) I love the look of them. I'm really digging what you are doing with the panels, keep it up. BTW, I'm with Ben I want to see what you do when you take the detail all the way.

tok-tok, thanks so much for you compliments. I'm seriously hooked on the Marquesan and Cook Islands right now. Its been fun to put focus into a couple different styles and explore different possibilities.

Tipsy, I'll be in touch.

Chad, I'm really glad you like the Luau piece! Thank you so much for your continued support, it really inspires me to create new work.

Jason, thanks a ton!

You guys asked nice so I drew up something off the wall last night and started some basic chops on it. Its a new piece chock full of detail work. At least, I hope it has enough detail work. :wink: I might have a picture up on Wednesday night... have to see how smooth it goes.

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2008-03-06 22:11 ]

Well, I don't think I hit the ball out of the park on this one, but it was a learning experience this afternoon. Busy day of work this morning and I kinda rushed through this. I'm going to revisit some designs like this one and play around with some stuff. This wall hanging is loosely based on a Marquesan fan handle. I have a few other drawings I did that I'd like to work off of also. Fun stuff.

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About 12" W x 16" H

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2008-02-13 22:33 ]

Lake my man, you most definitely are expanding your experiences.
These guys are looking great. Nice to see a pro going at it.

Dave that last panel is great. I think you should do a few more in that style.

Thanks Jason. :)

I've been playing around with some different new things in-between cranking out the bread and butter of my stuff for this summer.
Some have been successes and some have gone to the burn pile.

Things are hopping here as I continue to build up inventory and get a bunch of new work and installs done for the local tiki bar, Foundation. I'm heading over Friday to put some new stuff up that I did Thursday and then work starts soon on two 6 foot half poles that will flank the entrance outside the bar.

I've got to start wrapping and boxing finished work... I can't move around my tiki bar anymore!

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Here's another new project I'm working on... two of these will be for sale at Hukilau in June!
The first time I started on my Marquesan canoe things didn't go so well. The process I used to make the first one didn't go well in the end. Parts are in the trash, other parts in the bonfire pile. I used that as a learning experience and started over with new methods in mind and a whole lot more detail than before.

Here's some of that work...

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One canoe will be inspired by the classic OA canoe. Marqs with spears. I'm also doing one that has Tangs and rather than spears these guys will be rowing.

These will be made to hang on a wall, not too heavy and not too big at 36" across for the canoes. Each Marq and Tang are about 5 inches or so tall.

These pieces will be slow going. I want to spend a lot of time doing detail work and push them pretty far. Whoever purchases these in Florida will have a couple a really nice pieces, some of the best I've done. :)

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2008-03-06 23:10 ]

Better and better, Lake. I am envious of whoever gets these.

Thanks Pappy!

Foundation Tiki Bar's new Marquesan posed for a picture before we leave for the bar in a little bit.
He said something about how the cold was giving him a headache.

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Wow Dave, if you compare these last few carvings to your first few...simply amazing. What an impressive progression! You have developed a distinct and impressive style.

Love the marquesan wall hanging. What a great idea and different looking from so many other wall hangings.

Dang Lake, they are looking great and so many.

It's a Tiki Factory...right here in Wisconsin! Classy work Lake...
Can't wait to see the Marq Canoe...beautiful work on all of the new stuff.
Hey....don't throw anything into the burn pile...send it up north...I'm
sure your rejects are top notch.

Fred, thanks so much for your kind words. I've become real comfortable with the basic cuts I've created and I'm building on that to take it to another level. I've got some more things sketched out that I hope to get to soon. I've got a mental checklist of things I want to create the next few months.

Big T, thanks much! Strive to be different!

Thanks seek, and that's barely half of what's in the studio ready to get carved!

Conga, thanks a bunch, got some more work done on the canoes, and hopefully some more this weekend. I'll remember to set some rejects aside for ya! :wink:

Sweet stuffs going on in your neck o' the woods. Can't wait to see your setup @ Hukilau.

I feel for you on the Marq canoe project. I think 5 out of 8 'mini-marqs' made it into the canoe when I carved my first one-the rest were sacrificed to the fire pit. Second one is always better, though! (supposedly). Looking forward to seeing your outcome.

Great work!

Mahalo Howland!

Seeing your canoe project gave me the final kick in the ass I needed to start on one. I saw one of the many types of OA ones at Tiki Terrace a couple years ago and told myself I was going to make one similar in my own style. Starting on them now, I've kind of become obsessed with them even though I was going to take breaks in between steps.

Finished the tikis up today...

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Lots more to do... the canoes need to be carved and then the other detail like spears and oars... I'll see if I can stretch the project into Wednesday... :wink:

Lake is a one man tiki factory! Keep it up.

Amazig new pix and work !
Always a pleasure watching your thread.

Mahalo,

Benjamin.

Johnny and Benjamin, thanks for checking in on me!

These canoes are really turning out nice. I'll get another picture up of the progress.

Don't think I'll do much of any work today... taking the day off to celebrate my b-day. :drink:

Hope I get some new tools. :wink:

Never mind your stuff tell me more about those end tables in your bar.

Just kidding, I love the little for the canoes they are great. the detailing that you are adding in adds a nice touch. I can't wait to see the finished product, and all the stuff you are cranking out for Foundation and this summer. Are you planning on doing any of those carving on a larger scale as stand alone Marqs and Tangs? I think you could do a lot of cool things with them. On an unrelated note we are still trying to find a way back to The Hukilau this year, but getting the time off work is a pain.

Hey Happy birthday, man.

I wish you a lot of new toolz :wink:

Benjamin.

LAke, I'm glad to see you looking busy these days!

Jason,

Ahhh, the Witcos. :wink: Nothing to see here... move along. :wink:

Thanks much, I'm one step ahead of you on making those guys larger... finished up two of them last night at around 12-14" high. My wife like the little guys and thinks I should make those as stand-alones also.

Benjamin thanks... I wish lots of tools also!

Thanks Benz, keeping busy keeps me warm up here. :wink:

Updated shots on the canoes...

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Thursday I start work on the oars and spears... home stretch!