Wendy Cevola - Zombie Hut movie and Sven's new book on display.

Wendy, it depends upon how runny your glazes are when they're fired. If they are runny, you may want to use some wax resist on top of the underglazed details. That may help- not guaranteed, since wax resist does melt off eventually.

I only write this since I've had many midfire glazes go wherever they wanted to go- especially to places I DIDN'T want them to go...!

Please stop teasing us and fire that kiln! Maybe Grog will come out when you do... (Insert song from "Annie" here).

Ano- Bob/Kiss: I was thinking the same thing, lol

Wendy- great glaZin

[ Edited by: hang10tiki 2015-04-09 07:39 ]

TikiAno sorry guys the kiln is busy right now with a bisque load. I don't have enough to fill it for a glaze load yet but it's getting close. I'll be glazing all day today.

You taught me something today that I did not know. I have a gallon of wax resist that I haven't used. I'll put some on this mug today. Thank you!

hang10tiki I'm having fun seeing these one step closer to the kiln.

=======================================

Yesterday I had an appointment with the dentist. I have a bad TMJ joint and now I'm wearing a plastic insert 24/7 for a month and then at night after that. I now speak with a lisp!

Since we were heading downtown we went to Alpha Fired Arts for 11 gallons of slip and of course a few new colors of glaze. I don't buy girlie things I by things that make me messy rather than cute. When we got home I made the glaze tests that will fire with the Wish List.

After that I went into the garage and started sanding. I had enough things for a load of bisque.

First off is the Hula Girl Snake Charmer for IDoVooDoo.
I sanded it inside and out and ran the carving tool through all the detail to make sure no tiny pieces of clay were stuck.

It looks like she's on a sandy beach.

Next I did the Amazing Moai,

the helmet necklace and

a hula girl necklace.

I sanded the four flames and

started doing the Hula Girl Hot Tubs. It's scary to have made these because I have a 50% chance that the girls will explode in the kiln. My design likes to trap air bubbles in the arms and neck and then BOOM in the kiln.

Dan also masked up and did all the blowing dust off all the pieces.

They fit nicely into the kiln.

Amazing Moai wasn't really alone on the top. I'm making a project for the Art Show at Tiki Oasis 15. When it's further along I'll start to share it too. I couldn't resist the Space Theme and that last year they opened it up to ceramic art as well as paintings.

I hope your day is safe and full of smiles. Wendy

On 2015-04-09 07:59, danlovestikis wrote:

They fit nicely into the kiln.

Boy, he looks depressed he didn't fit on the first floor, quite a party going on there! :wink:

Hi Wendy,

I can sympathize with your TMJ joint pain. Even though I am well into my forties, I still enjoy playing organized ice hockey. Well one evening during practice, with no helmet on (yea dumb move on my part), I took a puck off the side of my jaw. The two broken teeth hurt, but it was my TMJ that really throbbed for the next week. I hope your able to recover soon.

Regarding wish list #5....I second Hang10Tiki's comment....great glazin!...oh and the hula girl snake charmer bowl looks great!!

Tyber Tiki

Hi Wendy and Dan,

The Amazing Moai is so cool.

Tyber - wear a helmet. You may take some flack but at least you will have your teeth :)

Wendy, does this mean that you and Dan are going to Tiki Oasis this year? I am excited to see your Space Tiki Mug, can I buy it? :) You should make a couple. I am sure it will be amazing!

Loki-Tiki you made me laugh out loud. He does look so sad.

Tyber Tiki ouch that sounds horrible. I hope you have fully recuperated. Did you read that I'm doing Dan's lamp first to check out the glaze. Then you'll be able to see if you like it or want something different.

My brace is preventative. I dislocated my jaw biting into a pear. Now a CT scan shows that I don't have part of the top of the bone that fits into the joint. I guess I wore it away although I've never chewed gum. They think I may grind my teeth at night. Dan said in 37 years he's only heard me do that once. Oh well we all have something and I'm lucky there isn't any pain.

MaroneTiki well thank you sir. The maze on the back is as hard as I could make it. He doesn't have a home. Interested? Do we get to tour your home in October? Marlene is looking for homes for Saturday.

lunavideogames going to Tiki Oasis is still up in the air. If I can get a hotel room at the event then maybe. I'm watching the tread for the time to log on and try. I would like to see you and go to Ocean Beach where you work.

What I'm making for the event is a space themed bowl in three pieces that will be fused together with glaze. I'll share photos soon. If you like it and want it then I'll have to decide if I should make something else for Oasis and let you get this one. Stay tuned for space updates!

================================

I continue to do so many projects at once that our home is truly a tiki factory. Today a man was here to inspect the heater and he said are there any other people like you out there? YES there are.

Progress on Wish List #5 continues. I'm doing all the projects that have instructions as to glazing. When I get to the rest I'll contact each of you on how to proceed.

This Wish is from Joanne. It is a Zombie Village mug. It will be yellow with red spots. I will be painting the woman as I have all the Zombie Torch mugs except this one will have a black skirt.

========================

These mugs are for Dale, Lloyd Alohahahaha and Muskrat. They are the Zombie Hut/ Coral Reef mugs made for the first Sacramento Crawl. At the time these were made I said that since it was the only mold I owned (made by a friend Mike. L.) that I would make specials in addition to the run.

So here some are in progress.

They will be brown rather than the black like the run of 50.

Done and drying. After they fire I will hand paint these to enhance the design.

I made one extra in red.

This mold was still in good shape but it's time to say goodbye.

one last look at each piece and

waving goodbye I

took out the ax and whacked it to pieces.

That was my first mug that I did on my own. My first idea/project was the Bloody Maori that Gecko'z produced. A lot has been done in the last 4.5 years. Thank you all for being with me during this time.

Cheers, Wendy

Amazing. I have no other words. Wow.

Lunavideogames & Wendy: Yea, i've fully recovered and learned my lesson....both my lovely girlfriend and brutally honest dentist/oral surgeon made sure of that :)

Wendy, I absolutely love the flat brown glaze you are using on Dan's Maori lamp....so yes, definitely please use that on mine as well. We're very exited!!

Tyber Tiki

IDoVooDoo I like that comment!

Tyber Tiki what you see on Dan's lamp is unfired glaze. Once it melts in the kiln it will be an entirely different color and texture. Hang it there. I'll have photos of this when it's fired. I have that red/brown color in a gloss glaze that would show off all the carving detail but first let's see how well the detail shows up with this flat glaze.

========================

I posted twice yesterday so I could take tonight off. I'll be back with more photos tomorrow. Thank you for the visit. Wendy

Progress Report on the Hula Girl Hot Tub mugs. I opened the kiln and was so happy that none of them had exploded.
The girls were all just relaxing in the tubs.

The Amazing Moai was still sad all alone on the top shelf.

I unloaded the kiln and Dan and I went to work.

We scrubbed and rinsed all of them and then used buckets to take this water to our bushes in the back yard. The lawn is not being watered so it will turn brown. We hope that we Californians get to save our plants. If not our air pollutions is going to be very bad this summer.

Progress Report on Wish List $5.

I had enough for a load of glazed items to fire. I loaded the bottom shelf. I have to keep the mugs with crystals far away from those that are plain colors. That's why there is a larger separation when compared to bisque loads which can touch.

Bottom shelf.

Top Shelf.

I fit in all of my glaze tests too.

Time to go back to work. Cheers, Wendy

:) :) :)

hang10tiki (: (: (; did you catch that wink?

=================================

I forgot to put up the glazing of Jason Martin's Maori Rat Fink before I showed the kiln firing photos. He caught it.
So here's his Wish as I glazed it.

This shows the glaze tests so I know what colors I used.

All done and ready to fire.

Hanging out with friends before they enter the kiln.

It was fun to have him find his fink in the kiln. Otherwise I might have forgotten to post these photos.
Cheers, Wendy

Yep.....

:)

hang10tiki Nope!

=============================

The kiln is open but before I could do much Bullet aka kingstiedye came running over. Because he wanted his Wishes to go home with him this year I'll ship as they are finished and I'll not do a group photo. It's easier all round. Last year with 40 boxes at the post office we thought we were losing our minds.

Here's Brooks reaction and the first black velvet photos.

His first view of the Death Tiki.

His first view of Franken Fink.

He had his Wishes come true!

Black Velvet Gallery for Wish List #5

Wow! Wendy, those turned out great!! I love the glazing on both. And that Fink! I'm going to have to think of a new design!

i had a blast at the unveiling today! i dig these guys so much. huge mahaloz for taking on these projects!

Wendy- those came out great
That's one lucky King
Awesome....................

Those are great Wendy! Great job on glazing that Fink, lots of little parts. I love the inside of the Death Tiki, really cool. I'm starting to attempt mug making. Did my first 4 part mold last week and I can't wait to see how the first casting turns out! It is so great to see how you do it, and to have all the insight and tips from your posts.

Anyway, can't wait to have a Wendy mug some day!

Tikiwahini I've loved Rat Fink since I was 10 years old so doing them is a fun project. You Rasta Bob is going to be glazed soon.

kingstiedye anything for you Bullet as long as you keep coming over for visits.

hang10tiki yours are to be glazed soon too along with Tiki Vato. I still have a bunch on the Wish List and then I have all the on Spec mugs! I'm so busy that I never have a boring moment in my day.

Woodtiki that's terrific. I hope you'll do a thread and post photos of your mold making journey. Our next mold I'll post is a five piece. No one can beat Notch or Danny G.. They have done 37 piece molds...crazy but they make wonderful tikis.

You are so close to us you need to come by for a visit.

I thought it was really nice of you to get a tattoo of me on your arm!

===================================================

I continue to take photos of the projects out of the kiln. I need to organize some photos and then I'll post. I had one major failure. I keep saying I hope they don't explode well a long crack is just as bad and devastating to a piece of art.

Don't worry it was a spec piece that had sold but wasn't on the Wish List. I still have to let the guy know.
I'll be back later if all goes well.

Cheers, Wendy

PS Woody I'm still shocked by the tattoo

Wish List #5 continues with the latest Brotherhood of the Blue Bobs mug. This was founded by Professor G.

This mug is for my facebook friend Bob Fourbearz.

======================================================

Professor G your mugs are NOT done. I did one layer of glaze and I'll be adding another one and firing again. There are too many thin areas that need attention. Do you want the stars on these fogcutter mugs?

======================================================

These three Tiki Bob's are for Paul Grande. He is also joining the Brotherhood of the Blue Bobs. Look what you started Professor G. Thank you! He is in Australia so we'll be shipping these to another country. I'll have to visit Tiki Bob in his new home someday.

Hahaha! You know Wendy, it was either that, or this one...

Wood Tiki I think the second one suits you better!

=========================================

Well it's been a long time since I had a failure and this one is a doozy. It wasn't part of the Wish List orders just a mug I made for fun. It had sold so it's a bummer that I had to tell Jason that it's ruined. Here's what I've done.

I took him out of the kiln once it had cooled below the temperature outside. I didn't want any of my mugs to have a sudden temperature change which can crack them.

First I noticed that there were lots of glaze skips on the mug.

Then I noticed the crack that ran down one side of the mug. It was an OH WELL moment.

He cute enough to repair and display so I got out the glue. I used my finger to force it into the crack. Then I used strong tape to pull the crack closed. I let it dry over night.

The next day I painted the mug to match the inside glaze.I started with yellow.

I next added orange, green and red.

I mixed a brown with some black paint until I could match the glaze on the outside of the mug. I painted over the crack and painted over all the glaze skips.

Now he is good enough to display but not to drink from.

When I say I'm afraid of things exploding in the kiln I should add or cracking. I'm just so happy it wasn't part of the Wish List. I've told Jason the buyer about the failure. I can always make another one.

OH WELL!!! Wendy

I was so excited to receive your PM today saying my mug was up for glazing! I'm joining the brotherhood of blue Bob's. :) I didn't specify the interior glaze though. What do you usually do for the insides?

My youngest is playing JV baseball for his high school so I've been busy with that and at school. But today I got all caught up. Everything looks great and the fix on the last mug was quite impressive! I'm so worried about dropping or otherwise breaking my custom mugs that they live on the shelf so I would still take the one that you repaired. I should probably be braver and drink out of your mugs or Geckos or Mad Dog Mike's.....

Hi LoriLovesTiki Jason in Australia still wants the cracked mug. He's like you he said it will sit on a shelf where he can look but not touch it. I started my entire tiki career repairing vintage mugs for Dan's collection. Then one day he said, "there shouldhavebeen a bowl to go with this mug, can you make one for me?" That did it and the rest is history.

You are joining the Brotherhood of the Blue Bob's with your choice of colors. Professor G is the president of the club.
I usually put inside a beautiful speckled glaze of multiple blue colors. How about that?

====================

More photos from out of the kiln and the Wish List tomorrow. Cheers, Wendy

oh wow. Those colors...
Shame about the crack. But it looks like you did a great job of repair.

I'm really digging some of the work you're doing on the glazes with this batch.

Philot thank you so much. I was a painter for many years before devoting my time to ceramics. It's helped me in many ways when using glazes. I wish they were as easy as paints.

================================

This first mug I'm showing is by RVICTOR. He and I made a deal and I requested to glaze it myself. Now that I've seen his work I should have let him do it. I'm lucky that Dan is really happy with his new Bosko Tribute mug Thank you RVICTOR.

=======================================

Back to the Wish List #5 out of the kiln projects.

First up our friend Joanne asked for a copy of one of the Zombie Village mugs I'd made for Dan.
So I glazed one just the same and then painted the girl in the same colors as Dan's mug.

Next I was asked by Dale, Muskrat and Lloyd Alohahaha to make them each a Sacramento Crawl mug from 2010.

This was the first mold (it's now broken and thrown out) I'd ever owned. It was made by Mike L.. It was also the first mug I'd ever cast and made. Psycho Tiki D asked me to make it and the rest is history. Anyway I always said that I would make some specials from this and now that I've made these and a few for Dan I've ended this run. There are around 60 total.

All the white, red and coral colors are painted on and baked in the home oven to set the paint.

Setting the paint with heat last night.

Next up is Dan's Maori lamp. I used a Duncan flat glaze called Cortyard. It has put a yellow color into all of the indentations. A gloss glaze would have darkened them and shown detail better. However Dan loves this glaze because it makes the lamp look old.

Photos with a flash.

Photos without a flash.

Tyber Tiki what do you think about this glaze? I have other courtyard glazes even a blue and brown. Yours will be glazed when I hear back from you.

I'm interested in hearing how you all think this glaze looks on the Lamp. Thank you, Wendy

Speckled on the inside is fine for my (Jeff's) mug, Wendy. I leave the decision to your amazing artistic taste!

Wow
Love all the colors
A lot.....

Lamp looks killer!!

LoriLovesTiki will do.

hang10tiki this part is really fun to show.

KAHAKA thank you. You make many killer lamps!

===================================

These photos will finish off the first load of Wish List #5 out of the kiln.

These photos showed so much that I held them until now.

Top shelf of the kiln.

Bottom shelf of the kiln.

Now for the close up's of IDoVooDoo's two projects.

First his huge Maori necklace.

Next his Tiki Torture Bamboo Bar coconut mug without a flash.

Once again but with a flash.

How'd I do VooDoo? Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2015-04-17 14:22 ]

How? How, you ask? IT'S PERFECT!!!!!! AND AMAZERING!!!

i knew that would be your reaction, idovoodoo! i saw it in person and it's even better than you think!

Yes! It looks so great! Thank you Wendy! The Tiki peeps are blessed to have you!!!

Hi Wendy,

I love how Dan's Maori Lamp looks. For mine would it be possible to use a darker color such as the Cortyard Brown you've mentioned? I would even be open to a gloss glaze if it results in a darker color.

Oh and the Tiki Torture Bamboo Bar coconut mug looks incredible...the details rock!

Thanks,

Tyber Tiki

IDoVoodoo I'm so happy right now. Cool.

kingstiedye thank you Bullet.

IDoVoodoo if I didn't have all of you with your ideas my thread wouldn't be nearly as interesting. I'm happy to have all of you!

Tyber Tiki this is the glaze that I wanted to use on your lamp. It becomes darker in all of the carving indentations. It is a gloss but a good one. What do you think about this one?

MaukaHale Tiki Tapa Bob on a past Wish List.
No Flash.

With a flash.

===============================

It's time to get back to glazing. Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2015-04-17 14:32 ]

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2015-04-17 14:33 ]

Wow oh wow
Love this part
Colors, colors and more great colors
Outstanding

Hi Wendy,

I think that gloss glaze would look great!!! and it's definitely darker....so yes lets definitely go with that one.

Thanks!

Tyber Tiki

hang10tiki me too! I've been working on RVICORS mug for two days and today will be the third. Some go fast and some do not. I'm working on the next kiln load. Yours will be in it along with ebtiki's and LoriLoveTiki's mugs. Photos soon.

Tyber Tiki will do. Yours will also be in the next load. I only have 3 mugs glazed and RVICTORS being worked on so it will be awhile.

=========================================

Progress Report for Wish List #5.

ebtiki took one of my Tiki Bob's from page 406. He requested traditional colors.

The little white spot at the bottom is light flash on wet glaze.

Clear gloss over underglaze.

=================================

These next two mugs are for hang10tiki.

These are all the glazes for the first mug.

I start with all the black and white.

Then layer one and then

layer two of the clear gloss glaze.

If you have glaze in a bowl and you need to take a break for lunch all you need to do is put a very wet paper towel over the bowl and even the brush and it will be perfect when you start again.

Now I did the leaf green and Caribbean blue colors on the outside of the mugs and brown on the coconuts and tiny Bob.

All done.

It looks like I did these all in one day. Not so because it takes three layers of each glaze.

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Cheers, Wendy

Man oh man that's kool
I can't wait
Awesome update Wendy
Made my weekend......
:)

hang10tiki if electricity was cheaper or I had a small kiln I sure would do these faster. Oh well anticipation is fun too. I hope they turn out really well for you.

===============================

Here was one more photo of IDoVooDoo's necklace from the side. I need to start printing addresses so Dan can ship these projects.

================================

Wish List #5 progress report.

So far RVICTOR's Tiki Modern mug has been the hardest to glaze. Fingers crossed it turns out well. I spent 3 days on this one mug.

First I choose the colors that matched the cover of the book best. This is a terrific book to add to your collections.

Then I started with all the black areas using the book and RVICTORS excellent drawing. If you are watching his thread you know he could have done this mug himself. I'm pleased he choose me because I like to be challenged.

Every color has to be done 3 times. It's best to let them completely dry between layers.

Next the orange/red and then

the caramel color.

Here's where the slow down began. To match the book I needed to keep the first color out of the indentations.

The first caramel layer is done.

Here's the mug so far from

each side.

I changed rooms the next day so I could listen to some mindless chatter on TV.

The second layer of caramel is added.

This same day I did the third layer.

Now it's beginning to look like the cover.

The underglaze (Duncan Concepts) that I am using is a gloss. So now it was time to do a white glaze over the white bisque. I got out the little squeeze bottle.

I had a visitor! He said your lines are not perfect. Oh well!

You can see how well this works. I couldn't do this with a brush. I fill it up completely and that equals the 3 layers. I couldn't do that with the caramel because it would run into the indentations and then I'd have to clean it out. That happened with the brush too even though I was very careful.

This is now finished and hopefully it will resemble the book close enough to be recognizable.

All of Sven's books are wonderful and he also has a video too that we love.

My hope is that all the glaze stays put and comes out good. I did my best.

Cheers, Wendy

Wow, Wendy - your Tiki Modern mug is AMAZING!

Thank you ebtiki but it's all RVICTOR's idea. I just had to read his mind to pull it off. Well and look at his drawing.

Wendy

Wow Wendy, everything is amazing! The Maori is crazy, and I love the tapa Bob.
Question on the glaze on this new one... Why didn't you paint white gloss over the whole half, then carmel on top of that? Just in the areas you want? Glazing seems like such a random thing. Like what you think will work, doesn't.

Anyway, just curious.

Wendy - It looks great. I kind of feel bad that it took so long to glaze. We could have decided to shortcut on the white inlay white detail...but I guess then it wouldn't be as cool.
Looks great!!! We will all be crossing our fingers that the kiln gods smile upon the Tiki Modern mug.

You keep mentioning that I could have done the mug myself...but then I wouldn't have a Cevola for my collection. Gotta have at least one of all the greats!

Woodtiki it all comes down to what you need to do to correct mistakes. The Concept glazes will override each other which is wonderful. So doing it this way when some of the caramel glaze ran into the indentations I could use a slim brush to wipe it out. You can't get it all but then adding the white this way on top of it hides the mistake. If I did the white first and then caramel it would be harder to hide a mistake and I might end up going back and forth. You don't want to build the glaze up too high because it then will run.

Or look at it this way. I didn't want the glazes to blend with each other. So the caramel glaze was stuck to the bisque fired piece and the white was stuck to the bisque fired piece. Hopefully that helps to keep them from running or blending with each other.

Also when I filled the indentations with the white glaze it filled and helped to make the caramel lines look straighter than I painted them. Hopefully.

We'll see if any of these expectations really come to be proved.

RVICTOR you are sweet. Artists rarely are paid for all the hours they put into their pieces. We just work to get compliments. I'm a ham and I love them. Now if it works...

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[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2015-04-19 21:43 ]

Very nice
RVICTORs Tiki Modern mug is going to be killer