tikis by marcus thorn

Excellent Stories Termite, though I wish it had more pictures. Happy to see you carving the BIG stuff Everywhere.

Look who's tiki is on the cover of Aussie mg TCB :D (sorry, phone pics)

And the centrefold too!

On 2008-04-25 02:33, hewey wrote:
Look who's tiki is on the cover of Aussie mg TCB :D
And the centrefold too!

OMG!! Is that Marcus?? He's beautiful; I had no idea.. :lol:

Hey, did anyone notice that Tiki in the background?

T :wink:

Marcus - tell us what you're up to maaaate!!!!

PS Ruby Peru, any relation to Bobby Peru???

You mean there's something Besides a tiki there?
What did I Miss? :lol: :lol:

On 2008-04-30 06:27, harro wrote:
PS Ruby Peru, any relation to Bobby Peru???

Dont think so...

Aloha Marcus!!!

I Know your busy with your art my friend, but I would love to see more of your amazing carvings, Mahalo Mooney

Aloha friends sorry for my long absence - things have just got real busy on the home front and my commissions for carvings is piling up so I needed to get the chisel and mallet into gear so I can clear some of the backlog before i head back to Hawaii next month from 25th June to 25th July - I have been asked to carve at the Antiques and Collectibles Show and also be a guest at a Hospitality Show. Good for getting my name out there but not so good for my carvings progress. If anyone is going to be around Honolulu at that time I would sure like to meet up and have a drink, so get in touch with me or I go to The Duke on a Friday night.

I have been too busy to take progress shots - I even sent out one piece without having a single shot of it!! that was a f*ck up!! and now I cant get in touch with the guy so a bit annoyed - I guess you will have to take my word that it was a great piece hehehe.
I did an interview with Koop Kooper - link is attached so check it out. I probably raved on a little but if you've met me you will know how shy and introverted I am NOT!!
The beginning of this year had me doing a lot of promo stuff and not enough carving so I have to make up for lost time...

http://www.COCKTAILNATION.PODOMATIC.COM
http://www.MYSPACE.COM/LOUNGELOTHARIO
http://www.myspace.com/LOUNGELOTHARIO

Here are some pics of a "Beatnik" gear shift that was commissioned by one of the Beatniks Car Club - I am sure you all know who they are. This project was a bit of a challenge as all skulls are but I needed to humanise the skull to give him "Koolsville attitude". The last few shots were taken by my mate Pete Walker (Pix by Pete) thanks Peter you know how to make my pieces pop!

On 2008-05-15 01:38, tiki beat by marcus thorn wrote:

I have been too busy to take progress shots - I even sent out one piece without having a single shot of it!! that was a f*ck up!! and now I cant get in touch with the guy so a bit annoyed - I guess you will have to take my word that it was a great piece hehehe.

Here are some pics of a "Beatnik" gear shift that was commissioned by one of the Beatniks Car Club..

Well I believe you. What sort of piece was it?

Very Kool shifter - you nailed that expression on the mouth/lips!

No time for record-keeping pics? blasphemy. You owe it to yourself..

Keep that Beat going Marcus!

Tama :)

Hello stranger :D Good to know everythings still going well for you. That shifter is awesome, cant wait to see more of your new stuff. Dare I ask where the Buick is at?

That skull is soooo you! It's you as a skull, great self portrait!!!
Thanks for updating your thread.

ST

Excellent shifter knob!! I have been playing around with a skull as well. Thanks for the reference. It sucks when you don't get a chance to photo your work - I have a hard time with that as well. Keep choppin.

Awesome shifter, if at all possible get some pics of it in the ride. Keep the pics and inspiration coming.

King-B OUT

Excellent stuff Marcus What a Beautiful piece of Oak Is it? Awesome carving, you really made this skull full of life OR the beatnik look dead as well. Perfect finish, what did you use?
Slow down a bit and enjoy this Great part of your life, also take more photos to post Here! :lol: :lol:
Great seeing you home and around these parts again.

Been missing your pix too but I have to say that this gear shift knob is amazing. Is that oak ? Beautiful finish as well, looks like lacquer.
You're living the dream but looking at your work, this is what you deserve :)
Bravo,

Benjamin

On 2008-05-15 01:38, tiki beat by marcus thorn wrote:

Well finally this pic puts it all in perspective (so to speak)...

On 2008-05-15 06:21, Sneakytiki wrote:
That skull is soooo you! It's you as a skull, great self portrait!!!

YES, Sneakytiki is right - its a self portrait, but what you might not have noticed is that it is carved at 1:1 scale. Finally this pic shows us Marcus's trick to being the "human termite" and carving like a crazy wood hungry animal - he has APE hands!! The size of two normal hands put together!!

Soon he might end up like this guy:

PS good to see you back here with new pics mate!!

mahalo for all the kind words its good to be back on tc for a while before i head over to hawaii again. i will try and post some more pics soon thankyou to tamapoutini. hewey. sneakytiki. alohastation. king bilt. ben. benella. harro

Nice! I love how the top coat shows the grain so well.

Always very cool work marcus!Hope all is well we miss your posts but an artist has to stay busy , may good luck always shine your way,Aloha your friend Mooney

Hey Marcus, What're you up to now?? ( I'll bet you're down in Peru viziting a certain Pin-up girl??? Huh Huh Aha :lol: . Some time ago you asked for my address and thes weekend I received your FanTasTic Mug in the Mail, TIKI BEAT on the front and MOON Tiki on the back, The TWO Tribes wit Tiki Moon and TIKI BEAT.
I was Floored, Man I can't tell you how you Made My Day, Thanks a Hunnert times.
HappyHappyHappy

update for Marcus ~ he's carving in hawaii! he'll be at the All Hawaii Collector's Show on Oahu this weekend.

here's the scoop! (its a press release~ i'm a friend of Karen)

Australian develops new audience for contemporary South Pacific sculpture in Hawaii.

Janelle Maguire embraces both art and artist over the 4th of July weekend.

“Until recently my nieces didn’t understand my obsession with large carved images, and then they met Marcus and pffft objection over” remarked Honolulu Interior Designer and Art Dealer Karen Maguire. “Marcus’s colorful personality and large scale work won them over in no time flat.”

The object of Janelle’s affection was Marcus’s first carving begun in Hawaii at the first of the year
and quickly dubbed “Henry” after the Kaneohe Street the massive Mango trunk was salvaged.
Maguire 11, of Kailua-Kona said of the 12’ carving: “ I love Henry, he’s great. He looks strong, like he could attack, but he’s not scary.”

Sculptor Marcus Thorn of Queensland Australia. will show his work in Hawaii for the first time this weekend at the Hawaii all-collectors show July 18- 19. The exhibit is the result of an ongoing collaboration between the Artist and Maguire.

Karen Maguire: “When Marcus started the Marquesan style piece. I began to suspect that we were on to something. Young and old, the entire neighborhood stopped in for a look, and as the piece took shape it seemed to appeal to everyone.”

“My niece told me she liked Henry because he’s ‘different ’ and I think there is always truth in what kids say. We are in a place where the richest of carving traditions existed, but how much of the past do we know about ? So much was destroyed and there are few references and examples.
( World wide fewer than 200 pieces of Hawaiian sculpture are known to exist today) If one thinks about it most of the contemporary sculpture we are used to seeing derives from only a handful of originals.”

“Through our work, Marcus is re-imagining the original forms. As a community we are fortunate to have the Bishop Museum.” said Maguire. Marcus and I have been able to discover so much that interests us through their library, exhibits, and helpful staff. Our goal is that eventually through commissioned work Thorn will able to explore the sculpture of the entire South Pacific region” .

“Looking at Marcus’s work, its fantastic scale and complexity reminds one of how extraordinary the work of the ancient carvers is .”

Friday and Saturday the public will be able to see both of Thorns large sculptures up close, and talk with the carver. Demonstrations will be ongoing during the show.
Should be a good time for all, but says Maguire: “ Bring the kids- it’s something they’ll actually like “.

Where: Hawaii All-Collectors Show, Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall
When: July 18, 19, 2008 Friday 3pm -9 pm, Saturday 10 am -6 pm

Marcus Thorn in Hawaii now thru July 23, and again in September 2008.

On 2008-07-16 21:19, dogbytes wrote:

Marcus Thorn in Hawaii now thru July 23, and again in September 2008.

Man, is this guy living the dream or what? Just don't forget to drop by and say g'day to the little people once in while! :lol:

Congrats Marcus!!

From that first post in 2005... to carving in Hawaii...

He certainly is... living the dream!

Good on you Marcus - behave yourself over there. :wink: Like Paipo says, dont forget the online-Ohana!

Karen reports meeting a few TC'ers and many others this weekend. here's the first pix she sent for me to post.

Way to go Marcus!!!

Wow man! That's awesome...you deserve it. Surf one for me, won'tcha?!

Awesome stuff Marcus, Looks like you have everyone eating out of your hands. You'll be a local celebrity for years to come. Way to go!

Got to spend a couple of hours, share a few beers and some poki with Marcus at Karen's house before the show! Some proof that Marcus was actually working :lol:

Karen's Dad was keeping himself busy and out of trouble...boy, some of his stories about his earlier days in Hawaii were hilarious....We won't mention the firetruck :)

Forgot to bring my camera to the show :(

Aloha, Freddie

You can tell this guy was hand applying his penis enhancing creme...:lol:
Freddie :tiki:

Thanks for the update guys love to see whats up with Markus.

"Marcus Thorn, tiki carver in Hawaii". Im sure its good and interesting, but I dont have sound on this computer! :(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XESaZF33pOQ

i just a hour watchin tiki tv etc coool

Nice interview Marcus, Thanks for the props.

Hi Everyone,

Sorry to have been away so long. Just home again after another trip to Hawaii.

Thought before I got stuck into projects here I’d say an overdue Hey, and follow up on what’s been happening in Hawaii.

I arrived in late June and finished “Henry”. His Hawaiian name given by Karen’s uncle Keoki, is Heneri Kumu Manako- which translates to Henry Mango Tree.

The tree came from Henry street on the Windward side of Oahu and was really nice to carve, initially it was softer and had a texture similar to palm.

It hardened up between trips with very little cracking. Our mango didn’t have a lot of color or character so we decided to finish it in “Trader Vic’s”- which has nothing really to do with Trader Vic’s is just is the name of our Antique finish. We are really happy with the results.

This trip I began an 8’ New Zealand style carving “ Kappy”.

Kappy’s Hawaiian name is Ohai Kapiolani - after Kapiolani Boulevard and Ohai the Hawaiian name for Monkeypod.

Kappy is made from a beautiful old log, it is my first time with this wood and I loved working it. Kappy has a beautiful long sweeping grain, a light sap wood and deeply colored heart. The result is a nice high/low shading similar to what occurred on the Tiki Beat tiki. My plan is to do a lot of surface tattoo work on this piece which I’m looking forward to.

I arrived in June and the late July date for the Hawaii all-collectors show rolled around quickly. Loading sculpture at this scale is a challenge. Karen’s cousin Pomai has never missed a Big Tiki move for her, even though he lives on Maui. Pomai, a Maui fireman and former Honolulu Bus driver got the driving honors because I prefer the other side of the road and don’t really know the city all that well.

There were moments that didn’t go so smoothly, someday we will show the film under heading; “How not to move 1000+ lbs. of wood”, but Kappy, Henry and their stupid humans survived.

The show was such a good time we signed on again for next summer. Ilene and Wayne who run the show were awesome to work with. They offered so much assistance (fork lift) and support, and are just the nicest people. It’s an enormous show, and I highly recommend it as a not to be missed experience for anyone interested in seeing lots of Tiki, Hawaiiana and Vintage Collectables.

Karen has always had a lot of support from her family for her Antiques and Collectables business, so our double booth was fully staffed with Pops, Cousins, Nieces and the indispensible Auntie Irene.

To date I’m the only non Maguire ever to work in the booth, so I think this means I’ve been adopted into the Ohana.

With my 2 big carvings Karen showed a nice collection of Vintage Velvet paintings: Tyree (2), Leeteg (1), Behan (3), and Miller (1).

I met some great Tiki Central folks. Freddie- House of Ku is a new mate, enjoyed the good times we had enjoying Pau Hana beer and poke. Max is a new friend too, many of you may know him from his association with the Thor store. Mr Van tiki whose been doing outstanding work with art mugs also stopped in to say aloha. The Tikimaster himself; Jerome made a point to come in to the show to welcome me to the Islands. I really appreciated the support he offered for our venture. I also met a couple that share my love of Art and Hot rods; Jason and Tracy. Both artists themselves, they treated me to a nice ride in their sweet old 51 Chevy and 53 Dodge.

Yvette, made everything possible by holding down things at home, I’m looking forward to a trip soon where she’ll get to meet everyone in Hawaii and experience the Aloha Spirit first hand.

I will post photos later today.

Ok I know I said I would post photos today (yesterday) but I ran out of day so here they are now...

Hawaiian Cultural Centre - One of my rare days off the chain Karen took me on an outing. (however, I am now suspicious as I feel it may have been work disguised as a day off?)

Giving Henri the tiki beat "trader vics style" antique finish

My next project in its natural state

taking shape

Loading tikis onto the truck to take to my live carving debut in Hawaii

All tucked in waiting for my return next month.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my stuff - Hewey I am sorry I am becoming a bit of a tourist down under great to see that you are starting on some projects of your own however I feel it is a sad thing that you have stopped the striping because you do have a flare - but admire your choice to concentrate on one or two things - I wish I had more time to paint, maybe next year.

Ps. Tikibeats home for sale in Australia, Greenbank Queenlsand - check it out if you are looking for a new place
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bin/rsearch?a=depi&id=105094006&width=800&height=600&img=m&p=10&s=qld&t=res

On 2008-08-06 03:37, tiki beat by marcus thorn wrote:

Unbelievable! Probably the nicest tiki I've seen posted here all year - classic, vintage style Poly Pop, but 100% Marcus all the way too. These trips are definitely bringing out something special in your work!
I can't wait for the next chapter....

Edit: I should preview my posts...I wasn't referring to the RAW LOG! Fixed now :lol:
PS Swank pad Marcus - my wife insisted I saved all of the photos!

[ Edited by: Paipo 2008-08-06 13:10 ]

love the antique finish and design marcus, next time your in sydney let me or hewey know well have to meet up ,we might be organising a tiki carving night at a vw/hotrod/custom bike shop in penrith when it get a tad warmer .Cheers Brendon

Very nice work mate :D

I wish I had more time to paint, maybe next year.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Love the house pics too, they're great

Truly outstanding tiki's. Love the toolmarks and the finish. Exceptional work as always!!

Rockin work - a outstanding finish and great details
i cant' wait to see more pics
greets
Akuae

Wow, Marcus, What a treat, Unbelievable tikis. I believe your work has Really blossomed with these trips and exposure to the Far off tiki worlds. Very professional looking stuff here and you know now that you have raised your bar we'll expect nothing less from now on :lol:
I can't say enough how much respect you have earned.

Man we have to wait forever but its always worth it.
Incredible Mate!

The marq is just way cool man, I love your style, can't wait to see how's the next come up.

Aloha, Marcus

Great meeting you at the collector's show. What an impressive and fantastic piece of work you had there. Keep it up as I (and I'm sure everyone else here) will look forward to seeing all your future creations.

-Weird Unc