My carving

On 2014-04-10 04:48, Will carve wrote:
looks like you wrote the book.

I didn’t even read the book Will …not all of it anyway. And the illustrations were not that helpful either.
What I “imagined “to be in the book was more of an inspiration more so than the content.

I was not very successful in my attempt to salvage this spirit figure. He still looks like a muppet so I’m just going to call him “Henson” and move on. Another shorty at 11 inches.

Dig all these lil dudes......

Thanks H10

I tried using a torch on this but lack good technique so he's a bit scorched in spots. 11 inches tall.

The Whale
I wasn’t happy with the way the finish turned out so I just painted him.
This carving can go either of two ways. The first version is for any Melville fans.

“There she breaches! There she breaches!” was the cry…
“Aye, breach your last to the sun, Moby Dick!” - Ahab

The curve on this log suggested it wanted to become a whale. I managed to find a tiki connection but I still consider it folk art…Following is an excerpt from the book THE NATURAL WORLD OF THE MAORI by Margaret Orbell
“Sometimes a special whale would be a guardian spirit. Several of the ancestral canoes were escorted on their voyage from Hawaiki by such whales, and one famous ancestor named Paikea arrived on the back of a whale….. There are many family groups with their own guardian whale. For example, a white whale with a taniko bands around its middle was the ancestral guardian of a family group living on the Coromandel Peninsula; when they glimpsed it in the distance while they were out fishing, they knew it was watching over them”.

The leviathan is 20 inches. I knocked out this little 9 inch Paikea carving just to be safe and tie the whale to the tiki theme.

While on the subject of fish, all of the fins are installed on the Gaff top. I tried some of the TransTint dye but I’ll probably end up painting it as well. I will add the barbels after I mount it on a piece of driftwood. I hope to actually finish this project some day but don’t hold your breath…

[ Edited by: amate 2014-05-02 06:26 ]

Well, my morning is complete with all these great pictures and artwork. Time to go to work. Thanks Amate.

I just love your work. Do you have a shop somewhere like Etsy that I can refer people to?

I like the flying fish bro...

very cool.

I'm glad you enjoy the work Hilda. If I bring a smile to someones face,it was worth making the effort.
I'm still trying to get it together on that Etsy thing Charles. I would like to have everything I'm interested in come together in one site but there is no simple solution for me. I hate to add to my list of usernames and passwords to remember but multiple sites my be my only option. I'll probably get around to it right after I finish that Gaff Top catfish :wink: I'm not real big on the technology stuff.
until then, I'll try to figure out how to update my profile with my email address. I don't always log in so I'm sometimes slow to respond to PMs.
Thanks for looking in Jeff. Always appreciate the comments.

Stuff looks good. Although, GROG think this guy was supposed to be carved more like THIS:

Then you could have called him Johnson, rather than Henson.

[ Edited by: GROG 2014-05-04 10:20 ]

That would explain that guy's huge grin. He's sporting quite the woody.

That's really funny, because he's carved out of wood!

:wink:

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2014-05-04 11:27 ]

YER should be spelled YOU'RE.

-------The Spelling Police.

All your work is awesome amate, the pics are great too
and I love the fact that you listen to what the wood wants to become,
and work a lot from there, not to just make what you want, but hearing
and respecting the wishes of the material you are working "for" :)

On 2014-05-04 12:03, GROG wrote:
YER should be spelled YOU'RE.

-------The Spelling Police.

Better?

[ Edited by: TikiTacky 2014-05-04 12:38 ]

Always good stuff Amate---nice to see you digging some fish out of the wood.

Thanks gang!
"Mila" is 12 inches tall.

The first of the Five Dusky Phantoms…

WIP on Dusky Phantoms #2 and #3.

Superb!

Mila looks pissed. Got a bit of attitude there.

Great stuff !
I'm diggin the stool she's sitting on.

Mila looks great.

Thanks a lot Cy and Hilda!
Grog – I haven’t learned to carve smiles yet. That’s my goal for 2015. Right now I’m just trying to get the women’s faces to look feminine. I actually tried to put an understated, Mona Lisa type smile on this gal but somehow it did not seem to work. Now I know what I did wrong; it’s the eyes. Out of habit, I gave her the same glaring gaze I use on the hardened male expressions. Maybe I can fix her…
Will, I’ve got a couple of stool substitutes very similar to that I use myself. Hmmmm…come to think of it, one of them has a slightly pointed head and not so comfy. Maybe that’s why Mila is pissed! :D

your army just keeps growing... 8)

On 2014-06-01 05:59, amate wrote:
Now I know what I did wrong; it’s the eyes. Out of habit, I gave her the same glaring gaze I use on the hardened male expressions.

Yep, it's the eyes. If you give a smile and she still has glaring eyes, it'll only make her look sinister or sly. It's all about the eyes. Good luck.

Mila is incredible, Amate! That's some delicate carving. Love the paint job. Very sweet little figure.

If you carve really huge hooters and show lots of cleavage (or make her topless) then nobody really notices the face/expression. :D

Jeff – the minis are working for me right now. I can satisfy my creative compulsion without taking up a lot of space.
Much appreciated BigT.
Grog –Revisiting Mila, I tried to exaggerate the facial contours and then closed her eyes. It seems to have sweetened her disposition a bit. I am always open to your advice on the facial expressions. Seems to me you know what you’re talking about. :wink:

More minis…all under a 12 inches tall.
Mini Marq.

Mini Marq Masks

Mini Moai

And started a mini Maori.

Here are #2 and #3 of the Dusky Phantoms. After I learn to carve women’s faces, I’m going to tackle carving hair on the males. :D

Using a hat is so much easier.

I also started on Phantoms #4 and #5.

And then finished up on #4.

Still in process on #5 and the last of the Dusky Phantoms...here is a progress shot.

While in our local art museum, I noticed my image in the reflective doors of the elevator. I had never taken a selfie before so I thought I’d try one.

That selfie gave me the idea to do a self portrait so started one of those. I’m pretty happy with the likeness so far. :P

Enough goofing around… back to tiki carving. :tiki:

One of the best "selfie" carves I've ever seen :)
Great update as usual.

Good job. Mila's not pissed off anymore. You've been carving up a storm. Good stuff. Keep it up.

That's too funny for words.
Great stuff.
Lil guys do go faster.
Can I mail you some fronds, please?
You'll be hooked.

That's a ton of beautiful work, Amate. It always improves my day when I get to see your new art.

Hahahaha!!!

I love it..

as always your work looks fantastic

Hello hello, I'm new to this forum and to tiki in general.
Amate your work is very good.
I'm def. enjoying all the carvings I've seen so far and have a long way to go to see them all.
Maybe some day I'll give it a try with some carvings.
I do wood work but haven't carved as of yet.
Keep it up guys and gals. Later.

[ Edited by: king L 2014-07-01 16:54 ]

[ Edited by: king L 2014-07-01 16:55 ]

Thank you all and glad to see you enjoyed my little gag!
Will – I tried carving a frond and goofed it up. I went out and found another one so I’ll give it another try.
King L. – give the carving a go and I’ll bet you enjoy it. Since you do woodwork, I’m sure you have a bench chisel lying around and you can make your own mallet out of any scrap piece of wood about 3 inches in diameter. Welcome to TC.
Now for some larger things.
The marq is 22 inches. I’m to the point where I now consider 22” as a large carve.

The mask on the right is about 2 x 4 feet if you count the feathers and raffia hair. The other a bit taller.

Still working on getting that elusive smile. Now I have to learn how to carve a bee hive hair do!

“The Forbidden Zone”
I had to throw at least one gag in. This former 2x10 is now a 5 foot tall blue Kon-Tiki.

Those masks are outrageous amate!

Amate,

I just went through this entire thread and I'm shocked at your body of work. To say your prolific would be a major understatement. Being relatively new to TC (having taken a 10yr absence) I've been discovering some of the amazing work being carved and yours is a definite standout for me. And right here in Texas. SO cool!!!

The care you put into your work, the bodies, the countenances, the finishes, all are remarkable. Oh and the killer pics you do really make them pop. The Moai bust on page 3 is one of the best I've ever seen. It just doesn't get better than that. Also the mini marquesan mask (on pg 50? on the bottom) is the coolest. Alien eyes!! I can only hope to one day put out work with such quality work as yours. Thanks for the inspiration sir. Much respect. -Jay

WoW. Now I understand why I am hooked on TC. Awesome carvers on here, Love your work.

Thank you Jay
Thank you Laz

I finally got around to putting some stain on this little Teko Teko.

I’ve been spending a lot of time experimenting with different methods to adding some hair to carvings I have on the shelf.

I was wondering about you, nice to see you back with more of your great little carvings. Nice job with
the hair on the last picture. that fella with the club is really cool.

On 2010-09-21 12:35, amate wrote:
Grand Poobah/Surfintiki- I guess I should say “things I will do differently next time” instead of “mistakes”
Clarita – still far from perfect and even though I am outclassed by the vast majority of artists on this site, I am happy with the progress I’ve made. These are just for personal consumption and I'll stay at it as long as it's fun.
The next four are pieces that have been sitting unfinished in the closet for a couple of years. It’s time to get them out of there. The last one is getting close but still is not finished.

Dig this guy. He really sets a nice, easy vibe.

very cool, amate. glad to see some updates from you.

Nice pics.
Great carves.

Good to see your work again amate, the red one is a beaut!

Thanks for checking in guys. Trying to get back into the swing...

Haven’t carved a tiki in a while now. I did this little marq just to knock the dust off. 6 inches tall.

Mostly experimenting with different techniques for adding hair to my army of bald, freaky folk art figures.

Started to rough one out…this one is a bit larger.

It never fails to improve my day when Amate puts up some new work.

I agree with Professor G.