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

Wendy,

Your and Dan's talents continue to shine through and make my day. I love the different Bobs' and the detail of each one you are creating.

The glaze you did for the other Bob bowl works great for me. I appreciate you thinking of me and making the bowl.

Thank you,

PTD

Every time I think it can't get much better, Wendy makes it much better. The count has gone up to 4 (four) giggles.* Blue Kahuna, I don't recommend four Rum Giggles (lots of fruit juice in the recipe, though--practically all vitamins, that drink).

*Manly, mad scientist giggles, mind you, not girl-y ones.

Ole!

Bob-o-liciousness, they look very cool.

W
Sweet
Now I want a BOB BOWL too

Yep
I'm in
Gotta have 1

Fast progress report so I can get to work!

Psycho Tiki D, got it same glaze as Dan's and mark it #2. Here is your bowl.
Now that it was solid enough I turned it over and filled in the bottom attachment area behind each tiki. I cleaned it up with a damp paper towel rubbing back and forth.

I added the lettering to the bottom of the bowl.

Now it is ready to sit and dry.

Professor G I'm ready for the next manly giggle!
Old lava rock wall at the bottom.



You have a choice to make here. The carved portion of the mug is blue. To me it will look like an island night scene. I can leave it like this and then after it has been glazed I can add small dots to look like stars in the sky with enamel paint which I would then bake on. Or I can just go ahead and super carve this area behind the trees. Either is fine with me just tell me which you prefer.
Stars behind the trees or super carved?

#24 and #25 Cleaned and Drying

The Blue Kahuna - your sombrero is almost completed. I have to say that it is as heavy at those I made by hand in the past. It still needs the bottom finished and the straw hole placed. Here are the steps made so far.

I peeled the edges up so I could lift it out of the mold.

I flipped it over on the table.

I cut away the excess clay from the top.

I put it back in the mold and cut away the excess from the underside.

Now it's looking how I wanted it to look.

I brought out the mug and used it to mark the sombrero.

Using this mark I carved away some clay.

Now there is an inner ledge that will sit on the top of the mug.

Next I made a ring that will sit around the outside top of the mug.

The sombrero will shrink as it dries and I will constantly adjust the rings so that they will fit. I also need to leave room for the glaze.

hang10tiki I have your order and since we pour today your small Bob's and bowl will be part of the work, thank you.

Bob Bowls are $150 buyers choice of colors.

Holler Waller thank you for your "cool" remark.

Confession, I slept in and now I'm behind so off I go to the garage. Starting tomorrow it is to be in the 70's for a few days. That should help my molds dry out better.

Thank you all for stopping by. I love to read your notes. Cheers, Wendy

Instead of just saying "Oh Wow! every post, Wendy, I am just staring at the daily photos
of your work with my mouth wide open, Jungle Ginger has been checking in on me to make sure
I am not suffering from an embolism.

Wendy, regarding your comment that the sombrero is just as heavy . . . that's going to be okay, nobody said drinking was easy and I'm ready for the challenge . . . courage :)

It looks spectacular as is (meaning in its unglazed state), I think my head will explode when I see the final product!

See you and Dan later in the week!

[ Edited by: The Blue Kahuna 2012-02-22 04:12 ]

Nice to see your works looking So GOOD Wendy, Nice Stuff!

Just grabbed a shot of Pyrat Rum n sat down for my nightly view of the Wendy show...
Marvelous as usual...

Chuck Tatum is Tiki - I don't mind those wows at all, thank you.

The Blue Kahuna - start lifting weights. I want to be famous for heavy long lasting ceramics. Nothing delicate here.

Benzart - dear friend its such a pleasure to see you here. You have over 10,000 posts and every single one of them is sweet and dear just like you.

hang10tiki - here's the next show, yesterday was one of those 10 hour days.

We started our morning with putting the molds together and pouring a set.

Here's my star of the show. Dan the clean up man.

I put mugs outside in the wind to dry. There are dry Zombie Torches waiting to be sanded.


Last night I fired a load. Two hour pre-heat to get out any residual water. A 12.5 hour slow ramp and a 15 minute hold at the perfect temperature. The AeroVent ran the whole time to keep the heat circulating perfectly. If the Bumatay come out fine we will make the trip to Grass Valley this week to deliver all the sea life to Roge so he can start on the newest style lamp.

I had many parts poured and waiting in plastic wrap for assembly. This is my very first Bumatay Fish Bowl.

Trimming the bottom of the bowl.

Checking to see how I wanted to attach the fish heads. Notice my fish oil water-sponge container in the background?

I had to cut a part out of the bottom of each fish so that air can escape.

This is the tool I use.

From the top.

One side.

Another side.

I hope you have all been watching MadDogMikes progress on his trailer and all the creative accouterments. I want to be a part of his whole Mohave experiment. Since he's not had time to make his own mug to match his project I have made one for him. The theme is Cannibal. So here's my version. To match it will be glazed in Yellow, Orange and Brown.

Tongues on tikis are my favorite.

I cut the back of small Bob and used sticky slip to glue him in place.

Cannibal Bob is taste testing his victim.

Did you know that Bob's have feet? Well maybe only the victim does.

Close up view.

Side view.

The back with my message to Mike.

Loki Tiki asked for a Tiki Bob to be changed into his dog Boris. Boris has a nickname of Tiki BA. The photo is of him.





Jeff is this done or would you like jowls added over the corners of the mouth like your dog? I will still carve in fur line all over the mug once you approve. I'll start on your next mug tonight or tomorrow.

Now it is time to go open those molds and start all over again. Oh I did do my Spanish lessons at 11 PM last night. It was a good day.

The kiln will be opened tomorrow when it have totally cooled. Cheers, Wendy

All your stuff is COOL but I am especially in love with the way your Bumatay Fish Bowl is turning out. Consider me on the list for one of those! Great work!!!

On 2012-02-22 09:10, danlovestikis wrote:

That is awesome! Mike will be thrilled!

YAY!!
This is so much amazing work, I am almost speechless(but I am too big of a ham to be completely mute :) )
I think stars would look really cool on mister Bob, but to be honest, even as it is with the trees, it is absolutely beautiful!
Way to go, Wendy!
~Zero
(P.S. - Hi, Dan!)

Hilarious!!!! I didn't know Tiki Bob had feet. I love it Wendy! It will be a great addition to the Tahitian Cannibal Trailer entourage :D

Thank you so much

Mike

Wendy, you're on fire.

Everything is looking beautiful. I really believe everyone involved in this is feeling like they're getting the best Bob in the world.

Good Morning Friends

Trader Tom, I'm so happy you like the Bumatay Bowl. I'll keep you in my mind for one.

WestADad, Mike was happy.

ZeroTiki, Professor G said yes to the stars. I caught Dan standing in front of your two paintings the other day. We love them.

MadDogMike, its a joy to be part of your cannibal exhibit for Mohave.

Professor G, today we get the next resin lamp going and I need to pick up 18 gallons of slip so I can keep on pouring. I'm very happy that everyone has liked their mugs.

Progress Report:
Dan sands the top and bottoms of the Zombie Torch mugs and then I fine tune the carving again. Then he'll use the air compressor before we fire.

All the molds together after pouring.

That many molds give me this many tikis.

I'm still keeping up with cleaning each one and then it sits to slowly dry out. I've lost count. When I open the kiln I check how many good mugs I have.

I was given the go ahead by Loki Tiki to add the furry jowls to Tiki BA's face.

I also carved in some fur.



FROM THE SIDE THIS DOG HAS PROBLEMS. JEFF IS GOING TO SEND ME PHOTOS OF HOW HIS DOG LOOKS FROM THE SIDE AND I'LL WORK ON THE NOSE. I'VE NEVER OWNED A DOG. WE ARE CAT PEOPLE.
Next I carved a Mosaic Bob for Atomic Chick.

Now the day begins. I hope you each have something fun or joyful happen to you today. Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-02-23 16:50 ]

Bobdog and mosaic bob,
Very cool Wendy.
U are as busy as u r creative.
Can't wait for the next show.

Dang Wendy! You are one busy woman. just caught up on this thread and all the new nutty stuff. Not a big fan of Bob, but you put so much detail into them that they become something else entirely and much more appealing. Of course you know though I like your sculpted wahines better than a Bob any day! Starting to wonder how awesome a Wendy hula girl would look on one of your resin lamp co-creations...the mind reels! :wink:

hang10tiki you are keeping me busy that's for sure. I put your bowl together last night and your Super Carved Bob is in the kiln.

tigertail777 you have been on my mind I hope the best for you always. I can picture your cereal box in my head. You did such wonderful detail. Roge wants a mermaid (topless) for a lamp so you were reading his mind! Bob has a terrific history and that's what makes him special.

Thank you men. Now on to the
Progress Report

We made the trip to Grass Valley yesterday and I've posted some of Roge's inventory on Marketplace. He now has the four Bumatay to mold for lamps. The rest of the sea creatures needed to be made thicker for molding so they are back home with me. They are making bottomless hanging lamps that will go over tables. Coo!

I opened the kiln yesterday morning. I didn't see any explosions. I haven't unloaded it yet because it was too windy for us to hose these down. Maybe today. Then I'll know if any cracked or if they are keepers.

On the way to Grass Valley we stopped and bought more slip and Royal Blue glaze since you men like it best! Back home it went under the pouring table.

In addition to hang10tikis small Bob bowl I made another one. This time I used the full size Bob's that I had cut the bottoms out of when I found them full of mushy slip. Here is how I made the bowl.

Today will just be a work in the garage, yard and fix the dogs nose day.
Wishing you all a day with smiles, Wendy

Super Wendy,
Thanx 4 all the updates.
Don't forget to eat n drink something you workaholic!

That's one huge bob bowl, that will go fast I'm sure...

Hi hang10tiki, Dan works for tikis and I think he's already taken that one for himself. At your suggestion we are heading out to lunch before we begin our work day. He's already hosed off all the mugs from the kiln and said they were all perfectly fine. It is a very good start to our day. Cheers, Wendy

Now you are making it look easy, Wendy.

That's some good resourcefulness, Wendy. Dan can have breakfast cereal out of his Super Big Bob Bowl to stoke up for some strenuous slip-shaking.

Chuck Tatum is Tiki I wish it were easier. I just think tiki 24 hours a day and that helps plan it out so I minimize my mistakes.

Professor G more like the big Bob bowl will be his new coffee cup.

Progress Report:

Dan took each mug out of the kiln and hit it with a hard hose spray of water inside and out. The he carried them one at a time into the house and put it on the plastic table cloth to dry. None of them cracked. Success!

I assembly line my glazing so even though these are now ready it will be several more weeks before I get to them.

The Missionary Downfall women are still waiting for their bowls to be made. If anyone would like one of these women without a bowl they are $80 plus shipping. I can send better photos or you can check back pages on my thread.

We poured again yesterday and one more week I will have enough Zombie Torches.

Those that were dried we fine tuned and sanded.

Dan air compressed off the dust.

The bottom of the kiln was loaded.

The top of the kiln was loaded. This is load two and it fired last night. It will be cool to open Sunday morning.

I added the lines to hang10tikis bowl.

I wanted to add a water effect to the Bumatay bowl. To protect the fins on top of the heads I filled the bowl with plastic wrap that I've been using to keep the mugs soft until I get to them. then I placed a bowl on my turntable and lowered it down. It was very stable so I worked on making the bottom presentable and then added the small waves.

After the clay on my bowls is leather hard I scrap off clay to make the angles sharper.

MadDogMike your cannibal mug now has lines.

Loki Tiki I removed the short pig nose and added a semi-safe amount of clay to lengthen his nose. Is it better?

Professor G more like the big Bob bowl will be his new coffee cup.

If that's what it takes to get that masked Dan going in the morning, fill it up and let the magic happen.

[ Edited by: Professor G 2012-02-25 10:12 ]

Awesome update...

hang10tiki thank you without comments I would feel all alone
Professor G thank you for the PM I appreciated it too

Prgress Report:

Yesterday I opened the molds and cleaned up 2 more Zombie Torches.
I took orders for a Tiki Bob Bowl from Monte and for a mug for zerostreet (I ordered one of his new Mystery Girl prints, beautiful).
This is Monte's bowl coming out of the mold.

I just did the first step of the clean up on this mug. By the end of the week I will have poured enough for the project.

Confession...Dan and I didn't work hard yesterday after noon. We took a nap and then went to RugbyMatts for a terrific tiki potluck party. Some of our Sacramento Ohana were not able to come and we missed them but otherwise it was a great party.

See what Matt has in his hands, it was made by MadDogMike. Matt will take it to Germany in the future and have his photo taken with it at Tiki establishments. Cool.

Dan just got back from coffee with his men friends so it is time to go to work. The kiln opens today and we are pouring again.

Thank you always for checking in to see what's up and for writing notes which I love to read. Cheers, Wendy

Wendy,

I am so happy you are a frequent updater! I love following your chronicles! Keep up the fantastic work. I love the bowls. I must have missed something from your tutorials, you mentioned hosing off the fired pieces. Is this something I should be doing? Could you please elaborate of this? Thanks!

Have a great Sunday!

Hi Lori, thank you for your note. After you bisque fire your dry clay sculpt you must wipe the inside and outside with clean wet sponges or hose them off which is what I prefer. If you have a spec of dust on your bisque fired ceramic it can cause your glaze to crawl. That means it will pull away and leave an unglazed area on your work.

If you use sponges it's one wipe turn it over and wipe and then get an new sponge or wash this one before wiping again. Dust is a major problem when it comes to glazing.

If I keep having nice notes like yours I'll be posting photos forever.
Cheers, Wendy

Wendy, MadDog Bob is looking great and the Bumatay Bowl is gorgeous! Glad you took a break yesterday to do some socializing :)

Thanks Wendy for the info. I think you might have solved the mystery of the spot on the inside of mug #1 that the glaze didn't stick too. I was wondering how I managed to miss a spot......

Hi Wendy,
It was great to see you and Dan yesterday, your ceramics look great, as usual.

How about the blue-gray that was on the crate on the Forbidden Island mug for the outside of the bowl with the blue on the inside of the bowl?

Thanks,
Monty

Hi Marone Tiki, I sent you an email.

Progress Report:

The second load has fired and success once again.

Professor G's Super Carved Bob A-OK.

From the kiln to Dan the most interesting man in the world to do a good hard wash to remove dust.

The mugs are beginning to stack up on the table.

Some of the Bob specials drying on a plastic table cloth.

Loki Tikis dog Ba redone and looking less like a pig, more like a dog.

I got up for a drink of water and decided to see how fast photos load in the middle of the night. Answer, really fast!

Now its back to bed to rest up for another day of playing with clay.
Cheers, Wendy

Sombrero Bob is lookin' good! Great seeing you and Dan!

The Blue Kahuna thank you, it was great to see you and to meet Gail.

Progress Report:

The doggy tongue has now been reduced in size.

I've cleaned up the last two Zombie Torches that have been poured.

I began Marone Tikis Tiki Bob bowl. I always pour all four molds just in case. Good thing. The side pulled off this one as it came out of the mold.

I cut the front off the damaged Bob and made a pendant for MadDogMike to go with his mug for Mohave.

Then step by step to make the bowl.

I have many pieces that are now slowly drying. That way they do not crack.

Next up will be a Super Carved Bob for zerostreet. I'll start that today.

Cheers, Wendy

:lol: I LOVE IT!!! :lol:

I LOVE your Doggy mug, Tiki Ba. I wish I would have thought to put the name of the mug on the back. I even forgot to put it on the bottom.

I love your Maddoggy Mike mug/pendant too! LOL

Everything is looking great Wendy! can't wait to see the glazing.

Wendy, I see that the Fu Bob is in really splendid company, with diversity of cultures and species. Ba Bob is really clever... I suppose that extending this concept to a Standard Poodle face would result in a mug with a troublesome center of gravity...

-Tom

Those mugs look really pro! Love the Zombie Village mugs especially!

Just made a drink n sat down for the Wendy show

What progress Wendy!
and you can feel the love and care you put into each one!
and that pup pup is KA-UTE!
and such a sweet pendant for such a sweet man!
:)
love love!
:)

You two do more hard work for fun than most people do for work. You get bonus points for resourcefulness yet again, Wendy. Thanks, as always, for sharing with us.

On 2012-02-29 05:33, Professor G wrote:
You two do more hard work for fun than most people do for work...

Isn't that the truth!

I ditto that MDM. The ceramic duo is unstoppable. Great work W&D!!!

Tiki Tonie you may still add the name to the back of your mug after you pour one. Check out below how I did this with zerostreets Tiki Bob mug.

Chuck Tatum is Tiki glazing is major TV time. It is when I watch all the shows I've saved on tape.

Tiki Tom D I have a friend with standard poodles. I've made lots of sculpey poodle pins and necklaces for her to wear back before I took on ceramics. All my mugs weigh a lot. So Tiki Ba even with his nose will not tip forward.

Sneakytiki I do my best on every one thank you for noticing.

hang10tiki now it is the Dan and Wendy show!

littlelosttiki you too are a sweet man.

Professor G thank you for having me add palms to the back of your mug. Now I've added zerostreets logo to his. You taught me something I'll use forever.

MadDogMike if I add blood to your mug do you want it orange or red?

VampiressRN we sure missed your presence at Matt's on Saturday. Thank you for saying hi here.

These are all the projects that were drying yesterday morning. It was windy so we put them outside. They all need to be a light as the Bumatay bowl before I can sand them and continue on.

I had one little Bob left from making bowls so I carved him as a SuperCarvedStatue.

Yesterday I had fun working on zerostreets mug. I copied his logo on the back. It dries in 10 minutes and then it is on to the carving. We finished the series Upstairs Downstairs while I worked. That's an excellent series.

Thank you all for your notes. They were so much fun for me to read and to answer. You all inspire me to work hard. It is more hours each day than my old day job. At least with this job it is all fun and I'm not exposed to radiation! Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-02-29 08:06 ]