Sketches and Ceramics by MP *1997-Present*

Thanks Kenny, heres the painting idea I drew on my breakfast placemat a
couple weeks ago. Ancestor board spirits ascending from their huts.
Im working on it, trying to do a lot of stuff at once.

4WD, I will indeed take some pics. Im really looking forward to it.

SophistaTiki, Thank you, I didnt even see the pun. Dense.

MadDog, Its ceramic clay. Like the last molds I did, I try not to let
the model get to dry. I then hit it with wax resist and hope I can save it through
the molding process.

Thanks a lot Dave, I will do my best to get some done.

Tobor, Im gonna try. I want to make you happy.

Leleliz, I WILL OBEY! thanks for the props.

Thanks everyone, back to work.

yes
yeS
yES
YES!

thank you!
this looks like it's gonna be awesome
!!!!!!!!!!!

I gotta second Liz on the Square Bob - you must mold it! Fantastic concept - and beautiful execution. Love your work - and your giant studio!

Henrik

Square Bob rules!

It was great to meet and talk with you today MP.

Loved that Day Of The Dead piece you had on display.

Hope you had a great time!

Square mugs = cool. I just did one myself.

Excellent job on Square Bob!
Can't wait to see it glazed up.
I agree, too good not to do a mold
for sure!

Happy Halloween Everyone! I finally got some time for posting, Ive been swamped with
family and work lately. Here's a bunch of stuff from the past month and a half or so.

This is a little chop mug I made for a trade with Cammo
for an Oki Doki mug. I would love to make a mold of this one.

Heres the raku moai with a thrift store frame. Tiki Joes Pop
took him home from Oasis. Thank you Andy!

This is the wedding tiki #1 copied from an apartment building tiki
in the book of tiki. It feels like there is something new
to see everytime you open the BOT.

This is Uncle Roger, he found new owners at the FI parking lot sale.
I love those cheesy little frames from the 60's and 70's.

This lovely gal took home the foam S.B. carving I made for my
luau wedding in '04 from the FI sale.

This is "Mu Fanchu", a green tribute to you know who.

This day of the dead painting got a new owner at the FI sale also.
Ive been carting this one around for a few years now. Its kind of
fragile.....glad it has a new resting place.

This little painting is called the "Scared skull mug".
He got new owners at the Rock-a-hula party.

I added another layer of paint and some spirits to the "Ole Buggy"
for the the Rock-a-hula show.

Here is some greenware, some skulls for the Rock-a-hula and
some finished frank and therm mugs. I did get a mold of the new skull
and the square bob made. I have fired the original sculpts at a raku
just recently and will avialable on ebay soon. The Skulls are another randotti
disney tribute. I was thinking rear view mirrors/halloween but they didnt sell
to well. I still have most of them and will put some in the marketplace soon.

Here is the left side of my booth at the Rock-a-hula

And here is the right side. More Halloween than Tiki.

Sorry about the overload, I hope you enjoy the new stuff.
Coming soon I will have Raku pics and my recent dia de los muertos
gallery entry. Thanks for looking.

And my invoice from you should look something like this:

1 Frank Mug
1 Therm Mug
1 Skull Mug
1 Square Bob Mug

I guess I should add your name to my checking account, yes?

Awesome work as always! Wish we could've gone to both the FI sale & the Rock-A-Hula.

best work. Polished.

Someone has been a busy! Great stuff.

You always deliver, MP!

MP Great looking work!

So you are selling the square Bobs on Ebay? not just as a direct sale when you get them all finished?

Holy Crap Mikel, you've been a busy boy! Great looking stuff :D

Thanks Everyone!

Leleliz, Im just putting my raku fired mugs on ebay, Im hoping to get the regular
glazed mugs on the TC marketplace soon.
Tobor, I hope to fill your invoice as soon as possible.

Here are some pics from the raku.
For those of you who arent familiar with Raku firing, there is a little description
and play by play. If something is incorrect or you would like to add something, feel free.
4WDtiki and MadDog, I hope you enjoy this!

We were fortunate enough to raku at our friend Tami Burwell's studio in the foothills
near Calistoga. First we start by warming our pieces in an electric kiln to help
the heating process and make sure all glazes are dry. Here is the gas fired kiln loaded and getting hot.

The kiln will get to about 800c to about 1000c. We keep an eye on it through the
hole on the top. When the glazed areas are glossy looking or even starting to bubble a little
bit, thats usually a good indication they are ready to pull. In this pic our garbage
cans are full of newspaper and ready to go.

We pull the lid and one by one pull each piece out with tongs and place them in the cans for
a "reduction". A reduction is a process where the red hot clay catches fire to the combustible material
in the can and the carbon from smoke is sucked into the clay leaving it black on the unglazed areas.

We all take turns pulling the pieces out, filling the cans
with newspaper and lidding the cans and moving them away
to burn and smoke. Once the lid is pulled it is a pretty rapid procedure.

Here is a Therm mug being placed in a can.

Burn! Burn! Burn!

"Uhhhh, fire Is cool" -butthead

We put the cans away from the studio to smoke out.

The first load out has some crackle glazes and some
copper luster. Raku is a Japanese firing style usually used for a
tea ceremony. The pieces are usually hand built using lead glazes.
A quick peak at wikipedia says an american potter named Paul Soldner
developed the western style of raku by adding the reduction process,
creating big contrast in the crackle and unglazed areas with carbon.

Here is the original "Irwin" sculpt and a modified "frank" decantor in
the back.

Here is a "Therm" decanter in copper matte and some copper luster
pieces.

Heres what I came home with.

"Frank the mugs cousin" decanter with celedon glaze.

"Irwin" skull mug with white crackle glaze. Original sculpt.

"Frank the mugs cousin" PNG inspired decanter with white crackle glaze.

"Square Bob" with white crackle and copper glazes. Inspired by Bob, Bosko, Notch,
Squid, Bai and of course Gecko's Lava Bob. Respect to all of you!

"Therm tower" with copper luster and reduction lava top.

"Therm Tower" decanter with copper matte glaze.

An awesome day Indeed. We are trying to organize another sometime this month.
If any body is interested in these mugs, I will have them on ebay soon with
links on the marketplace. Thanks for looking :)

Awesome!
You do that RAKU right,empee!
:)

Rakool!

ROCK ON!!

Awesome finishes there MP. Will they be suitable for food contact or purely decorative?

Raku Rulez! Cracklin' and crazin', gotta love it!

Great Raku, man!
I did a little Raku in the past...I had trouble getting it just right.

Apparently you have no such troubles.
Awesome job!
~Zero

Those ALL look great. Unmistakable MP designs.

Great action shots too!

Thanks MP for the info!

And the "Frank the mugs cousin" decanter and "Square Bob" with white crackle and copper glazes came out killer!

Loving the decanter for sure!

Thanks everyone for the kind words, the raku was a super day!
Mike all the pieces are decorative only :( thats how it goes.
I will start posting the raku pieces in the marketplace soon.
Now enough slacking, vacations over! Back to the kenny ruzic offering.
Here's a little study I did last night for the painting :)
Now to size, re-draw these guys on veneer and cut them out.

I LOVE "Irwin" the skull mug, and the crackle glaze looks just fantastic!

This is what I call ART!! I'm totally amaze! your work is simply perfect!

On 2009-11-02 12:53, mp wrote:
...Tobor, I hope to fill your invoice as soon as possible.

Operators are standing by, Mike!

OH YEEEEEAH!
:)

Run with it!

Run with it
like a kid with a handful of Wacky packs
he just stole from the Ben Franklins
when he was 10!

True Story.

mr. STOKED today!

oh yeah?!?!?? how about a PNG Mr. Koolaid?

OH YEAH!

hey, MP...LOVE LOVE LOVE the crackle-glaze peices. the skully is my fav too!

Look's like fun MP...nice work man. Keep it coming :-)

Masterful work there MP! Crackle glaze is killer
and Square Bob turned out awesome!

Name suggestions Raku AKU, Aku Raku, etc...

Outstanding work in this thread!

Great idea Bigtoe! Kool-aid Mai-Tai's for everyone.

Thanks everyone for coming by my thread and saying hello.
The kind words keeps me inspired for sure. Im stoked to
share my art with the TC family! More to come soon.

Very cool raku mugs and pics too.

beautiful!

Thank you Clarita and Nukke, kind words from two
great artists! I got some time this
afternoon to work on the kenny trade painting.

I cut these pieces out of birch veneer. I think they will look hot
on black velvet once theyre painted. What do you think master ruznic?

Wow kinny, this is the best thing you ever posted

MP - I'm diggin' on this little "TikiPop" work of yours...very interesting direction.

Thanks for dropping by Teakey and Babalu.
Heres some progress on the kenny ruzic trade painting
and the best thing kinny ever posted lil study drawing marker painting.

Getting a little paint on the cut-outs.

Quick fun with markers and acrylic.

More fun with markers and acrylic. More soon.

HOLY CANOLI!
F**K YEAH!
AND it's gonna POP out too!?!?!?
Being a veteran of the Wasted Youth 80's
it's been awhile since my mind has been blown....

until a few seconds ago...

le BOOM!

Rock on empee!!!

Oh Yeeeeeah! :lol:

Great work Mikel. I like the depth of mixed media, this one's gonna look great

Very cool MP. Love the Square Bob and the skull. The velvet piece is looking fantastic.

Great meeting at the FI sale. Next time lets make more time to talk.

Really like your raku work, Mike.

Congrats on the sale of Irwin!

Bowie

Hello all, A little update.

Big Thank You's to all who picked up a little mp mug or decanter
lately. I appreciate the support!

I have the png inspired frank decanter in the marketplace
right now if anyone is interested.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=34444&forum=12&10

Ive been busy lately trying to finish a ton of projects all at once.
Kenny thanks for the patience on the trade. I have cut out the backing board
and attached the velvet. Also got a little more color down.

Back to it tonight once moms home from work. Sorry about the flash.

Heres a little progress on the best thing kinny's ever posted

And here I have new project Im doing at art time with my son calvin.
He has informed me lately that we will be working on separate projects
for the time being. he is into lincoln logs lately and dad wants to
play with clay.

His name is "Choppa the mug". I think I was dreaming of "chop the mug" and Squids' PNG hut tiki mug
at the time I started it.

Maddog, Thanks for the props. I am really happy with its turnout so far.cant wait to see more of your
Tiki Xmas swag.

SwampFire, It was awesome to rap with you at the sale. What can I say, your work is sweeeeeet. I hope to
see you again and chat some more.

Thanks Bowana! I appreciate it. I need some sales to get my kiln up and firing.

Thats what I have for now. Thanks for looking.

Hey Mike,

Love the hair doo on this latest :)

I remember way back when, when I was doing a lot of raku firings, that I tried some of those food safe cone 06 glazes out on some pieces I did...and if I remember right, it seemed to flow fine and did not crackle - you might want to try out a few test trees the next time you do a fire dance. If it works on the inside of these guys they might become more functional?

Great work brother Mike! Keep on slinging that mud!

So is Choppo a word play on "Chapeau", he looks like he's wearin' a hat :)

That's slicker than a pig's gut MP!

Choppa the Hut!
I think you should do some molds of those!
and my PNG cobra piece is coming along FABULOUSLY!
thankye empee!
:)....
Fine new batch of goodies,art bro!

Yay!