My fourth bone carving..now posted!

(Added on my personal thread as well)Here is a piece of bone jewelry I carved for Tallaluna for our anniversary. It's a Maori Teko Teko, Lakes area style. It measures about 2 inches. The inlays are very special...they are made of very precious abalone-that was gathered and cut by Eli Hedley! Bambooben sent me a portion of a small amount he found in his mom's attic. It polishes up beautifully.. The tiki mana is very strong in this stuff. I wouldn't have felt right if I hadn't given Eli himself credit for the beautiful abalone, so I gave a dual billing where my signature normally is... Aloha!

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna 2006-01-17 16:16 ]

For a second there I thought you meant that you had cut yourself pretty deep. So I was happy to find out what you really did. It is a very special piece! Congrats on the anniv. and I hope you do more bone work in the future. It's always great to see your work no matter the material! I am always amazed at how quickly you work and maintain such great detail. Thanks for sharing.

Great artwork on that jewelry piece.

BK rocks!!

BK,

What kinda bone is that? I know a guy who can get you lots of bone to work in :)

It looks beautiful

-Gman

Excellent first bone work BK and I'm sure that mr Eli aprives wholehartedly. What tools did you use to complete this piece? My next piece will also have some of Eli'sAbalone bits inlayed on it.
WHere did you find the bone you carved? You have one lucky lady.

Aloha Bruddah!
Howzit?! I must say brah, Ive been a "bone" carver for many, many years and I must say your first attempt at bone carving is absolutely stellar! Its takes a lot of practice & quiet study to carve bone right and it looks as if youve had a great start! Im wondering what kine bone youve used for this Hei-tiki? Most kanaka's use regular beef bone which carves up nicely but doesnt carry the heavy mana of other kine bone. I guess Im lucky but I have a good friend who "gifts" me a lot of rare & expensive bone material such as whale bone, walrus bone, sea cow bone, water buffalo and more...And, Ive got a great hook-up on New Zealand Paua shell too, Ive got tons of it! Ive also have real wild abalone collected on the central coast beaches here. Its not as stunning as genuine Paua shell but it has its own iradescent kine beauty. If you ever need da kine, let me know and Ill hook you up!

Ive got tons of scrap material here at the shop and if you want I can send you some rare kine samples to play around with. Different bones have varying density & grain structures and its good to learn the sometimes subtle differences when working with various kine bones. Theres also choke amounts of little tricks & tips that can be utilized when working in bone & shell so just let me know if you ever have any questions or problems. It would be my pleasure to pass along what Ive learned to a "new" bone carver!

Theres also a few books you can pick up to help with your new hobby such as: Bone Carving, A skillbase of Techniques & concepts by my bruddah Steve Myhre. Just go to http://www.newzealandbooks.co.nz to order da kine! Its more Maori based in its instruction but he does a great job at going over tools & carving techniques, some of which Ive used myself over the years! So, Again your first bone carving is awesome and I cant wait to see with what you come up with next! It can get addicting bruddah! So just get used to wearing your respirator (bone dust turns to gelatin in your lungs! No good for you brah!)and get used to the pilau stink from da kine dust!

Again, great carving!!!

Malama Pono!

You really nailed this one.

Your work is always something to look up to. Thanks for sharing.
JP

Thanks all...Ben, I used both regular palm chisels for guide lines and diamond dust burrs for this piece. I have always cut my abalone for Maori stuff on a bench grinder, but mind that you use a heavy duty respirator (solvent grade) as mesothelioma is no fun...Bob Van Oosting wrote me once that it killed a guy that did ab work that they used to buy from. G- I used regular cowbone for this one..Cutting some shell for you tomorrow. Kaha Ki'i-Thanks, Braddah-I'd love to try some new materials...I'll PM you with my addy...and thanks for the comps..You're a master...Ono ...Top notch. It mean a lot coming from you on a piece like this as I'm historically just a woodchuck. I enjoyed the project, and the space requirements for jewelry are definitely nicely on the small side. ALoha...BK

hey brah! Howzeet?
I just PM'd you bruddah...Mahalo for the kind words on your post...Its really is an amazing piece for a first time bone carver! Wait until you become proficient...Id bet da farm youre gonna be amazing at it! Wait until you get da kine package I sent you, you may quit carving wood altogether! (maybe not, your wood carvings are pono!)And, carving small kine stuff does save space, although my little work bench is a mess, it seems I may need a bigger one someday!
Anyway, big mahaloz again for the kind words brah and we'll talk story laterz...

Malama Pono!

Aloha, guys and gals..Here is number two...a Bay Of Plenty/Rorutua style birth image. It is a larger 1 1/4 x 3 inches. Also with Eli Hedley's Abalone! This one will be for sale, in Tiki Marketplace...I'm working on a large Tongaroa tiki and a comissioned club right now but will get to more jewelry as I have time..The cord is hand braided Raffia with a nylon core. Mahalo!

Aloha again bruddah!
Howzit? Well, another pono carving! Very nice...Shoots brah, youre gonna be a master bone carver wikiwiki! I got your PM and I cant wait to see da kine you send me. Nice raffia kaula too, but let me know if you want to learn the art of Hawaiian style plaited kaula. Its much stronger and prettier than regular braids. Hawaiian Kaula almost has a geometric quality to the plaiting and its pretty much the standard when it comes to Hawaiian kine pendants...Just let me know brah, Ill show you how to create a plaiting board (which is a modern innovation) as opposed to plaiting by hand using your big toe! Once you get a mana'o of how to create the kaula, it becomes fairly easy to make da kine! Anyway, really nice carving bruddah! Keep it up!

Malama Pono!

BK, the second one looks better than the first. I guess once you get into the bone carving, you will learn all the little tricks that go along with any carving. Hope my bone pieces turn out this good. Thanks for the inspiration.

Very nice! Are you enjoying the smell???

I sent you a PM.

-Gman

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-01-10 19:06 ]

Thanks, guys...Ben I shutter to think what you can do with this material if I can do these. Kaha, I would love to learn the plaiting technique. Does it use raffia? G-it does smell...like trying to get that last "bang for your buck" out of a j**nt as a teenager and singeing your hair in the process!

BK
Nice work, nice transition to another material.
I used to make bone jewelry for The Gauntlet about 15 years ago, can still recall the smell of drilling into it, and god forbid you over sped and burned, damn, thats some stank! always went home smelling like the floor of a meat packing plant on a hot day. Load up on the Gojo with pumice, pumice to scrub away that sticky resin from bone dust and finger oil, and orange oil to mask the stank fingers.
Can't wait to see more.
TT

[ Edited by: tikitanked 2006-01-12 10:39 ]

Aloha again brah,
Howzit?
Well bruddah,you can use raffia with the modern technique of ancient Hawaiian kaula but you have to be careful not to over stress the material when you plait the separate cords that make up the kaula. Usually on my makau i do a 6-plait (I use waxed nylon on my makau kaula, stronger than natural fiber and wont break down from sweat, body oils detergents etc.) but with the raffia, youll probably only need to go 4-plait or even 2...
Next time I plait a kaula, Ill take some pics and we'll get you started!
As far as the pilau stink from da bone brah, wait until you start carving the whale bone I sent you! Beef bone is downright pleasant compared to the whale bone. No matter how old the whale bone is, it still retains a lot of the oil from the marrow. If youve never had the pleasure of smelling a dead whale on the beach, youll be in for a little treat when you start to grind the whale bone! get ready brah! No matter what kine respirator you wear, youre still gonna smell da kine! AU-Way brah, Its stinks!!!
Not sure what tikitanked was talking about though, Ive been a bone carver for years (carving at least 20 different kine of bone) and Ive never had a problem removing the stink from my body or clothes...
Good idea is to maybe invest (or build yourself) a nice down draft table with good filtration to catch most of da kine dust so you wont stink up your shop too much! I can help with that too brah if you like, just let me know!

Aloha auinala cuz, keep up the good work!

Malama Pono!

All of your carvings are great and this is no exception. I hope you are not giving up carving the "big" stuff.
JP

Both of these are great. They look like antique just dug up. You seem at home in many mediums. I could not take the smell. Burning hair does not smell good so I could only imagine the stink.

I'll stick with the wood.

Whats next Jade Teco?

Thanks for posting
EB

Here is carving number three..This is a Maori image known as a Marakihau..It is a type of mythological fish spirit very old in Maori storytelling. It is said that many of the great ancestors became Marakihau upon their earthly death and live in the sea! This piece is 3 and 3/4 inches, carved in beautiful ancient walrus bone, several thousand yeas old (Thanks to the great Cabanilla!). The beautiful patina on the back of this piece I left intact; speaks of the ages! For the abalone I made a "pupil cut", grinding into the center black shell just enough to form a bookmatched eye.

Hey brah!
Aloha cuz!!!
Okay, now youre beginning to get addicted, yeah? Im so stoked to see what youve done with materials I gave you! That walrus bone is great stuff huh? Im sure you noticed the density and how easy it carves (like buttah brah!). Its one of my favorite materials to work with and the spirit of the ancient beast will live on in your beautiful work! As a matter of fact, about 90% of the makau I wear is made from da kine! Were both lucky to have this rare material to work with!
I think the pieces I gave you come from the skull of the walrus and it has nice coloration and little porosity which makes the finished work even more beautiful!

Anyways, shoots brah! I cant wait to see what elese you come up with (especially the gift of aloha youre making for me!). Always a pleasure to see your work brah, keep up the good work! Geevum!

Malama pono my bruddahs!

It's a slightly different, more defiant looking Bay Of Plenty style image. It measures 3 inches, with more of Eli's abalone. Nui!

You have really become one with that material, I thought your clubs and weapons were great, but I think you found a terrific niche.
JP

BK,

VERY cool! It will look great around my Maori's neck. Thank you!

-Gman

Very cool carving!

Definitely looking great BK. You are soon to be one of the Bone Masters!