VanTiki Mugs: Octopus Time Lapse

Awesome skulls Henrik! Love the details around the rim. Kirk

Perhaps you are mixing a pitcher-based drink, and are in need of a serving vessel that will both imbibe your spirits with mystical mana and guard your precious beverage from non-believers. Look no further! Allow me to present The Stone Pitcher:

This started out as a mug - but it just kept growing and growing, and when it surpaseed 11" I decided that the stone idol had graduated from Tiki Mug to Tiki Pitcher. Here is a vintage peanut mug for scale reference:

If The Stone Pitcher survives drying and firing, it will be available at Tiki Oasis!

Mahalo for peeking -
Henrik "VanTiki"

just saw this on Facebook....amazing!

How you keep outdoing yourself blows my mind Henrik!

Nice picture
of an Awesome
Pitcher!
Above and beyond Henrik!

Henrik, your pitcher is wicked. I didn't even suspect what it was till I read it!

That pitcher is amazing!

Mahalo everyone!

I am totally in love with the Stone Pitcher, and I hope it dries safely and does not break my heart with unplanned cracking. If it does survive drying and firing, I know it will leave me eventually - but I am all about living in the now :)

Henrik

I'm so in LOVE with your work... :)
each piece is incredible! Bravooooooooooo!

Baï - Mahalo! Someday I hope to make a mug as amazing as yours! :)

Ok - so I am continuing on my quest to put together enough pieces for the upcoming Tiki Oasis. I felt it might me a good idea to bring a few shambling undead with me, so I put out a few Zombie Snacks on my studio table then hid behind the clay boxes and waited quietly...

An hour later I hears shuffling feet, moans, and the crunching of bones. The bait worked! 4 Zombies had lumbered into the studio!

They are nearly complete - I need to detail them this morning. I'll snap better pics when they are done. If all goes well (and if I bring enough snacks), they will follow me to Oasis in August!

Mahalo for peeking.

More photos!

Mahalo for peeking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

awesome as always! i really am looking forward to seeing these in person. cant wait!

Very Cool.....the best zombie mug I have seen to date!! Love all the detail you put into your work!!

love the zombies! hopefully i'll need to update my signature soon. that's a nice bunch of trepanning accidents in the background too.

bangin' my slit gong drum until the cops come!

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2010-05-31 16:03 ]

zombie-rific!

Krazy-Kool Henrik! Looks like you've got a production line fired up.

Once again, Mahalo everyone!

I TOTALLY can't wait till Oasis - I finally get to meet most (well, some) of you folks!

Liz - I hope they don't disappoint in person :)
Headhunter - thank you! I am a bit disturbed by how much I enjoy sculpting wounded zombie flesh.
kingstiedye - Will you be at Oasis? Love the sig photo!
TikiDaye - Mahalo-rific!
MadDog - Production line is right! Just sculpted the last planned oasis mug this morning (se below). I am off to Alaska next week to run a marathon, and when we get back it is gonna be 100% Tiki Tiles. It is cool having so many pieces in the studio - but I am freaked out that I don't have enough for Oasis!

Ok - Here is a peek at this morning's efforts. Deep beneath the ocean waves, an octopus is drawn to the sleeping Moai's hypnotic dreams.

This fellow is pretty big - will take more photos after dome detail tweaking.

Mahalo for peeking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Very cool....If I were an octopus I'd make my lair there too!!

The insanity continues!

Looks pretty thick Henrik, think it will dry in time for Oasis?

DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!
thas' gooooooooood!

SWEEEET! That is totally awesome! Love the octopus.

Question, the clay has to be pounded and twisted to get all the air pockets out or it explodes in the kiln. How about all those seams, do you have to make sure there are no air pockets there? Wendy

Looks awesome!

On 2010-06-19 16:37, danlovestikis wrote:
Question, the clay has to be pounded and twisted to get all the air pockets out or it explodes in the kiln. How about all those seams, do you have to make sure there are no air pockets there? Wendy

Mahalo everyone! Just got back from vacation and stuffed the kiln full of goodies. Wendy - not sure what seams you are referring to - do you mean the cracks on the moai? They are all carved in after the fact. The piece started as a slab rolled around a PVC pipe jig I made. Once the tube was a bit firm I slid it off the PVC, attached a flat slab base, and pushed in the mouth cavity. The tube shape was modified with several darts (like when sewing a dress) and some paddling. Nose, rocks, ears, and brows were added via slab construction and hollow forms (pinch pot rocks). Cracks were all carved out of the surface, and stone texture was added with a gentle lava rock beating :) The octopus body is a pinch pot, and the legs are a modified slab. A fun piece to put together - hope it survived the bisque firing! And PS - I'll get a photo with the paining this week - I promise! Been VERY crazy over here. only 51 days left till Oasis (gulp)

Once again, Mahalo,
Henrik

Can't wait to see your mugs in person!

Forget the mugs, I can't wait to see you in person! :lol:

Finally getting glaze on the mugs I put together for Tiki Oasis 10 - first fellows to shamble out of the kiln were the zombies:

And for reference, here is a look at a glazed zombie before firing:

Soooooooo happy with the way they turned out. Skin glaze has a wonderful decayed pallor, and the eyes are a yummy glossy porcelain. I'd happily gaze into them as they chewed on my brain :)

Last of the Tiki Tiles are firing at the moment, and tomorrow I'll be loading up the trepanning accident mugs. Oasis is So close! Yaay!

Mahalo for peeking -
Henrik "VanTiki"

Just unloaded the 12 Trepanning Accident mugs that I'll be bringing to Tiki Oasis from the kiln. These all have the "new advances in medical technology" top detailing, and I am pleased as punch with the way the glazes turned out. Very ancient!

6 have a bright red interior, and 6 have a translucent green interior. Mahalo for peeking!

Henrik "VanTiki"

PS - I see some folks have made a "what I'm bringing to Oasis" thread - methinks I'll do the same shortly. The Marketplace seems to be the spot for such a thread - am I correct?

Absolutely magnificent mugs, Henrik! I'm bummed I will probably miss the chance to buy one of these...

Put prices on the stuff so I know how much to bring!

I am so excited to see your stuff in person!

Hey Henrick, One of the highlights of my Oasis weekend was hanging out with you and your wife. I hope you two had a good time...We NEED you both back next year!

I take it that Disneyland is still there? :)

Babs take words out of GROG' mouth.

Babs and Grog - I'm literally counting the days to next Oasis (seriously - there are 306 days and 7 hours as of now to Oasis 11). I can't wait to see you guys again, and I MUST spend more time with you both! Hopefully I won't be totally overwhelmed like a deer in headlights next year and I can enjoy the events more. Not that I didn't have fun! Quite the contrary! It just was over so gosh-darned fast!

Ok! Onto new mugs. Been a busy bee over here after Oasis catching up on illustration/animation work - so I haven't had a lot of clay time. Well, I haven't had any clay time till this week! Some of you may remember the musical mugs I've made in the past. They were a lot of fun, and I thought I'd continue exploring musical mugs by making a few rattles!

Here is a peek at the Bone Rattlers. They are still a bit rough, and when they dry out a bit more I'll do a second detail pass. The rounded bottoms are actually part of a Hollow sphere at the base of the mug. The sphere is filled with these guys:

You can get a better look from the back of the mugs. Note the "sound holes" at the base to let air vent and sound squeeze thru.

I also did a set of big big big porcelain bones for these fellows to use as stir sticks:

Can't wait to bisque fire them and see how the rattle sounds! I'm off to Seattle next week for work, and when I get back these should be dry enough to put in the kiln. More photos as things develop!

Mahalo for peeking -
Henrik "VanTiki"

:lol: With that rounded bottom it will sound like marbles in a wok! :lol:

Crazy good Henrik!

Amazing! Can't wait to see what you do with the glazes!

Mahalo everyone!

Here are some shots of the finished sculpts. They will be living under plastic for the next week to slooooooowly dry out.

and here is a ultra-science diagram of what makes the rattle possible!

Mahalo for peeking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Beauties!

Mahalo Sneaky!

Happy to report that I just returned from my business trip and the mugs have been drying out nicely. No cracks so far (knock on bamboo) - I couldn't stop thinking of them while I was away! I'm off to pick up some clay and will hopefully get to sculpt a new mug next tuesday.

Henrik "VanTiki"

Fantastic !!!

Mahalo shrunkentiki - they are cooking away in the kiln as I type! If they survive the bisque firing, I should be able to glaze them this weekend. Whoo!

Henrik

Is it a problem firing them with the bead chamber sealed off, or is there a small hole to let some air escape?

....ooooh I think I see the holes!

MauiTiki

Tiki and flower pattern Stickers http://www.stuckonmaui.com
Maui Tiki Tours & Tiki Mugs http://www.mauitikitours.com
Hippie Stickers http://www.hippiestickers.com

[ Edited by: MauiTiki 2010-11-13 13:01 ]

Looks awesome as usual.... Cool idea.

What kind of beads are they? I always wondered if you could put something in the clay that would survive firing..

MauiTiki - well spotted! There are indeed a bunch of holes in the base to a) vent the chamber when firing, and b) let the sound come out!

TikiKIrby - the beads are actually made of the same clay as the mug - I rolled out a zillion of them and let them get bone dry before sculpting the mugs. I put a handful of beads into a small paper towel pouch before sealing them into the mugs. The paper towel acts a release to keep the beads from sticking to the mug wall.

I posted a video of the first tentative shakes after the bisque firing on the VanTiki facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/vantiki

Mahalo!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Neato mosquito!

Just threw the switch on the kiln for the final firing of the Bone Rattle mugs. Nearly forgot to put the bone stir-sticks in the kiln! Thank the kiln gods that I had them on the clay table by the studio door. I was able to pop them into the warm kiln before things got too toasty. Fingers are now firmly crossed with the hopes that both mugs survive their cone 6 journey into the inferno. Crazy thing is, I'm heading off to a big Haleakala crater hike for the next 4 days, so I wont know till friday if the mugs made it! I can guarantee that the Bone Rattles will be occupying my thoughts at least 75% of the time I'm on the mountain.

Henrik "VanTiki"

4 day hike? SWEET!!! Have fun!

That is some SHARP sculpting work and an excellent design. I dig.

Back from the hike - and what was waiting for me in the kiln? Some yummy tiki mugs! SO happy with the way they turned out, and they sound great too! Here are some shots:

And here is a video of the final mugs a-shakin'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BNWdJqaIkc

I'll be posting auction info in The Marketplace -

Mahalo for peeking!
Henrik "VanTiki"

Great rustic look. Nice rattle sound too!