Buzzy's work: Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate

Awesome art Buzzy !

Awesome art Buzzy !

That is really beatiful. I really like the grain in the totem. The drum looks so smooth. How long do you spend on the sanding?

Your forever in progress drum looks amazing specially in the first picture where it's on its side with the camera looking towards the outside. Any new pictures of this piece would be appreciated. :)

Some sunsets from when it didn't rain the last week:

On 2010-12-27 07:56, hiltiki wrote:
Your forever in progress drum... Any new pictures of this piece would be appreciated. :)

My plan was to work on the drum all day today. When I got up, I read your post and kept it in mind as I got ready to work. I grabbed my camera to get my first shots and the battery was dead. So dead, that I couldn't do that thing where I turn it on and snap a picture real quick before it goes dead again. So, I missed all my progress shots for the day because it took several hours for the battery to charge. All I have are these two shots:
I levelled and finished shaping the rim

Then I sanded the inside of it. I touched up a few outside spots and then put several coats of wood hardener on thge interior on the drum. Thet's the darker looking part in the pictures:

I went and bought new brushes and stain this afternoon, so it's finally staining time.

On 2010-12-20 15:27, Grand Poobah wrote:
The drum looks so smooth. How long do you spend on the sanding?

about 4 days, spread out over a few weeks. My arm kept getting tired so I had to stop and rest a lot.

On 2010-12-20 14:13, Hiphipahula wrote:
Awesome art Buzzy !

Why thank you very much! always more to come, too.

On 2010-12-20 13:42, KAHAKA wrote:

WOW... where dis at?? Tiki and the whole thing came out really nice like.

Billys At the Beach
2751 W Coast Hwy
Newport Beach, CA 92663

There are also a couple of old Leroy OA tikis at the entrance. Bamboo Ben just redid the interior. They use a topless Leetag as the logo on their tshirts and stuff. Here's the sign:

Buzzy Out!

Great work as usual Buzz! I remember the tasteless & crude jokes about "wood hardener" but I don't remember what it is. It is some sort of resin/epoxy that soaks into the wood? How is it different from varnish?

Staining away...

Started with the feet:

I did the upper rim a little darker

And then did the upper part of he pedestal:

Finally, I did the background color on the rest of the bell:

I'll go back and do the letters and graphics in a darker stain when the first lighter layer dries.

On 2010-12-27 23:16, MadDogMike wrote:
It is some sort of resin/epoxy that soaks into the wood? How is it different from varnish?

The label says it hardens wood, but I don't know if it actually does anything. I figure it can't hurt. My theory is that it makes the drum bullet proof. If I tap on the inside of the drum after I use the hardener, it feels and sounds noticably different than before its application. I only use it on the inside because it affects the stain color.

The light at the end of the tunnel is pretty bright now.
Buzzy out!

[ Edited by: Bay Park Buzzy 2010-12-28 23:11 ]

On 2010-12-27 23:16, MadDogMike wrote:
It is some sort of resin/epoxy that soaks into the wood? How is it different from varnish?

The label says it hardens wood, but I don't know if it actually does anything. I figure it can't hurt. My theory is that it makes the drum bullet proof. If I tap on the inside of the drum after I use the hardener, it feels and sounds noticably different than before its application. I only use it on the inside because it affects the stain color.

The light at the end of the tunnel is pretty bright now.
Buzzy out!

What are you using? Minwax Hardener? That one is basically a liquid plastic. I don't remember which plastic. I think the info is out there on the web somewhere. I think it's like 80% solvent in order for the plastic to carry deep in the wood. I believe it's even an archivally (is that a word?) safe plastic, so should be long lasting.

The next round of staining was finished today.

I started with the logo:

Full view:

I always wondered what it would be like to do a stain painting. Figured this piece was a good one to try it on. I went for something I remember in art class we did called "atmospheric perspective." I tried a little of that techinques when i colored the relief. Here is an in progress shot after I did the furthest back stuff, and was just starting to work on the upfront stuff:

5 different shades of stain later, and it's done:
Left

center:

right:

I used a total of 8 different stain colors on this one.

On 2010-12-29 11:03, TheBigT wrote:

What are you using? Minwax Hardener? That one is basically a liquid plastic.

Yes, Minwax hardener, just on the inside of it. Kind of like extra support. And like i said, I don;t know if it does anything, but it seems to make sense to do it.

Buzzy Out!

Awesome Buzzy. You stained it exactly as I was hoping you would. Worked out really well. I don't know how you are going to top that one.

This drum looks amazing Buzzy!!!

Amazing piece Buzzy!

Really top notch work!

Way to close the year out with a bang!

That is some sweet Tikiness Dr. Meeker!

awesome drum and stainz!

Superior work Buzz. Definitely a masterpiece by a master artist! What did you charge for this? One ZILLION dollars?? :wink:

Buzzy, This one has to be an ALL Time GREAT, This one really raises the bar and is gonna make everyone expect Nuthin' but the Best from'Ya!

where art thou?

He's probably at the "Lake". Ask Amy.

On 2011-01-19 09:54, GROG wrote:
He's probably at the "Lake". Ask Amy.

LOL he is indeed at the "lake" Grog!.... He will have internet this weekend if he cares to posts

Amy

Buzzy vs. the LAKE MONSTER!

GROG - get on with the poster!

Buzzy needs better internet.

[ Edited by: revbambooben 2011-03-06 18:06 ]

Where's Buzzy ?..............

Building Mojave Oasis.

I'm still alive and making stuff. I came home real quick today to take care of some local bizniss.

My internet conection out there makes it impossible to post anything on TC. Just wanted to drop in and say "Hey" while I was in civilization.

take care all,
Buzzy Out!

BUZZYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!

Where's my sunset picture!!!??? :x

We are missing you Buzzy. Come back soon. :)

"My internet conection out there makes it impossible to post anything on TC."

What are you using, coconuts and cactus juice for a server??!??!

Buzz it was good to see you again! I miss your sunset photos so here's a sunrise over the Salton Sea from Saturday Morning

A few glimpses of my current stay here in The Mojave:

Got to 100 for the first time here a couple days ago.

It's warmer, colder,and windier here than I'm used to.

I get to mess around making stuff all day

That's the carport turned into one of my work areas. I made the painted Moai to be added a sign the nelsons made

The sign was suposed to mounted to the outside gate next to a 8' Moai we made a couple months ago

Bamboo Ben and I made framework for it together and then he concreted and painted it.

It was decided to move the sign inside the grounds so I had to come up with a cool way to mount it. I tried to make it like an old Rt 66 style hotel roadsignwith the letters and stars the Nelsons made

That thing looks awesome.

All lit up at night:

I do manage to get some old fashioned carving in now and again as well. Here's my new work area:

That's an 8 foot+ Lono on the rack. I really miss my carpet to carve on.

I get to see a lot of other great artists' work being here. Here's a special sneak preview for you guys of my favorite one:
After 12,067 pieces of artwork, and a career spanning decades, LLT finally made something I like!

You'll be seeing more of the place soon, as we are just about done.
So for now,
Buzzy Out!

BUZZZZZYYYY! Great to hear from you! Nice progress picts....Freddie

SLANDER AND LARCENY!

Here are a few more pictures of your new work area, and of you in action with some help from "The Guys"...

Here's Ringo supervising

You have no idea how tiring all the excitement at Mojave Oasis can be...

Here are the guys, officially exhausted...

Of course no matter how tired they are they have to be in on the action...

Here's my favorite...

Zaya

Those last pics look like a good day

On 2011-04-04 15:50, Zaya wrote:

Here's my favorite...

Look like a zen monk at work...

J.

Some Big Wood there, Buzzy! (That's what she said) :lol:

This is shaping up to be a wonderful event and a great tiki Buzzy. I am so sad to miss it. Wendy

On 2011-04-05 00:44, HOUSE OF KU wrote:

Some Big Wood there, Buzzy! (That's what she said) :lol:

someone just won 5 bucks!

Bump!

I have been going through your thread (it's more like a rope) and am amazed not only by the quality but the quantity of your work. How many hours/days do you carve per week? Very inspirational stuff Buzzy.

[ Edited by: cy 2011-04-16 16:19 ]

On 2011-04-04 15:50, Zaya wrote:
Here are a few more pictures of your new work area, and of you in action with some help from "The Guys"...

Here's Ringo supervising

You have no idea how tiring all the excitement at Mojave Oasis can be...

Cool lookin stuff there Buzzy, but that silver glow in your hair is it from the Silver Valley Sun or is there a lot of gray creeping in?
Thanks for the pix Zaya.
Here are the guys, officially exhausted...

Of course no matter how tired they are they have to be in on the action...

Here's my favorite...

Zaya

Now do we get our Buzzy back?

Wow! Buzz nice looking carve there.

Here are a few pictures from our Mojave Oasis weekend!

The tikis were amazing!

I saw this one keeping an eye on your tikis from across the way :) ...

Our good friends Stever and Emily.

First drink served at the bar

Buzzy and Stever testing out the water

Zaya

MORE PICS ZAYA!!!!!

Gotta do this again in July, when it's 116 degrees. A beer can taste pretty dang good then.

BUZZY,,,,,, Congrats on seeing that through to the end, Well done, Awesome stuff, you Gotta be totally Proud, even if there are a Bunch more grey hairs on the old noggin!
Excellent Pictures Zaya, Thanks for showing those Pre-Benzart tikis. hard to believe those are over 20 years old and I remember doing that longhouse, they gave me 30 days and I finished it in 3 weeks. About Half as hard as Buzzy and the crew worked out there to make Amy's Magical dream come true.

Thanks,, Big Time!

Buzzy is Mr. Mojave Oasis! Great work, man!

I, being the Tiki Modernist that I am, especially love this guy:

Are these two actually intended as a juxtaposition of traditional and modern? The two styles that hold up the house of Tiki?

That stage is absolutely amazing.
Incredible work.