Tiki-Kate Tries to Carve

I looked at an old list I had made of the 20 things I wanted to do before I was too old to do them anymore. # 3 was "Carve a tiki." Well, I've finished five tikis. I think I might be getting better at it. I'm certainly acutely aware of many of the things that I'm doing wrong.

People keep asking to see my finished tikis, and believe me, there's a good reason why I've been afraid to post them. Anyway, I mustered up a little moxie for the week ahead, so here goes nothing:

This is the first tiki I carved back in October 2006 at the Oki Oki seminar. It's a Bosko design that Danny sketched onto the log for me. (The little guy on the forehead was mine though.)

"Bosko Diablo"

In December, we all got together at Mieko's, and I carved my second tiki. I learned an important lesson regarding symmetry. Symmetry is good. Kate trying to draw freehand is bad.

"Conga Tiki"

In January, we started hanging out at Bill's place in Oceanside. It really is a great place to carve. I took this design from the Island Systems & Design Decanter. He makes me laugh every time I look at him.
January's lesson: Have someone level the bottom of the log for you as well as the top. I also learned where they keep the shims at Home Depot.

"Big Blue"

In February, I took a design from another one of my favorite mugs.
February's lesson: Don't be afraid to go deep.

"Into the Volcano"

In March, I had tweaked my wrist, so I picked an easy design.
March's lesson: Don't be afraid of the wood stain. If it comes out really dark, try sand paper.

I'm hoping that I'm ready to exit my blue period though. People at the hardware store look at you funny when you buy blue wood stain. Thank God this stuff easily washes off your hands, your arms, your face, your floor, etc.

"Mini Conga"

That's it for now. Thanks for looking.

Carving has been incredibly theraputic for me. I kind of like the fact that my tikis are a little wonky and crooked. It doesn't matter that I'm not very good at this. It actually makes me happy. :)

i've seen your work in person. it's outstanding. you have a great attention to detail and a true love for what you do. keep it up, it's looking great.

Nice, Kate! Glad you decided to post them up.

Can't wait to see April's carving.

Kate, I can't believe how well you are doing with your tiki's. These are Excellent for never having carved before, I mean Really good. You should be Very Proud!
How about some Progress shots of your next one?

All right! The Tiki-Kate collection! Looking good!

I fight with the Symmetry Demons all the time in my work too, so I hear ya.

I wouldn't say you just tried, I'd have to say you did it. Wonky, crooked tikis make me happy too! I think it gives them character. I especially like the second one up from the bottom pic. Keep hackin' and postin'--I think I can speak for the majority by saying "we wanna see more!!"

Very inspired, she has got the gods running through her blood!

ROCK ON TIKI-KATE!
Appearances can be deceiving...I wouldn't believe such a sweet and tender lady could chip these logs into the beauties you've posted! Great work!!! :)

cool stuff! i'm diggin the blue period. symmetry is good to an extent. i feel that symmetry is like perfection: they only exist in nature. anything more we try to control/make ourselves boils down to opinion only. please give us more as they become!

Thanks for all of the kind words and encouragement.

I promise to keep trying new things and to keep trying to improve.

Wow this is your start? Very nice! I like the use of bright color to, Congrats!

Keep carving! Looks like a great start. Hardest thing for me was getting over Feeling I was going to screw it up

Great looking tikis, kate! thanks for posting them. My fav is the 4th one down, perfect design symmetry and depth - REALLY nice carving!

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2007-03-28 13:48 ]

Keep at it, and go deeper! :D

Tiki Kate DID Carve! ....I have yet to venture but I will be pleased if I accomplish as much.....I like your 2nd best but favor the blue "bucket" tiki as well...what's the wood?...and where are they now?......when I refinished antique trunks one little "trick" I did to control how much stain darkened the wood (it would suck the stain up ) was to give the bare wood (very dry) a coating. 1 part shellac to 3 parts denatured alcohol...But you better check with experienced carvers as to the wisdom of such .....(humm? maybe the effect of brushing the whole log first ,then carving, followed by stain would give a desirable contrast ?....I wish spring to come here SOON so I can stop with the theories and get with the gouges !

[ Edited by: Hula Cat 2007-04-12 17:02 ]

Wow, they look great Kate. I like them all!

Love the 4th one down too, nice work. I like the blue ones too, though. The idea of staining them pure colors is really cool, nobody seems to do that and it comes out great.

The idea of them being big mugs is NICE.

Why is Tiki carving so relaxing? You'd think carefully smashing a tree stump with a sharpened steel spike would be just the opposite! And its addictive!

So what are you carving now? You did such a great job on those, you have to have to keep going. There is talent behind that set of chisles and we need to see more of it.

JP

On 2007-04-12 17:00, Hula Cat wrote:
what's the wood?...and where are they now

They're all palm. About seven years ago, I was driving past a neighbor who was cutting down some palms. I pulled over and asked him if I could have them. He was thrilled to get rid of them. I was so excited. I ran off and got my ex-boyfriend's truck and my brother-in-law and picked up the trees. They were about seven feet long. The guys had a hell of a time loading them up. After about two years, my brother-in-law got sick of moving these massive trees around, so he took a chainsaw to them. I left them outside my house to dry for another five years. Some of them are still too heavy for me to lift.

As far as the finished tikis go, I've got two in my living room and three in my bedroom. I like keeping them close to the objects they're based on.

Here's what I'm working on now. It's another Shag design.

I've set up a little carving space near my breakfast nook. I like being able to carve indoors (and in my pajamas.)

I'm having a lot of fun with this one. It's not really turning out like the picture. I'm just kind of making him what I want him to be now.

Thank you all for the encouragement.

On 2007-04-12 18:44, Cammo wrote:
Why is Tiki carving so relaxing? You'd think carefully smashing a tree stump with a sharpened steel spike would be just the opposite! And its addictive!

It's a total Zen thing. It's one of the only times I can completely concentrate and get my mind off of all my worries.

Kate,

Great start on this one! You picked a sweet design. Hey, carving in PJs is the only way to carve.

You tiki girls from So. Cal. rule!

I can't believe how long it's been since I actually finished something. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or a good thing. Either way, I got one done today.

His name is Kapu, and he's from the Shag painting of the same name. I was really stressing out over the whole symmetry thing (or lack thereof.) Then one day I was staring at the print, and I realized that he's not symmetrical in the original. Oy! I didn't feel comfortable trying to stain each side a different color, so he's sort of a blueish green instead of being half blue/half green.

Yay Kate! Looks great1 Cool copper color.

Looks great!!

Right on lady! This guy turned out SUPERB!!! Can't wait to see what your going to dive into on Saturday...fun, fun, fun...

Good goin' Kate!

I've always liked the expressions Shag put on his tikis. You captured the essence very well in 3D, you should be proud.

Nice work I love the colors you have on all your tikis.

Way to go Kate!

Atta-girl! Love the color, it really jumps out at you!

C'Mon Kate, "fess up, Tell us the truth which is you have been carving tiki for about 8 years now and these are about Numbers 303 and 304. The Ancients havebeen telling on you! :lol: :lol: Excellent tikis for only 300 or so!!!

I was just looking back through your thread and saw where I posted a week shy of a year ago---I can see you've made some progress. The more you carve, the better you get and youz iz gettin' mo betta!

I don't know what possessed me the other day, but I have several adorable Tiki Tony wooden signs on my living room walls, and I've always wanted to try making one myself. I also wanted to do something with my mini-palm set other than slice my hands up. So I carved a little sign to hang in my Cheap Plastic Tiki Mask Bathroom. Granted, it's made of wood, but I still think it fits in nicely.

Been meaning to say - it would be cool if you did a series of plaques like this about different classic mugs.

Where it says 'TIKI' put the name of the mug. And do it all with antique brown/black/white paints or stains, and final-coat the thing in 2 coats of amber shellac. They'd look great!

Yay Kate, your guy is so cute! I hope you didn't cut yourself at all on this one... :)

On 2008-04-12 13:55, mieko wrote:
Yay Kate, your guy is so cute! I hope you didn't cut yourself at all on this one... :)

Sadly, that was the first thing I did. I broke out a fresh box of band-aids for the occasion.

On 2008-04-12 12:08, Cammo wrote:
Been meaning to say - it would be cool if you did a series of plaques like this about different classic mugs.

Where it says 'TIKI' put the name of the mug. And do it all with antique brown/black/white paints or stains, and final-coat the thing in 2 coats of amber shellac. They'd look great!

That's a great idea. It would have been tough to fit the word "Mainlander" on this little piece.

I'm going to switch over to clay for a couple of weeks. I'll get back to wood for the next Chop.

Main
lander
:wink:

Aloha Kate! Your Tiki's are lookin Great! Keep it up,Aloha, Mooney

rock-on with yo bad self kate! those colored stains look muy bueno. keep up the arrrrsome work

Here is the latest in what seems to be a series of silly signs.

Tiki tOny colors all the way. Great job

Nice! Great progress between the two, I think..! Congrats

Hey Tiki-Kate! Your tikis look awesome! The little plaques are great! Any plans to carve any to sell?

I haven't done any carving myself, but with all this inspiration, it's probably only a matter of time...

It was great getting to meet you at the Tiki Room 45th Anniversary!

YAY for Silly Signs!
Go KAte Go!

I feel like a dork for not noticing this thread before. I've seen you work on almost all of these pieces, but never really saw the finished product.

Muy Bueno Chica!

I want to live you in your tiki filled home!

On 2008-06-24 13:00, tobunga wrote:
Hey Tiki-Kate! Your tikis look awesome! The little plaques are great! Any plans to carve any to sell?

I haven't done any carving myself, but with all this inspiration, it's probably only a matter of time...

It was great getting to meet you at the Tiki Room 45th Anniversary!

Thanks, Eric.

I've never really thought about selling my stuff, but I love carving these signs. So that may happen at some point.

You should try to make it to one of our Chops. They're a great place to learn.

I'm so glad to have met you too.

Thanks for the encouragement, Ken.

And Nelva, I'd post more often if I could actually get around to finishing anything. Oy. But I'm glad you finally got to see some of the things I've been able to complete.

Nice stuff Kate, we Knew you had it in'ya! The tiki liiks nice and crisp and I Love the signs. Lets see MORE!

Love this new mug you did Kate.

Nice one, Kate!