Big Bang Creations - new Yipwan Drum Mug pg 86

WOW....let me say that again....WOW!!! Babalu's studio was brimming with talent this weekend. The Tiki Mag Show brought in some big guns from all over, and I was lucky enough to pull some of the shooters over to my place this weekend. I had Squid, Bai, Grog, Bowana, Cammo, and Buzzy all over to sling a little mud! That was really fun you guys! We have to do a repeat of that sometime.

Squid and Bai showed up early and first, and in a devoted artistic fashion, they were also the last to leave. Grog, what can I say...it was like a light bulb went off in that caveman's head and he was going nonstop boogie from the moment he touched the clay...he took to clay like a duck takes to water. Bowana, well Sir B is just plain amazing...the cat is like a machine! Cammo put the finishing touches on one of my all time favorite mugs...you rock Cam! Buzzy...Buzzy is crazy mad...he's also like a machine...when Buzzy gets it in his mind to do something, he's all over it like a school of piranha on swimming deer that cut it's self shaving.

DAYAM!! What a day....The best thing to do at this point is just to rock you with pictures...without further adieu...

GROG invent Whil! Make with rock.

I didn't get a whole lot done, but I sure had FUN!

Peace...

wow...
bummed TikiShark and i had to get back to OC after the show...
Every single creation from that day is INCREDIBLE!
Bai's bird/palm deserves major kudos!
What a sculpt!
Babs rocks!

Thanks for a great time at your ceramics lair, Sir Babs!

Squid, Bai, Buzz, Cam, GROG, Babs, Simon, it was a pleasure hanging out with you. I think everybody produced something fantastic yesterday!

Who the hell is Richard Schaal? I'm much better looking than he is.

Bowana

PS Babalu, I saw GROG's hat on top of the kiln.

Squid make you Happy Buzzy ?

GROG in person sure can yak.

Him say yak yak yak yakkity yak where my hat go? yak yakkkity yakkity yakky yak yak.

The suddenly real nice stone mug appear in his hands. Don't know where it come from. Just like magic, it not there then PLOP it there. This first thing me ever see GROG make, so I wish I saw it being made instead of just appearing on table in front of him in blink of eye. Maybe he bring it with him, and fling it out when nobody looking.

The palm is amazing. The "Palme d'Or".

Richard Schaal is Rhoda's real-life husband, and star of "The Cube".

Nice skull, nice birdie, and Buzzy better give that dog dish to his dog or Kiva's gonna go around all droopy-eyed about how Buzzy made the greatest dog bowl of all time, and GAVE IT TO SOME OTHER DOG!!!!!

Grog....The lid is safe...see you next weekend. Yes, I soooo agree! Bai moves to the front of the class! She turned and burned and ruled the day!

Sir B, I braced up the babes on some small pieces of wood as shown below...I will replace the plastic they are resting on tonight with some news paper...it will draw the moisture better. I think you need to get air circulating around the whole piece as they dry...the inside bottom of the mug and the very bottom side should dry out uniformly.

On 2008-09-15 09:15, RevBambooBen wrote:
Squid make you Happy Buzzy ?

Yes.

Bai beat the pants off the guys!!! That is a wicked tree....way to go. Will there be some colors soon? One of those would look awesome in my lounge. :) I don't think I could ever get into carving, but the mug-making thang looks waaaay fun. :D

Isn't there a law that that many tiki talents cannot be in the same place at once, in case of a scud missile dropping on the house? :lol:

WOW! Lotso great pieces! Palm tree gets my top vote, followed by the skull mug.

Since Squid helped Bai carve some of the finished detail on the sculpt, does that make it a Squid/Bai Product or is it a sculpt Bai/Squid?

---

[ Edited by: GROG 2008-09-15 15:19 ]

What a great studio!

When you gonna invite the West Bay crew?

oh MAN!

Those mugs are AMAZING - I wanna come to a clay party at your place! Sigh... stupid pacific ocean...

So many unique pieces. May they all dry and fire safe - I can't wait till the glaze starts flying! Mahalo for sharing the photos with us.

Henrik "VanTiki"

Thanks for stopping you all! That really was a fun weekend. These OC folk really know how to kick in a Clay Jam!

Henrik - Really happy your back! I've been missing my VanTiki fix. We can't let that darn Pacific Ocean keep us from hooking up at some point. If you don't make it over to Cali, I'll make it over to play in your studio. I want to go over and visit Gecko too, that cat is pumping out some amazing stuff lately. Those bowls of his that he brought to Oasis (only got to see pictures) were just too much! Amy and I have enough miles saved up on Hawaiian Airlines for one free ticket...and yeah, no pressure on this firing huh :)

Hodaddy - Of course you cats can come over and play...let's work out a good time.

Grog - That was really cool watching Bai and Squid working together...it's like they are an extension of one another. Bai starts this massive project, and towards the end of the evening Squid just kind of jumps in and helps her to texture the piece...no words between them, just harmony...Much better tag team than John and Yoko ever were that's for sure. I would still have to call this one a Bai / Squid work, not a Squid / Bai work.

Sorry folks, neither Squid nor I did got's a whole lot of work done on Sunday, but we sure had a "ton" of fun shooting the bull, yaking about old travel trailers, vintage cars, art, clay, etc...I did send him home with a bunch of clay, so I would imagine that you peoples are going to see some amazing "one off" magic coming out of that guy...he's just sooo talented! The rest of you OC crew, call Squid, grab a little hunk of that clay from him, and get in on the action!

This is going to be the best kiln load I've ever fired.

GROG sculpted another piece to go in this kiln load when you fire it, Babalu.

Oh wow! You all did such nice mugs!! I totally love the Bai one! (with a little help) sooo cool!! the picasso mug from Cammo! The holy Aloha grail and the little skull of sir B, Oh and the cave moia from Grogie is sooo cute!!! and the Buzzy bowl and all the little rabbits :D!!
Amazing!!
(yes Babalu I would love to join you some day, that's for sure, I have some strategic places to scratch Simon too :), but just in case, don't hold your breath I don't have any free miles :D! )

Clarita - :)

GROG need to make new mug more tiki!

Wow! Babalu and Amy are such great hosts. Bai and I had a total blast even though Grog was there. Next time we have a chance to wallow in clay and eat hot dogs and cookies, we are there! Buz-E, Bo Wanna and Kam-O are a major bundle-o-laughs and talent. Good to finally hang with the SD gang. As Baba said, the 2 of us didn't get a lot done but we had fun talkin' stuff! Thanks again Rick!!! Will post pix of Bai's masterpiece as it progresses.

On 2008-09-16 17:11, squid wrote:
Wow! Babalu and Amy are such great hosts. Bai and I had a total blast even though Grog was there. Next time we have a chance to wallow in clay and eat hot dogs and cookies, we are there! Buz-E, Bo Wanna and Kam-O are a major bundle-o-laughs and talent. Good to finally hang with the SD gang. As Baba said, the 2 of us didn't get a lot done but we had fun talkin' stuff! Thanks again Rick!!! Will post pix of Bai's masterpiece as it progresses.

Squid - I'll go all out and throw in some cold slaw and Twinkies to go along with those hot dogs and cookies the next time we have a hoot-a-nannie over here at Babalu Bob's...Can't wait to see where Bai takes her bird house...See ya on Sat.

Well, I finished up this little cannibal guy last night...some of my favorite elements used on him (and on that rabbit hole bowl)were pulled from this 1940's Hawaiian Trader Vics image posted in "General" a while back...

But what really made my day yesterday was finding a little surprise package on my doorstep when I got home from work. Mad Dog Mike sent me my new favorite mug! Mike has really, really come a long way with his ceramics! Building molds, buying a little kiln and firing the heck out of it, enrolling in a ceramics class at his local Communitiy College, and much more...You rock the hardest Mike! Keep that fire burning brother!

:blush:

(btw, there's a lot to be said for a small kiln- I actually fired it TWICE yesterday, one bisque and one glaze. Set it to bisque at 5:30 am, then reloaded it to glaze at 7:00 pm. There was one piece that was in both firings, went from greenware to glazed in 1 day :) )

i am bitter and hate u all. i LOVE ALL of the work u guys did. that was ONE DAY'S WORK?????

talented AND productive? not fair.

where do i sign up for a session at the BABALU ACADEMY FOR DEMENTED ARTISTS!???!!??!

Wow and Wow....triple WOW. So much fun!

Nice work Babalu....the rabbit theme lives on and just keeps getting better...and weirder :D in a good way. So happy to finally get a good look at what you've been doing.

Can I come to the next mug making?

RABBIT CANNIBALS ROCK!
i heard they DO eat their young sometimes.....

all killer stuff! i cant wait to get in there again and make another mug! babs THANKS for fixin up my mug, it looks awesome, you da man!

Beautiful work everyone! Wow at Bai, Squid & yes even Grog :) (I need a whil)... how awesome I'm impressed! Seems you all worked very quickly, I think you have done this since 8th grade ceramics class ummmm... Squid, Does it feel much different from your routine sculpting at this point? well I am in waiting....Cough, cough Squid?.... LOL Cool pics... & Bai, can't wait to see yours all glazed & finished, it's adorable & very good (of course) wow!...

MadDog, LLT, Thomas, HipHip - Thanks for poping in you guys

Master Toe and Robin...Your crazy minds are welcome over here anytime!

Everything looks good so far...

These progress pictures will make more since soon.

WOW...the level of stuff pumping out down there is just kick ass! I'm not going to be able to skip many more of these. Great stuff guys...the San Diego Art Collective is born! Looks like we might be moving in a month down the street but at first glance the power box is accessible so I hope to get our kiln up and blazing too!

Mind-blowing/numbing stuff! I like how far outside the norm some of this stuff goes.

Babs! Love all your rabbit inspired pieces especially that scorpion bowl. Wow! really wonderful stuff.

Sorry you can't make the carve on the twenty eighth but it seems you have your hands full. I don't understand the situation, but I wish the best for you & yours...

What's a good time for squishing? My last clay class was twenty four years ago!

bababababalu rocks!

Wabbits...turtles...snakes...chicks....what a wonderful thread.
You clay dudes are really raising the bar out there. I can't even
imagine the fun you must be having.
More more more! Faster faster faster.

You bet you got's to get down here Clysdalle! :)

Rob - Very honored that you like the work that is happening around on this thread. I'm really pleased with everyone's stuff...lot's of energy around here lately.

Hank - Sounds like the 18th might be the big day to sling a little clay. Thanks for asking about Breydan (the Bird - my grandson), he underwent a pretty hardcore surgery today to open up the sutures on his skull...everything went well. Lot's of recovery to get through. He will be fine.

Hey Rev. B, It was great kickin' it with you at Kona...thanks for bouncing in man...Your words make me want to go out in the studio and work.

Conga - There has been lot's happening...my minds moving to fast for my hands to keep up with lately; I had to start a sketch book (Fish Bowl) again...this quick mug image was influenced by a museum image that I found here on TC.

Here's tonight's update on the Hona Bowl...I hope to glaze the bowl to the top of this guy...He will be a whole turtle in the end - hollowed to be about 1/4 inch thick all over. I would like to make this guy so that he can hang on a wall as well as to be able sit functional on a flat surface.

Little shop secret: For many years, while hollowing out sculptures that I do...I always put a little prayer or saying written on the inside before I close them back up to the world. This is the only time I will ever show this being done...typically, the only way one can find out what's on the inside of one of my sculptures is to break it open...It just turned out to be a good day today, so I thought I would share this.

Thanks for visiting.

[ Edited by: babalu 2008-09-24 06:34 ]

hahaha, that's great rick. i built a rocket once that had a hidden message on one of the centering rings in the motor mount. it said, "if you can read this, we crashed". it was a high power, nitrous-oxide rocket. went about 10,000 feet the first time we flew it. then the message came out. oh, well.

i love your new stuff, man. you're really taking your mind to a new place. remember, i've seen all your older pieces that kind of show the inner you. most people won't know what a crazy place that is.

keep it up. one of these days i'll make it back to lemon grove and push some clay with you.

Rick, I knew Breyden's surgery had to be coming up, just wasn't sure exactly when. Glad to hear everything went well, we've been thinking about him.

The mud all looks great, the internal prayers are awesome! 1500 years from now someone will find the broken Honu Bowl and say "What the heck is this message about and who is "the bird"?"

The Hona Bowl is turning out beautifully- I can't get over how natural and effortless your shapes feel, though I don't doubt the amount of work that goes into them. Gads.

-C

:D you are truly blessed :D

Hona bowl is a top marsterpiecy bowl.
Babalu you're the king.

Benjamin.

Hona Bowl's looking spiffy Rick!
Glad the Bird is gonna be alright..
He's a cute lil fellar!
Stoked you got a sketchbook jag beginning...
that first study MUST come to life!
Awaiting the next opportunity to feel the earth
and squish it betwixt my fingers...

Babalu,
Thank you for the update on your grandson. I am very happy to hear the surgery went well and hope for a speedy recovery time. Your tribute/guardian Honu shell bowl is beautiful and I imagine will be a momento he will hold onto for the rest of his life.
Please keep us updated on his recovery and your plans for a clay day in October.

Hey Babalu!
It was nice to see you (briefly) at Kona for the Squid/Tikiyaki event!

Your new work is fantastic! Can't wait to see the Hona Bowl finished.

WOW! What incredible gathering of talent you had at your studio! Looks like you guys had a great time creating some amazing art... are the artists coming back to glaze the pieces too? Would like to see the final pieces.

Maybe you could turn that into an annual event... I'm sure there are lots of TCers who'd love to tale a crack at sculpting a tiki mug! (although there are probably TOO many, making it logistically prohibitive)

Great workz flowing from Babalu and the Factory...

Hey Perry, Thanks again for copying those slides for me...I wished I would have given you more :) Clay time soon brother!

Mike - Thanks for the kind words about Breydan...a long road ahead, but we will all be stronger somehow for all of this. I want to talk to you about drawing some time. I will try to get on your thread tomorrow if I can..a few things.things I want to show you.

Thanks for zooming in Shoom...it means a lot to me.

JONESY IS BACK! YaY! Good to have you floating back around on the forum...Ha, looks like you have been doing more traveling than me. Nice picture brother. It is kind of turning into another "Factory" type of place over here...fun, fun, fun!

Benella - I'm really digging the fact that you like the work so much. The King thing might be pushing it a little far...I'm just another clay dude really. Keep bouncing back...more soon.

Kinny - It's time for you to come over and get muddy. Thanks for all your support LLT...It's crazy cool to have you in my corner.

Cass - Thanks for your thoughts on Breydan...He is going to be fine...he just looks like he's been in a fight with a bear...think he looks bad, you should see the bear :) If all goes well, the Hona bowl will end up in someone else's collection...Breydan can use the $ more than he can use a scorpion bowl right now. You and Boris game for the 18th?

Tobunga - I have no problem in making these little canvases for people to come over a try making a mug...In the end, my past experience in doing things like this is that I might get 1 or 2 folks (out of everyone) that really picks up the clay ball up and runs with it kind of like Mad Dog Mike has done. I would love to have you over sometime to give it a go....you might find out you like the medium.

Ok, on with stuffs...

I finished the sculpt on this Hona Bowl...as far as I'm going to take it anyway...quite a few hours in on this one. This post is a little image heavy as the darn thing is just so 3D it's hard to show with just a few pictures. There are a few constructed areas on this guy that cause me some concern, so I'm not going to get too attached to this bowl, or think too much about glazing until I get him through the first firing. Again, my thoughts are to glaze fire the bowl in place on the back of the turtle so that the bowl and the turtle will be forever attached to one another.

Wow! love the turtle!

Yeah, Glaze-to-Glaze is a great idea, I didn't even know you could do that. (Thanks for showing everybody the progress shots.)

The "World Came on the Back of a Turtle" is a really ancient idea, isn't it both Polynesian and Indian????

Actually, this is maybe my favorite thang Babalu had EVER done!!!

Absolutely awesome! (love the air vent!) Just another stunning example of why you're the master and we're the students :)

Dude you aren't fuckin around are you? WOW totally trippin on your sculpting skillz! Great work!!

Jeez, I think it's time to have a Turtle Drink Contest.

Or is this a Turtle Soup Bowl?

Wow, I'm just in AWE of your thread every time I visit and it always seems there is More happening all the time. What you have been doing on your own is Awesome enough but what you have been doing with the other artists is truly amazing and Really makes me jealous. The time and effort you give to let us mere mortals see what's happening is really appreciated too. Just watching these guys coming alive is totally spiritual and a Moving event. Then the knowledge of the secret prayer or wish inside is just too much all at once, by brain doesn't work that clearly that fast.
What can I say but Thanks! :) :) :)

Wow indeed!
the honu is amazing.