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New stuffs and where Ive been... (not so tiki, at all but you may get a kick out of it!) 9/11 page 2

Pages: 1 40 replies

KK

Aloha TC Ohana!
Its been so long for me, but here's some new kine stuff Ive been working on. Like the title of the post, its not so tiki. Lately (maybe because of disney & Johnny Depp) Ive been hit up with "skull" kine orders. It seems the pirate craze is in full swing so Ive been doing some "pirate-ish" kine carvings!

This buggah is made from ancient whale blue bone and will be mounted with a silver bail right in the top of the skull, then mounted on a silver chain... Now I carve tiny small kine skulls fine but for some reason this one was tough!


Here's a couple of ancient walrus molar pendants with tiny kine skulls!
(notice I carved mini bone toggles!)


And keeping with the "skull" theme, here's one of my latest Pa Kahawai Lure pendants with a walrus bone "skull's head" barb!

Okay, so here's a true custom order... This piece I did for a friend who's nickname is "toast". Apparently, he eats toast every day of his life (2 or 3 times!) and his father used to say he knew his son made it home safe every night because he would wake up smelling toast in the middle of the night!


here's a few of my "normal" kine carvings...
Gold pearl shell manta ray pendant with Black pearl shell eyes...

A solid Mammoth Ivory "Naia" (dolphin) pendant...

Another "Lono" pendant made from ancient sperm whale jaw bone...

Here's a Mano makau (bruddah IZ style) made from curly Koa, Mammoth Ivory and nice little pearl shell "dewdrop". (this buggah for sale too!)

This makau is special one because this material is one of the hardest I work with... Its ancient Mammoth Molar (as seen underneath the makau) in an almost mineralized state. It actually has some "tiger's eye" qualities to it with some nice fire in the dentine sections. Thing is, I have to constantly stabilize this stuff so the buggah no break during carving & polishing! OW-WAY!

This buggah is a work-in-progress... Its a normal "gorge" style makau but the material is ancient walrus skull bone (around 4000 years old) and almost looks like leopard skin print!

Last but not least is another work-in-progress and a true labor of love... This buggah is gonna be for me! (or some fine wahine that captures my heart, ya nevah know!) Its a He'e pendant made from Stellar Sea cow bone. I have around 8 or 9 hours left on da kine. I still have to do major finish work like the tentacles including the suction cups, pearl shell eyes and beak (mouth). This one is going to be "full" anatomy so its taking long time!


Id love to hear what you all think. Its been so long since I posted and Im stoked to be back!!!

Big Mahalo'z!


For miki'oi Authentic Hawaiian Makau, check out my website! You wont find mo bettah! http://www.cabanillamakau.com

[ Edited by: kaha ki'i 2007-09-11 22:05 ]

[ Edited by: kaha ki'i 2007-09-11 22:12 ]

J

Wow. It's great to have you back! I don't know where to start, skulls, tikis, rays, Oh my. All fantastic. I really like the octopus.

mad skills!

Kia ora - You cant keep a good man down it seems..

More top-shelf work from you mate. Should we be worried about all the skulls n bones motif..? Nah, enough love gone into them I reckon..

"""Its ancient Mammoth Molar (as seen underneath the makau) in an almost mineralized state. It actually has some "tiger's eye" qualities to it with some nice fire in the dentine sections.""" - Chatoyancy!! Sexy!

Love the toast too - Ive been staring at it waiting for that butter to melt! :lol:

My only constructive criticism is the length of time in between posts of your work! (ya buggah!) :wink:

Tama :)

B

Ditto what Everybody said, Long time we been Missin your works so Don't stay away so long next time. That dolphin pendant is one of the Prettiest dolphin I have seen carved on a small scale. Beautiful lines and Awesome finish. I could go down the list on every piece but we don't have the space. Just KNOW This: We are Mighty Happy to see you posting on these pages again! A Real sight for sore eyes.
Welcome Back.

P
Paipo posted on Wed, Aug 15, 2007 2:59 PM

On 2007-08-15 11:26, kaha ki'i wrote:

Id love to hear what you all think. Its been so long since I posted and Im stoked to be back!!!

Not as stoked as we are! Keep posting the skulls - I've also noticed people are crazy about 'em and they work fine within/beside tiki stuff as far as I'm concerned.

4

They're all cool, but you really got those skulls down! Love that first one!!

[ Edited by: 4WDtiki 2007-08-16 06:02 ]

KK

Big mahaloz everyone! Im so pleased to be back. Pleased? That doesnt define it!
Johnny- mahalo'z bruddah! I hear the OZ tune in my head when I read your comment! Loved it!
Tikidreams- mad mahalo'z!
Tama- Serious thanks! I was laughing at the toast comment!!! It took me a while to find a chunk of walrus that would look like melting butter when polished! And the "toasting" is actually a combo of tea stain and burning the bone with a dry polishing pad! So I guess it is a bit toasted!
Benz- Cant thank you enough Ben. Every single soul here on TC respects and admires you Benz, as do I!
Paipo- great comment! Mahalo for the aloha! So happy to see you & everyones elses work! Shootz! Just awesome!
4WD-Mahalo! yeah cuz, a skull inside our head is one thing we all have in common! But now I see da buggah's in my sleep!!! (actually I get a kick out of them! Theyre fun & challenging to do correctly on a small scale!)

Again, Thank everyone who sparked my work! More to come!

Wow! Nice.

Oh Wow! Welcome back!! I love all of your stuff. That first skull is my favorite as well as the octopus. Great detail on such a small scale.

H
hewey posted on Wed, Aug 15, 2007 8:32 PM

Mate, great to have you back! I love seeing the work you do :D

Besides the beautiful artwork the different materials are incredible. WOW

B

EXCELLENT.

Benjamin.

H

Here's a link to some of his older works for the newer members (and for the folks like me who just want to see it again :D ).

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=17787&forum=7

M

Incredible stuff!

Thank you

McTiki

KK

Wow! great comments from all of you! So much aloha, so much!

Insane- Wow! Mahalo to you for the spark!
Aloha Station- Big mahalo'z for the welcome back comment! So nice to get your comments once again!
Hewey- Bruddah, thanks so much for the warm regards, and the hook up so people can spark my old stuff! mahalo brah!
Moondance- I so appreciate your comment! yeah, the materials I use are no ka oi and Im lucky and feel blessed to be able to work with materials filled with so much mana!!! Mahalo!
Ben- EXCELLENT comment! mahalo to you!!!
Mctiki- So nice to see your comment! I sparked your stuff brah, love it!!!
But your screen name makes me hungry... Hmmm...wonder why that is? curious...

Again, mahalo to you all my TC ohana! Im going to hit up the oasis on staurday, maybe I see some of you there!!!

A hui ho!

T

I recently received a "Pa kahawai" (a hook with a carved skull barb similar to that above). If it is obvious from the pics above, this carver's work is incredible!

B
Bowana posted on Sun, Sep 2, 2007 8:31 PM

WHEW! That stuff is killer Kaha Ki'i. All of it. I saw your skull hook lure at Oasis with Babalu. Man, oh man!

WOW!!!! Those are awesome. Your attention to detail is amazing. I love the skull and also that octopus is going to be dayum fine. :)


FATIMA BLUSH: Oh, how reckless of me. I made you all wet.
JAMES BOND: Yes, but my martini is still dry.

[ Edited by: VampiressRN 2007-09-02 20:55 ]

KK

Sorry ohana...had to remove the images and post at the request of Fender... Mahalo for all the great comments!


For miki'oi Authentic Hawaiian Makau, check out my website! You wont find mo bettah! http://www.cabanillamakau.com

[ Edited by: kaha ki'i 2007-09-20 13:05 ]

B

Vince,

This work is way more awesome than you were describing to me earlier today! I'm so blown away my friend! These guys are awful lucky to have you on board...they must be ecstatic!

The very best to you in your new position,

Rick

ROCK AND ROLL!!! Stuff the desk-job!!

Awesome piece Kaha - do you suppose they'd let you keep it? That would be a great thing to hang on the wall of wherever it is you'll be working, as a reminder of 'what its all about'...

Top-shelf, top skills! (but I guess if you've been head-hunted by the Fender Custom shop, you'd know that already..)

Not tiki? So what! Ill be waiting with baited breath for each new axe!

Tama :) :) :) - congrats!

Bad Ash!!! Keep it up, and keep us informed.

H

Kaha, your work is awesome. Keep posting we love it.

Great job landing, Vince! I'm jealous, man, very very! Nice work.

H

Man, that's awesome! Congrats on the new job too! And please post some pics of the assembled guitar!

P

I know how hard it is to create an illusion of depth and dimension with shallow relief carving, and I can see in that long shot you totally nailed it. That's a pure work of art - I hope they're as impressed with it as we are!
Plus congrats on landing the dream job: "hey, what do you do?" - "Oh, nothin much - I just carve guitars for Fender!" That's like being a professional rum taster or a talent scout for Playboy magazine or something. Rock on Vince!


[ Edited by: Paipo 2007-09-12 00:21 ]

[ Edited by: Paipo 2007-09-12 01:45 ]

B

Pretty impressive piece Kaha, Big Congrats to the new job and what a way to start it off! A WEEK is great time for that no wonder you have been MIA here recently. Show us more.

Speechless I am. Give me a minute to catch my breath.

. . .

. . .

WOW your stuff is just amazing. It is truely an honour to look at your art.

And congrats on the new JOB.

. . .

Man, you are GOOD.

KS

Brah, your ability to walk into Fender Guitar and in a few days unleash this creativity is awesome! I think they'll get it as soon as they see it. Clearly, you are a multi-dimensional carver. In my opinion, you passed their test! They should be lucky to have you on board. You've got the mana bruddah!! And yes-mahalo ke akua that you are an artist and not buried in paperwork all day. Guys like me need you to do what you do because we love Makau and Hawai 'i style carvings!!

J

Congratulations on the new job! Nice work, shows your skill very well. Ash isn't so bad to work with as you have very nicely shown. It's a shame you won't have the time to work on your Hawaiian kine carvings, but a lot of other people will now be enjoying your work.

Keep Jammin'

G
GMAN posted on Wed, Sep 12, 2007 6:36 AM

Kaha,

Were you spying on me at my day job? I look like that everyday! Beautiful piece and congrats on the gig. I look forward to seeing more work like this from you.

-G

B

WWOOOWWWW.
Amazing work you've done here. A Telecaster ?
Beautiful work.

Ben

C

Incredible carving! Very nice indeed!! Best wishes for your new job,the music community should be very glad!

Very nice guitar work. And congrats on the new gig, but you have to watch out for those corporate types . . . better sure make work ukupau!

R

What a great story. Congratulations on the new job, and pulling off that carving in a week! Great work.

KK

Sorry ohana! I had to remove the pics at the request of Fender.


For miki'oi Authentic Hawaiian Makau, check out my website! You wont find mo bettah! http://www.cabanillamakau.com

[ Edited by: kaha ki'i 2007-09-20 13:07 ]

H

absolutely amazing!!!

rawk and rawwwllll!!!!!

as a guitarist I am really looking forward to your upcoming projects.

Congratulations on the gig of a lifetime!

B

Sounds like a great opportunity has come knocking on your door... and your work more than deserves it, that guitar rocks! (pun intended)

Much Aloha!

Great work Kaha ole' buddy. Happy happy happy for you and the guys who will own your
geetars!

B

Thanks for posting those "How-To" pictures as it really helps us who are interested in laying out a bas-relief carving. The "Fish-eye" look was a neat trick too. It really gives it a bit more of a Believitability factor and helps make it look more real. The only thing I don't see is that big pile of hair you pulled out while trying to come up with this perfect piece. Thanks.

Pages: 1 40 replies