bigt carvings

I like that guy.
Plenty nice details.

You've been producing some really great carves lately. I particularly like that last one!!!

I really like the mouth on that last one.... Maybe it's because he isn't screaming :)

Your last two pieces are very nice.

Added a couple more coats of shellac and a black glaze (thanks WillC, I found that tip somewhere in the back pages of your thread). Gonna clear coat this one with lacquer, but otherwise Finis.

Making progress on this marq. I'm hoping to have this one done by Christmas.

Nice!

Looks great BT!

Finally put the finish on this marq........

Close up showing the grain and this cool knot in the body. There was some reason why I wasn't able to line it up so the knot would form the belly button but I can't remember now...

A little belated: Tikis of 2014!

Love the last picture, nice finish on all, great carvings.

That's some absolutely beautiful work, Big T. The warm wood tones especially are great.

Great work, great photo.

awesomw!!

Fantastic,
You've carved your own army of Tikis.

:D :D :D :D
Love every one. Very nicely done!!!

Thanks all.

ProfG: those golden tones are achieved with wash coat or two of shellac, which is one of my favorite finishes.

Will - sadly some of the army is being discharged to other places soon.

Amate - you nursing those hands back to good health?? Need to see some new stuff from you!

On 2009-09-01 13:07, TheBigT wrote:
Finally finished the Big Tiki (well the largest one I've done). :) He's 5' 5" tall. I took these pics yesterday when it was overcast (still is) and the color in the pics didn't really come out right in contrast to my white gravel driveway. Anyhow, the color is closer to the deep brown shown in the 2nd pic.

Thanks all!

Love this guy! Where did he wind up?

On 2011-06-02 09:54, TheBigT wrote:
The final pics.

Fine work on this one. It has so much character. Sweet little base you gave him. Love it.

Love this guy! Where did he wind up?

That one's at my neighbor's house.

On 2015-01-19 11:05, AlohaTexasTikiCo wrote:

Fine work on this one. It has so much character. Sweet little base you gave him. Love it.

That's the one i told you i didn't like the headress, such as there is one. I probably should have cut it off flat. The pics show it a bit more orange flavored than it really is. It's finished in my secret coloring weapon: Brown Show polish.

On 2015-01-19 11:42, TheBigT wrote:

On 2015-01-19 11:05, AlohaTexasTikiCo wrote:

Fine work on this one. It has so much character. Sweet little base you gave him. Love it.

That's the one i told you i didn't like the headress, such as there is one. I probably should have cut it off flat right above the eyes. The pics show it a bit more orange flavored than it really is. It's finished in my secret coloring weapon: Brown Shoe polish.

Brown show polish? Lol.

BigT: The mad scientist of finish...

On 2015-01-19 18:25, AlohaTexasTikiCo wrote:
Brown show polish? Lol.

BigT: The mad scientist of finish...

LOL, I didn't invent that. Someone around here used it long before me. I was browsing through some older posts and saw someone else had used shoe polish as well. I want to say it was bowana, but cant remember for sure.

Got these four tang masks ready to stain. The 2nd one from the left doesn't have eyes like the others, just the eyelids. I'm still debating whether I'll put those in or not.

Hey will maybe I'll give that brown shoe polish a try sometime! The masks look great. Can't wait to see them stained.

finished the masks. These are made out of a plank of wood i ripped from a log that had mostly rotted away. I figured I would finally do something with it before it completely crumbled. I think i had more fun forming the ears than the rest of the masks!

Nice work!

Those is some nice tangs mang!!!

I'm working on my first paddle. It was pretty fun shaping something functional!

Can't wait to see the boat your carving to go with it.

On 2015-02-15 14:08, Will carve wrote:
Can't wait to see the boat your carving to go with it.

LOL, oh crap I hadn't even thought of that! I'll never do justice to a boat like you did Will. I think we can now retire tiki canoes. Maybe I should just send the oar to you.

moai invasion! some moais i'm working on.

what's this? a photo of the elusive "horned" moai?

yes.

another new one i'm working on.

You been busy, looking good BT.

Idle hands is the devils work shop. looks great

Nice stuff Big T...good lookin" Moais and I really like the new fella you
are working on.

Many thanks cy, niceworks, conga. Five tikis in 2 weeks, plus a couple of hand size carvings (actually four to be exact!). Those logs were all bonfire candidates that I decided to see how fast I could turn them into tikis.

I know this is taking a liberty with a thread that is not my own, but I wanted to take a second to brag on the Big T. The first picture is a glamour shot of one of his carves that made its way to the Wastelands; the second is a group shot of the work of four Texas carvers: Della Meredith, Amate, Big T, and Jay Brooks of Aloha Texas Tikis.

Thanks Greg, it's an honor to be included among such awesome talent! I'd love to know more about Della's work.

Whoa dang my topic is way, way behind. With summer just about done, time to bring this beast up to date!

I never posted this non-tiki work from last year - my first totem pole, done for a friend. It was carved on an old dead pine tree. Wings out of new planks.

Notching and installing the wings...

Finished! Hat's off to all you guys who carve tikis out of standing palms. That sheet's hard!

Unfinished paddle, posted previously, was finished in Feb.

Then put the finish on this Bumatay inspired guy in Apr.

In May, made this: the BaTiki! Actually, a cherry laurel limb shaved down to a bat shape. It's a moai standing on a birdman.

Finally found a real (used) wooden bat in June and made a 2nd batiki. This one's made out of a gen-u-wine Louisville Slugger. And it's my first commercial sale! Both of these were made for the Lei Low bar in Houston.

Gotta give credit where credit is due. The inventor (as far as I know) of the batiki and owner of Lei Low: Russell Theode. Don't tangle with a man in a bar carrying two bats!

As posted earlier by my friend and man of great patience, ProfG, completed this little guy in July and then didn't ship it until September. Doh!

Did some masks and mini-moais in August..

Some new stuff, including a t-ball sized batiki...

Last, but not least, a well-known character dropped by, bringing treasure with him. Here I am pointing to the man - our very own Amate with two of my newest and most prized possessions! Many thanks Allen!!

[ Edited by: TheBigT 2015-09-25 04:52 ]

Good stuff.
That bat could double as a muddler.
So that's Amate.
I expected a young good looking guy.
[just kidding]

Really nice update Big T! That carving for ProfG is gorgeous, he's fortunate to have it. And it's nice to see some human faces too :)

Love the bats. They are generally made from kiln-dried Ash (very hard). If you can carve that you can carve anything!

Fantastic new work BT, everything looks great!!

Outstanding

You're making some really nice stuff Roy. The photos don't do it justice. Enjoyed the visit!
Will - and that's exactly why I don't like photos!!! :D:

aloha, will, cy, conga, amate, hang10, thanks for the comps.

@will, hilarious! No worries, amate, you're a handsome critter in my book! :wink:

Finished the latest bat tiki. This one's made out of a t-ball bat.

Man that thing is crisp.
I like that.

love the bat carvings!

Very nice, very nice and inspiring!