Tikis from Brighton UK - Page 3 update. ;-)

Hello there TC. I've been looking at the forums now for a few months. an found them a great place for inspiration. I mainly look at the carving section as this is what i have become most interested in over the past summer.

If I can briefly introduce my self here, i hope you wont mind. Tark is an a nick name that derives from my full name Tarquin. I live on the south coast of England in a City called Brighton. Its a nice seaside town.

I guess my interest in Tiki lead from my intrest in Custom and hotrods of the '50s and '60. And a general fondness of vintage design and style. I've owned a '68 Plymouth fury for about 11 years now. lowered and customised in my interpretation of a '60s custom.

Any way.. Tikis ! I dont remember why i decided to have ago at my first one. It was about 3 years ago. I remember it being alot harder that i imagined. armed only with some flat chisels it never really came out the way i hoped. It still sits in the garden and has aged quite well. develped a huge crack with in a year though.

About 3 years passed before i did the next one ( this summer) This time i used a nice piece of Beech . Still just chisels , but this wood was so much better to work with. i was a bit happier with this as i felt i was getting better definition and depth. I remembr it was a lovely sunny day and i enjoyed chipping away all afternoon. I was a bit happier with this one.

All this time i had been thinking and drawing Tikis. Alot of good inspiration came from the excellent work i have seen by eveyone on this site. I develped a strange habit of drawing experimental tikis on cardboard tubes ( Yes toilet rolls.. lol) So 6 weeks ago i bought my first electric chainsaw. having never used one before i went right ahead and started cutting into one of the logs i have been collecting. Ok no planning or drawing , and really just to see what a chainsaw could do i came up with this one...

He's quite crude. but at last deep cuts and definition are quick to achieve. It was also great fun. He's sitting on my bar which i've been building and adding to over the years... ( but thats another story)

Ok, i hope you dont mind. But the one i'm most proud of is the 4th one i've done and at 7foot by far the biggest. I made friends with the owner of a local Saw mill and managed to buy some Douglas Fir . I had no idea how it would turn out. i had somthing in mind and i did draw/plan it on the log so as to not go compleatly wonky.But more or less learnt how to do it as it went along. I roled the old Plymouth out of the garage and this became my wood work shop for the weekend.


Scorched with blow torch.

Finally i rubbed in a dark wax i had left over form fitting my pine doors. Making the colour deep and bringing the big grain out.... ( Yeah thats mee there..lol)


There he is now in the bar ....

I am pleased with the result. Most of all it was great fun.... And owe many of you great thanks, for looking at all your works in progress has taught me alot.
Any coments , suggetions and critisisms are most welcome. I'm looking forward to do the next one. Unfortunatly the UK weather is not so inspireing at the moment... Yes cold and damp... But i'll move the car back out side soon and the chips will fly. (and the saw dust will get up my nose)

Thanks for reading..

Tark

[ Edited by: Trader Tark 2008-01-17 03:19 ]

[ Edited by: Trader Tark 2008-09-17 14:39 ]

Way to go Trader Tark! Great intro. Cool to see your journey of several years compressed into a few photos. You seem to be approaching Tiki carving in the right way - take big ol steps and try to make each better than the last..

Keep it up. Thanks for sharing.

Tama :)

Hi Tark,
these are great. Nice to meet you HERE. I Like the big one made out of douglas fir the most. You put a nice finish on by burning it.
Hope, there is more to come. Now the question, most us us would ask: any work in progress-pics?

Greetings form Germany, tok-tok

Hey Tark, welcome to TC. Good to have another UK tikiphile onboard.

Aloha

Looking good! Welcome...

Aloha and wellcome on TC. Great pictures for your first post! Keep on carving!

Trader Tark, welcome to TC. Your pieces look great. I love the tiki bar. Keep us posted.

Welcome to T.C.
Very good work, better and better piece after piece.

Benjamin.

Hi Trader Tark
great job, i love your finishing
this week it's also the first time for me with a electric chainsaw in my hands........i can't show you the pictures - a big massacre :)
show us more soon
greets from France
Akuae

Welcome to TC. Your a great addition. Be careful though. You may never get your car back in the garage. That happened to me - and my wife reminds me of it every time it rains!!

LOL....maybe carvers should add on a tiki carving room to their homes, equipped with a nice shop vac. :D

Welcome to TC Tark...you are truly blessed with the carving talent. That 7-foot guy looks just awesome in your bar. Your bar looks great too...love the leopard and lighting...great work!!!

Nice tikis! You have really developed your skills nicely. If your into hot rod art etc. you should check out http://www.kustomkulturegallery.com/ if you haven't already. Great artists & lots of tiki stuff too! 8)

Did I mention: Brighton is great! I have been there twice, on the seaside. Any rumble in brighton tonight, man?
:wink:

welcome to tc, tark. you've already shown considerable progress in your first couple carvings - and that 7 footer really stands out. I like the chisel lines you put around the nose and mouth, it gives the tiki a lot of texture and character.

I love brighton too - I spent some time there and learned to love the english coast line. Is the old busted up pier still standing?

Welcome, I think you are hooked like the rest of us.
Your Tiki's look great!

Wow ,

Thank you all for your welcome and Kind words of encouragement. I really hope that this weekend i will have time to begin carving again.. I like to put plenty of time aside so i can stay on it as long as possible with out distractions.
Yes, I can post a few progress pics of the big Tiki. I'll have to do this later form my Home PC though.

Tok-Tok & Polynesiac. Hey , Glad you visited Brighton.. Not sure when you were last here, but i'm sad to inform you that the Old Pier is slowly sinking into the sea. A couple of years back it also caught fire one morning and now its just a metal skeleton... In fact its quite a cool wreak. Quite a surreal sight just off the beach.

Cheers

Tark

Hi again,

I found some progress pics of the last one i did. So thought i's post them as was requestd by Tok-Tok.

Above shows initial scorching with blow torch.

Above shows me applying "Dark Oak" wax.

I applied the wax good and thick, i used it to fill the deep recesses and create the dark contrast around the eyes and patterns etc. I rubbed off the excess and polished. Now the wax had soaked in and dried..

Not sure if any one else has experience with Douglas Fir. I guess i should expect it to crack and split in time? This was one of the reasons i wanted to wax it. Hoping it would Keep it supple. I think i may be hoping for too much with a piece that size. I don't suppose i'll be puting it out side. But i would like to do some that can be displayed in the garden at some point.

Cheers

Tark

Great to see some more home grown 'tiki talent' here in Good Ol' Blighty! Love the big fella!! Next time Sian and I come down to Brighton (we love the place!), we'll have to try and hook up. Alternatively if you are headin' up to the TRADER VIC's, MAHIKI or SUGAR CANE, let us know...until then, keep chislin' and post the results!

All the BEST from Tiki Towers - Trader Jim (Make mine a Mai-Tai!).

Hi Pocketiki,

Thank you,

Let us know if you are coming down and i'll see if i'm about.

I've yet to check out your little book !

Tark

I like your work.
Bigger IS better.

Hello,
Well its been a while, but the cars been out of the garage havinng some paint. This leaves Tiki space. So i've spent some evenings out there. The plan was to try to produce two as Christmas gifts. One for my Mother and the other for Tamzine's. How to make parents proud.. eh. look what i did in school..:D

This is the first of the two:

And now stained and oiled:

I'm still experimenting and getting used to using chisels. Its all a learning curve and every one is practice for the next.

I'll post the other as soon as i upload some pics.

All the best
Tark

Really nice work and welcome to TC! I can see why you dont go bigger than 7 foot - it wouldn't fit in the garage :lol: So got any pics of that "old plymouth"?

Hey Hewey, Thanks for the compliments.
Yes your right , i think that big one was 2 inches from the roof.. so i wont be doing one much bigger. At least not till the summer time when i gan go to work out side..

There's my Plymouth , Its a '68 Fury III .

Sweeeet ride :D :D :D Love that Bellflower influence

Nice work Tark. I really like the tall one the best. MORE ! pics. BUFFBAD

Beautiful piece.

Benjamin.

Cool carvings!!
Too bad for the old Pier, I really liked it, it was right out of Metropolis, beautiful, oh well, thankfully one can still have breakfast at the Royal Pavilion garden.

HI,

Thought as i had some time i would post some pics of the other little project i have been doing whilst the garage was empty. The second of the recent two . But to be totally acurate my TIKI#6 .. I must admit that the more i look at other peoples work mine do seem quite un-sufisticated. Well really i do just draw a rough plan and just start hacking away, first with Chain saw then chisels and sander... I will try not to blame my tools, but probabaly more my patience and lack of attention to detail. I have to also admit that my favorite TIKIS probably are the Vintage "Pop Art" style. It was these that first drew my intrest in the whole World of TIKI.

One very wet (probably too wet) Beech log with its first shapings..

Stained the tounge:

I aplied many coats of Danish oil (Dark Mahogony)

I would be interested if any one has sugestions for the finish on Carved items. So far i have used Wax, Linseed oil and Danish oil.

Well, now let me also take this opertunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas from Me and Tamzine::lol::lol:

And of course from the Kids:

I hope you all have wonderfull holidays...

Best wishes

Tark & Tamzine

great carvings, love the last two Tikis
hope too see more pics soon
have a great day

Akuae

Hi Tark, thanks for your christmas card. :wink:
It took me over 4 weeks to post an reply now. Uh, I am so bad. Sorry, man.
It is sad to hear about the old pier, I guess my visit to brighton was quit a while ago. But Bournemouth has one too.
It is nice to see someone is carving in beech too. I hope, it won´t crack too much when drying. Beech likes to crack as I experienced. Good luck with it.
And good work.
p.s. Are these the santas?

Excellent tikis Especially for the first 6, you're a Natural and will progress Rapidly from the looks of how far you've come already. Just Keep Practicing and getting used to the tools. As you get more experience you will want more tools but go Slow and get what you need only in the beginning, that way you won't end up with a bunch of nice tools that you don't use. Love the Santas and the Santa's Helper is Definitely a Keeper. Also, Dynamite Tiki Bar.
Welcome to TC and Keep Posting Pictures, we Need Pictures. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Happy New Year!

I hope every one had good holidays. I did !

One notable present from Tamzine was the Tiki Modern book. Apparently ordered 6 months ago, it never arrived in time for my birthday. Hey, never mind. what a lovely big book , it even feels nice.

Thank you every one for the words of encoragement. It means alot coming from people who's work i have also admired.

Started on a new one last weekend. The piece of wood is the 5' cut off end of the trunk that the first large Tiki came from. Its Douglas fir , a very inexpencive wood , but with a nice grain i think. This part of the trunk was however damaged. Probably by the woods men picking it up with a tight chain and squeezing it too tight, it crushed alot of the outer layers.

As you can see ... car rolled out the garage :D

I used an "Oak" wood stain/Dye on this one. I shall probabaly varnish it ..

Thanks for looking. :)

[ Edited by: Trader Tark 2008-01-17 03:52 ]

At last some photos of it varnished.

Oh and not to mention the very nice lounge curtains that Tamzine made :D

Also, i copied a Witco "Totem pole" using up some timber that a mate in the bulding trade donated last year. It seemed the most logical thing to carve as the wood was 6 by 10 and about 4 ' long . Although i can claim nothing for origonality, i must say i was very pleased with the results.. It took 2 evenings to do. Chainsaw , sanding
,scorching and staining. Then next day varnish.

Ok , here's a pretty photo, but we can use the excuse that it gives the items scale...:P

Thanks for looking .. Have a good weekend!

Tark

Nice Tikis!

Hey, Tark,
your homage to witco turned out very nice, I allways thought about making one ever since I saw it in this forum. I guess we have to in europe, cause original Witco is not available around here. You have an eye for good motives.

+: The leo-curtain rocks.

Tok Tok , yes you are right. my main reason for the carvings i have done is that i wanted my own for my Bar, house and Garden.

I got wood this week... ( its the joke that keeps on giving!)

Borrowed my mates Van and visited the sawmill. I managed to bring home 1 large piece of douglas fir, 1 very heave round of Oak and the two end ones ( on the right) are Larch.
Of of course it was easy getting these stupidly large & heavy rounds on the van with the Cat in the wood yard.. Another story getting them off the other end. managed it with some help.. but i dont think i can move the two large ones on my own when it comes to carving.

I intend to do something large to stand in front of the house..Not decided what style , but i would like to try tackle somthing different than previous..Perhaps something like a Ku ?

Tark

[ Edited by: Trader Tark 2008-02-15 13:33 ]

Yo Trader Tark!

Nice efforts there.
Here's a couple ways I get big logs out of my truck. I have a camper shell, so it's hard to get leverage enough to muscle the logs out, so I had to find some way to get them out.
Solution #1 came in the form of a tow rope:

I fold it in half, and put the loop end on the end of the log at the deep part of the cargo area
This view would kind of like from the drivers seat looking out the back(just pretend)

that gives me two handles on the other end, hanging out the back of the truck to pull with

then you need to pretend you are Worlds Strongest Man Magnus VonMagnussen and pull, pull ,pull.Try wrapping it around your waist and use your weight as leverage. If it still will not move, just hook the hooks on something sturdy and drive away. That should get the first one out.

After the first log comes out, it gets easier to get the rest out using wooden rollers:

I put the rollers perpendicular to the log, and then roll the log up on to them. I have cut angles in the end of the rollers so the log will roll up on to them easier.
Once the log is on these rollers, it should slide right out with very little effort. Sometimes you may need three, but I can usually move a log around with only two. I use one if I need to pivot or rotate a log to move it around a corner or walkway by finding the center of balance of the log and carefully rotating it on that fulcrum point.
Use rollers small enough to roll the log up on, but big enough to roll over the terrain.

This works when you have to transport a log through a narrow walkway or gate too.

Hope this saves your back,
Buzzy Out!

Thank you , good advise. The way i moved them off the van was similar to how you suggested. I rolled the logs onto Metal dowles and pushed them to the back of the Vehicle. ( i think thats how they moved the Stonehenge blocks... kinda.. :P )So if it worked for the Druids...

The steep angle of my driveway between Road (bottom left of photo) and Garage/house (top Right of photo) is another inconvenience when trying to deliver large object..

Any how all up there now, and today i'll begin peeling bark off ..

[ Edited by: Trader Tark 2008-02-16 07:10 ]

Nice finish on the tall guy, he looks great.
Love the Witco he is huge compared to others
i have seen.

So you guys still have some tree on the other side
of the pond i see. :)

Its been months and i keep meaning to post a few pictures of what i've been up to over the summer. I've had other projects other than TIKI carving . Including building a summer house refreshing the Kitchen, and many weekends have been spent at classic car oriantated events.
But i have achieved some works i'm quiet pleased with. Some small and quick and some larger...

Small and quick first.. made quickly form a rather rotten old piece of unknown wood my Mum insisted i made use of.. It now sits in the hedge down the side of the garden and this is the first time i tried a Moai style.. i like is old worn/ rotten holey look.

The next few are a complete departure form anything i had yet to attempt.. Bit Ku style .. Made form the huge very heavy piece of Douglas fir in the previous photos..:

I call this the grumpy frog stage...


I mean the carving not Tamzine..

And finally a shot of it in my Little bar:

I am hoping this one will be dispayed in Tamzines shop " The Vintage magazine company - Brighton" It will be this first one on public display.

Next another Moai style, i made for a friends birthday

Next one , i went for the "log with Teeth" style Hopefully it ended up with a vintage look.. Dark Oak stain.

Oh whats this... another Moai from an offcut.. i gave this to my Brother.. :

Lastly there is this other Ku inspiered work made of Beech. the wood was quite twisted which give hime a curious stance.

What i am learning form all this is that i find propotions dificult.. no matter how i work or try to plan things out the initial cuts are so very important as this is where every thing starts.. Basically i find anything with arms and legs a bit of an issue.. you may notice the stummpy arms on the last one. That happened early on and i could not correct it.. Still its all practice.. And i shall do more.

Hope you like the photos ..

Tark

[ Edited by: Trader Tark 2008-09-20 16:03 ]

I like your work. Looks good. Keep at it. Looks like your gonna run outta room around that bar.

Thanks, yes its a small home bar.. but i have the garden and a new summer house that i can star to decorate. So pleanty of room .Although the weather is begining to get damp and rainy here in the UK.

Very cool stuff you got going on their Trader Tark!!

Great tikis Tark and I Love that you are posting lots of photos. The raw logs looked enormous and difficult to move and yet you seemed to have turned them into excellent tikis in very fast order. Love your model too she adds nice airs to your talent.

Thanks Ben. The encoragement of skilled, accomplished wood carvers like you means alot... Cheers !!!
There will be more pictures soon i hope...

Tark

Bump.
Where are you? Everything ok? Anything new? Questions upon questions.