3/1 Ocea Otica's makins another one off zombie

Cool Stuff, I like your ceramics Mahalo! Gogo

Great glaze, it it a multicolor crystaline or mixture of your own?

Thanks for looking GoGo. Mad D, thi glaze you are seeing is not a crystal glaze. Unfortunately i have found that there is just one or two of those that are food safe. The glaze on that first Asaro is a work up of a few different satin colors, so that crystal appearance is just hand glaze work. I think with a better photo it will be more obvious, i just popped one off last night real quick.

Yup, I just ordered a jar of Mayco Jungle Gems and found that it's not foodsafe. The Duncan Crystals (CR series, not the Crystaltone 200 series) contain no lead or cadium, they are not recommended for inside of food containers because of the texture but should be fine for the outside.
http://www.duncanpaintstore.com/nmclay-bin/shop.pl/page=c&c.htm/SID=PUT_SID_HERE

Here are the final glaze tests i have decided to make the editions of. more pics and a little more info at http://junkhaulersjunk.blogspot.com/

I really like the middle two - when will they be available?

Yeah, gotta say, totally digging the red one!!!! WANT WANT WANT lol

Super mugs, Cass! You have inspired every mug maker to hop on board the PNG train! It is great to see an appreciation of the South Pacific arts in these ceramic vessels!

The traditional Kapriman edition is fantastic!

Hope to see this Asaro Mudmen mug in the white w/blue & grey!

sandz :D

On 2008-11-10 17:50, blacksandz wrote:
Super mugs, Cass! You have inspired every mug maker to hop on board the PNG train! It is great to see an appreciation of the South Pacific arts in these ceramic vessels!

I agree completely. Your PNG mugs have certainly caught my eye...

An extra little bonus that I see in the designs you have done here (and the glazes choices) is how wonderful these mugs are going to look with a drink and garnishes in them. I've been thinking a lot lately on how the garnish of a drink is a huge focal point on a cocktail, and how I can build to that so that the mug and the garnish work together visually in harmony...the color of the fruit, the green of the mint, the swizzle stick...all of that brings home a good drink in my opinion.

Your mugs here are going to make any drink taste better....right on Cass!

Hey, thanks everybody for takin a look and for checking out the blog. I am trying to reel everything in to cut down on some computer time in order to free up time for making stuff.
LOL, no firm dates on finishing the other editions, as i am behind and trying to pour up one a day.
Kahu, Thanks for your enthusiastic reply.
Mr. Sandz, haven't seen you around in a while, nice to see you here. Thanks for the compliment, but i think I am just finally making what influences me the most, and that that it has been a group effort to bring some much overdue attention to PNG from the ceramic end of things. Bosko was definitely the first of the recent wave of mug makers, his Sepik River vase, which I will always kick myself in the head for not buying (one of my favorite pieces by him, kicking myself in the head again), is phenomenal, Tiki Tony and Paul of Munktiki have also really been bringing light to that region.
I think for the mug makers and ceramicists there is unlimited possibilities because of all the regional styles and colors used. And that so much stuff is made for so many purposes there. Its nice to see this year that other ceramicists are bringing that influence into their fold.
The Asaro you posted the picture of was recently finished, in a similar variation of that light ochreish yellow, but met an untimely demise before i shot a finished picture. It was, as all three of those first ones were, a test. A test for color and for handbuilding on a cast piece. Still working some bugs out. From the sculpting to finished piece on those is about a three week time frame. So possibly by the end of the year i may have some available. Will be updating it on my blogspot, which can be seen by hitting the website button below.
Babalu, Thanks for the compliment, as form often has to be balanced with function. Kapriman is a nice wide open top, so garnishing will be easy.
Thanks again everybody. In the near future i will be putting up a post on the blog looking back at the PNG inspired mugs i have done so far, matched with photos of the carvings that influenced them, and some words on fighting the instinct to make a clean, symmetrical sculpture in an effort to keep it "primitive."

Incredible mug and great glazes Cass...I'm a sucker for that classic red/black/white combo too. I've been buying up books focused on Melanesian art (as opposed to Polynesian, which was always my thing) and just letting it percolate at the moment - as you mentioned, the variety is quite overwhelming and compared tomany other cultures, PNG art is probably the purest in terms of creativity. You've really been doing your homework on these pieces and it shows.

I saw an incredible collection with a heavy emphasis on PNG art here when in OZ recently. Now I just need to work out how to translate the intricacy and detail of what I saw into stone. The colours defnitely make a big difference - I may have to go the resin route again just so I can use paint!

Cass is a Gas, Gas, Gas.... I need a mug :) I will pm ya....

Paipo,
thanks for posting pics of that show, wish i could have seen it in person. Yes, the sheer amount of imagery to be influenced by gives you that kid in a candy store feeling.
Hiphip, yes, sometimes Cass Cass has gas gas coming out of his ass ass, usually after a consuming copious amounts of sausage and beer. When the air clears, the satisfaction is undeniable!

if you go to my blog you can see a first test fire pic from Miles of the first collaboration between Munktiki and Ocea Otica. Hope you dig!

So, in theory, I will finally get my hands on one of those! Congrats on the collaboration.

cool mug and I was one of those who were asking about those mugs over the years. Nice glaze and a great Munktiki mug but it doesn't compare to one of the best glaze job ever that was one your original. Has a dryer look as compared to the moist zombie skin. Peace out

Wow Cass, I can't believe how much I have been missing over here since I selfishly spend most of my TC time in the "Tiki Carving" branch.

Your stuff is just So expressive and detailed and really stands apart from most other clay works. I'm no expert by a Long shot but I Love what I see here and I hope for My sake I can spend more time over here to uncover these treats I've been missing for so long. Your PNG inspired stuff is so Perfect! I have really been uneasy trying to carve the PNG because as simple as it looks, when you get into it there are very difficult features to reproduce. It does not seem to have worried you though as you are right on the money. Love it!

Benze, Teakey, Kaimuki, thanks for the compliments, and to everyone for the checking out my stuff on the Tis the Season to be Tiki thread! Here are those pieces transferred over. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. I am going awol for a while to concentrate on stuff I am way behind on, hope to come out of my cave in the new year with some finished work. Though my cave scrawlings are are laughable in the light of Babalu and other artists on this board. Take it easy.

oh and there's more!! thank thanks thanks! i leaved you a big thank at mad dog thread because i saw the bowl first there, amazing work!! Congrats!!

Awesome talent!
but that God-Awful Hat...

Big Toe and i heard they were only letting
"real" artists into the TOI food joint last Friday...
sorry about that!
The Chili Cashew Chicken was the BOMB!
:)

Hey, it's been a while since i posted anything new.
Here is the TDN Zombie night mug given to the winning cocktail from that evening.

This is the last of the custom one off zombies i am going to do using this hobbyist mold as a base head. I appreciate the folks who have continued to ask when i will be making more of these, but i am ready to move on, and the truth is there was so much time in cutting, trimming, and sanding of this greenware head just to get it to the point that i had a blank canvas to cut, sand, and sculpt into it, that it starting ruining the fun of making them. These have been a blast to make, allowed me a lot of freedom, and gave me a way to work out some ideas for the two zombie cocktail related designs i have been working on, before committing to sculpting and molding the new ones.

I never got back to discussing the two bowls above, the Pele Wakes and Modern Maori prototype. Both were made using pieces from older hobbyist molds combined with customizing that greenware and handbuilt elements. Those who have read my blog or seen my Vintage Beauty Monster series recognize the lady from the vintage mold i love, and the shell i believe comes from the same mold # that Trader Vics at one time used. The hand built elements are the Hei Tiki, the fur coat, and the feather. This bowl was a very delicate stressful thing to make, and involved an attachment technique i had not done before. Really did not know till it came out of the kiln whether or not it would be a disaster. This was a good way for me to see a prototype, something i hope to revisit later when i get to sculpting a Maori woman. The Pele Wakes bowl has two separate pieces from from hobbyist mold completely reworked to the point that you would not recognize the original greenware. She also has handbuilt elements.
I like the found art collage approach to bastardizing greenware from hobbyist molds, and will get to continue with this approach in a collaboration with other mug artists soon, getting an opportunity to put a different spin on some of their designs.

Good to see cool stuffs coming out of Cass's studio....keep it comin'.