..Been a long time....

Hi, My name 's John, ("Hi John")
and I'm a Tiki-holic.
Finally decided to post some pix of my beginning work in tiki.
So, with my chisels that I bought from the swap meet and some starter ones' from Hommie"D," I got a feel for the tools on this mushy palm stump, that I got from my Abuelo.

I call him "Hack"

I put him out front for Halloween.

Went to my 1st "chop" w/ Buzzard and met some of the great people here on TC. Masubi Mom offered me a casting of cement w/ no sand, that was going to dry in a few days. I took it home and took some beat up chisels to it.


I picked this piece of wood from some tree cutters cutting down trees from an apartment complex in my neighborhood. I don't know what kind of wood it was, but it was hard. Pine??



added some stain


"Spot-Pine"

Finally, a good hunk of Mex. fan palm! Thanks Bob-O.



Mahalo for all the great tips and encouragement along the way. - John A. Butterfield.

[ Edited by: jab tiki 2009-04-19 11:06 ]

[ Edited by: jab tiki 2009-05-24 21:52 ]

[ Edited by: jab tiki 2009-08-18 07:52 ]

[ Edited by: jab tiki 2009-08-18 08:09 ]

[ Edited by: jab tiki 2012-06-15 13:34 ]

Wow! Hack is really scary!

The wood you made Spot-Pine out of looks like Eucalyptus. Really hard and has a lot of splits? It gets good detail though.

Keep posting, Johnny. They're looking good!

Jab, You didn't go for an easy start with your first two pieces of wood did you? They looked pretty tough to carve a tiki theme into but you did it! Really nice blend of the wood into form. You seem to have a real talent fitting your design into the flow of the wood. That usually takes years of practice. What stain did you use on the second wood carving? Outstanding M8. I like the stone Moai also. You took carving chisels to cement? That took some guts. Anyway, welcome to TC. You have a wonderful start and keep up the great carvings.

I almost forgot, nice detail and burn on the third wood carving! The burn was perfect for that tiki.

hey johny
was wondering when you were going to start a page

by the way,i think i only loaned you that log
now that it came out so cool,i think i want it back!

great stuff

Thank you for the kind words.
Bowana, I think you are correct, "Spot" looks of Eucalyptus.
Tikilizard, that stain on "Spot" is a Sedona red & Ebony from Minwax.
Buzzard, Thanks.
For tiki #5 I cut a freshly cut palm into two. Not the best of wood. splits and soft stringy spots. But none the less, all I had to work with.

Nice! You are progressing nicely. Your latest one
is great!

Keep them coming :)

Getting better with each new carve.
That last one looks like a great garden dweller.

man johny i really like this guy,cant wait to see what you
do with that new good wood

Thanks Seek surf.
Grapa-Ruha, That's exactly where I put him, in the front yard.
Buzzard, Cheers.
Here's the the Marques I've been working on.

Happy New Year to all!!!

man johny that guy is looking great!
nice to see all logs in the backround

that marq. is looking awesome J!

I can see a great progression in skill and quality in justy these pieces, nice work.

Thanks guys.
I put some Rosewood stain on the Marq.

Hack! Haha, that's funny! Holy crap you progressed in a hurry didn't you?! Geez man, good stuff.

This guy blows me away!

Bee-you-tee-full carving job - it's very much in the style of real Islander carvings, glad you rounded off the head, naturalistic. Freakin' GREAT job.

Cool carve! At first glance (Lookin at the chairs in the background) I thought that thing was like 13 ft. TALL! Maybe you should up the scale one day?

jab, Every tiki gets Better and better, man you are gonna be a Quick study. Keep up the Great works

He's looking great, Johnny!
I agree with the others, you are learning fast!

way cool. i also thought it was really large til i noticed the table. great work.

bd

Buzzard, Tiki Thomas, The Big T, Cammo, nickyr2009, Benzart, Bowana, big daddy, Thank You for the kind words!!!!
So, back in Nov. Buzzy brought his tiki drum to the chop of the month, I was interested in experiencing the sound, because his other one sold at Oasis before I could even see it. This time I was able to play it. I fell in love with it and it's sound. I asked Buzzy if he would guide me through the process of making a tiki drum. It would be a Christmas gift for my brother. He gladly agreed and I began at The House Of Buzz.
Here are some progress photos:





I ran out time. Under estimated the work time, and work load. I ended up giving my brother a painting of the drum to be, and showed him the "work in progress." He was stoked!!
So back to work.


A group shot:

More to come........
-Johnny.

Doing some nice work down there Jabtiki. I really like what you are
doing with the feller in the background, great design on the head.
Also, the drum looks great and also looks like a lot of work. Are
you planning to use goatskin? Cowhide?

Cool group shot!

Hell ya looking good!

Jabs is goin OFF!
Right on to you and
your Contagious enthusiasm!

man jt that drum is amaaaazing!
looks like you have been getting some good
tiki tips at the house of buzz

wait a sec,are you sure buzzy didnt rent you
a half carved drum,and you just posed with it?

naw,i heard buzzy charges alot to rent a half
carved drum so you can pose with it,and now that your back to being
a poor college boy,the fee would be waaay to much

so i guess you did carv this
good job johny

Thanks to all that stopped by. I finally got around to posting some progress pics.
I've been doing some multitasking, along with working on the tiki drum I've started some new projects and finished a couple stains.
Finally slapped some finish on this one.

and on the Marq

Started a "Tribute to Tiki BoB"

Then started on this one..

...some more time into this one....

..and some more....


And now back to the drum.

I put two coats of pecan walnut stain to start off with


Can't wait to finally get some cowhide on this bad boy.
-Johnny

wow! a tribute to me?
wait thats probly the other bob
nice work on the carvs,they are comming along great
cant wait to see the drum done

tiki drum finally done!!


I went with goat-hide.

Took it over to The House Of Buzz for some help. Buzzard came by to hang out, 4WD and Babalu stopped by also.

Thanks for the help Buzzy.

I also got back my 1st mug. Thank You Babalu.



I put a little more time into the Ku.


Thanks for stopping by.
-Johnny

[ Edited by: jab tiki 2009-05-24 21:54 ]

Damn, that Ku is looking GOOD.

I really like the Tribute to Tiki Bob. You have some excellent carving skills there fella. Love all your work.

Nice job, Johnny!
What's up with the shield with the backwards letter?
The drums! The drums!

Bowie

Thanks 4WD, leeliz and Bowana. Sir B, the drum was a gift to my brother. The letters on the shield are his initials.
Today, after getting back from Queen K's party in Palm Desert I put a burn on the Nu Ku.



Next up, some stain.
-Johnny

[ Edited by: jab tiki 2009-05-24 22:14 ]

Damn jab, Theres some Awesome tikis hanging out at your place, I suppose you carved them all? Of course I Know you did and Excellent works too, you are really raising he bar there. This KU, with his deep detail is the ruler of the yard. maybe he can quiet that mad drummer down a bit?
Keep up the nice work.

Thanks BenZ!!

After staining the Ku with some English Chestnut and some ebony stain, It looked a bit too dark to me. so I sanded it to make it look more lighter with highlights.


It's rained a little the last week, so I'll wait a few days to put teak oil on.

Put some finish on the "Tribute To Tiki Bob"

till next time, Aloha!
-Johnny

Jab, Awesome work man. I love Hack and the Tiki Bob.
All of its great. MP

Thanks MP. It was so nice to finally meet you at Oasis!!!

Here are some pics from Tiki Oasis '09.

took the boys out for a field trip


made some tiki frames


I had wonderful time at Oasis. I got invited to carve with Bill, 4WDtiki and Billy the Crud. I brought some wood to chop, but there was so much to see and so many peeps to talk to, I didn't carve at all. Thank you guys for inviting me!! Can't wait for next year.
-Johnny B.

[ Edited by: jab tiki 2009-08-18 08:12 ]

Nice collection of carves you've built up. The ku came out great. Nice design.

Saw these tikis over the weekend.

When I talked with you last - you mentioned working towards finishing these for TO9

Glad the boys made the field trip...Johnny - kick ass, man!

See you around. G

It's been a while since I've posted anything, so here is a little catch up....
"Surf'N tiki"


flat back, wall hanger...



Wedding gift..

A tall boy for my good friends Pat, Kim, & Madi..



New tiki..

I will post more soon.....
Thanks for looking, -Johnny B.

JabTiki is still alive!!! Good to see you still carvin'

The real Jab! That's funny! I was just thinking about you today when I saw a roll of black bamboo fencing in that fence company's free box down on Morena. I was going to call you about it but figured there'd probably be bugs in it or something.

Buzzy Out!