Wendy Cevola - New colors of the Frank mug by Frankoma now available.

Wendy, I'm blown away by how well you've captured murph dog in clay. You have an amazing eye! I'm already making a mental dream list of the future mugs I want you to make. I think you're going to be swamped with orders. Hmm... swamped = Black Lagoon Bob. I think Tavarua Tiki is on to something! :wink:

Love it!!!

He's holding a little tiki!!!

AND you picked up pink, purple and carribean turquoise glazes??!?!?!?!? How will I ever choose????

[ Edited by: LoriLovesTiki 2012-05-04 17:05 ]

That Murph Dog is amazing Wendy! So much fun to watch!

Wow! I haven't been on TC looking around for awhile, Your work is amazing, Well done you guys, We have some tiki bob lamps coming out in a few days, for Caliente, I like your bobs a lot, Great job , Wendy and Dan

Wendy, that MurphDog is most impressive! :o

Bob mug holding a bob mug
Awesome....

Zombie Torch as promised:

Wendy liked this pic better than the last one - so here goes.....

[ Edited by: Holler Waller 2012-05-27 12:58 ]

VampiressRN I can wipe that smile right off his face! Check out FrankenBob. I can't wait to see you today. I'll be playing hooky from the clay.

little lost tiki you inspire me every day. Thank you for keeping track of what I do here.

Tavarua I love doing these Bobs and I know yours will be super fun to do.

Murphdog I am so happy you like the resemblance to both your dog and Bob.

Lori Loves Tiki here's some help. I bought the wrong pinks. They are IN's but not the type that accumuates in the carvings. So best bet will be purple or turquoise. See what's up with your Bob below.

zerostreet I've been so busy I haven't check in on you for a while. I need to see what you've been up too. I'm glad you like the dog.

hang10tiki Bob had an amputation but we hospital people are good at repairs. See below. Just look at all the work you have done to your beautiful bar room.

Wish List Progress Report:

I bought lots of new colors that all needed to have glaze tests.

On pre bisqued forms I did 1, 2 and 3 layers of each glaze. Now they need to fire.

I had no room left on my glaze test wall so I put Dan to work.

We made an entire lower section. I'll have to watch out for nails.

I moved the tests around so that I may keep all the IN glazes together.

Murphdog has fur.

His name was fine tuned.

Murphdog and TapaTurtleBob are now drying in the kiln room.

The name is on the bottom of the mug.

I've started FRANKENBOB

Roughing him out.

He looks like a moai head. Should I remove his chin to keep him more Bob like?

Additions sometimes come loose.

Thaks to MadDogMike I have Magic Mend. Today I'll see if it works.It did let me carve the tiny Bob some more before putting him back on.

I had an extra bowl Bob so I'm trying the same technique to save the bowl I broke. If it works I'll have an extra.

I peeked into the kiln and got a blast of heat in my face but I still got a quick photo. Today I'll open it and start to glaze. I'll also continue to work on the other Bob mugs.

I will also take a mid day break to see all the Sacramento Ohana at Cha Cha's for lunch.

Oh and we need to build some new shelves for the glaze I just bought. I think I'll have to spread out this work over a few days!!! Cheers, Wendy

Oh I just saw the terrific photo Holler Waller posted, thank you so much!

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-05-05 08:33 ]

If you just heard a thud, that was me being knocked out by Frankie. That is too cool for me to put into words... and a speechless ZeroTiki is a rarity. Wow.
~Zero

FRANKEN-MOAI BOB! Amazing Wendy, I love TapaTurtleBob too!

[ Edited by: Atomic Tiki Punk 2012-05-05 12:01 ]

Wendy, I love the picture of the drying mended Bob's bowl, they look like they are playing some kind of weird pin the tale on the tiki game where they all need to be blindfolded!
~kele

That's it!! I am over the moon for the Frankenstein's Bob/Moai! I am sending this thread to every family member I know to commission an all universal monster line for me for Xmas:

Creature from the BOB Lagoon
The Invisible BOB
BOB's Mummy
Count BOBula
to go with Frankenstein's BOB

I wanna know the second you start taking more requests (even if you need years to recover from this round, I'll wait)

Your Dogs, Tapas, spies, Cannibals, zombie torches, bowls, etc (geez, you are a machine) are all amazing, wonderful, creative and mind blowing. thank you for making these and sharing the process...(i think I might need to go cry now, i am so happy)

LOL, count bobula sounds really cool! Wendy you are a very gifted artist. Thank you for sharing your art and talent with us.

Wendy that Tapa Turtle is stunning!!! You really are amazing..
Is it just me seeing the tiki on the turtle side of the tapa turtle mug?? Been happening a lot lately to many things.. :o :lol: :drink:

Aloha!

[ Edited by: Beachbumz 2012-05-05 17:02 ]

Not sure if it was intentional on Wendys behalf, but i can kinda see a tiki also Scott.

Great mugs Wendy. That Frankenbob is looking fantastic. He has lost a bit of his 'Bobishness?', but i say that's probably a good thing. :D

Also, can you tell me what IN glazes are?

On 2012-05-05 16:59, Beachbumz wrote:
Wendy that Tapa Turtle is stunning!!! You really are amazing..
Is it just me seeing the tiki on the turtle side of the tapa turtle mug?? Been happening a lot lately to many things.. :o :lol: :drink:

Aloha!

[ Edited by: Beachbumz 2012-05-05 17:02 ]

I can see it too. WOW!!!

The Wolf BOB, Mummy BOB, Bride of BOB, BOB of the Opera......

Cool, at least I'm not the only one seeing the hidden tiki in the turtle....
Good try Wendy... :wink:

Robbie I think the IN is for envision glazes by Duncan...

Just this afternoon I opened a package from California and oh, what a delicious surprise... mugs so incredibly beautiful!!! Each a work of art, they took my breath away. The rest of my collection was elevated by their splendor...

The instructions were quite explicit on the base of Fu Manchu Bob...

Using the proportions recommended by that intrepid cocktail explorer, TropicDrinkBoy, I conjured up an authentic Doctor Funk and raised a toast to the bold medico who invented the drink that “would restore self-respect and interest in one’s surroundings when even Tahitian rum failed...”

Having fulfilled its destiny, Fu Manchu Bob joined the Zombie Torch atop the Blowfish Bar...

Thusly fortified with rejuvenating drink, I joined two standard poodles on the ocean-side deck and howled at the Super Moon this Cinco de Mayo...

Life is good...

-Tom

I like the "Pirate Bob Holding a Cutlass in his Mouth" :D

Hi Friends you certainly have given me a lot of joy this morning. I love reading your posts before the newspaper. I'm just grinning ear to ear.

ZeroTiki I heard that thud in Elk Grove but since you were speechless that's all I heard. Thank you.

Atomic Tiki Punk thanks for cheering me on.

Kele, I thought that too. However the game was too rough and Bob fell off the bowl. There is a problem when parts are dry. See what I did next below.

dartharnie wow thank you. I'll start another list after Tiki Oasis 12 in August. Right now I need to perfect all those in progress. I did however finish Invisible Bob last night and now I can't locate him.

mymotiki you all make me speechless.

Beachbumz and Swizzle, I didn't see the tiki face until you mentioned it here. Now I'll have to enhance it just a bit.

Holler Waller more good ideas. Dan loves all the old movies and he's saying I want these too. He'll have to work even harder and mop more floors.

Tiki Tom D I am super happy to have your photos. I even went out to look at the moon. It was fun to see where the mugs went on your shelves. Thank you so much.

MadDogMike a pirate Bob would be fun.

I'm so happy that you all shared your thoughts with me and made my day so happy.

Progress Report:

I need more shelves in my little kiln shed for glazes. We made more places for the tests but I needed more shelves. So we searched all morning going to Best Buy, Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Home Depot, The Discovery Shop. We didn't find anything that would work and then it was time to go on to Cinco De Mayo with the Sacramento Ohana.

The Blue Kahuna got his Zombie Torch Mug

VampiressRN made sure everyone had a Margarita. She gave us all Tiki Farms new swizzles and SophitaTiki journal books. Thank you so much Vamp/Marlene

The Blue Kahuna brought the South of the Boarder Bob I'd made for him

I was able to deliver 3 more ZT mugs at the party

TikiRoom.net Alia and Mike

Dan's mad, they wouldn't let him mop the floors after the party, that made Laura laugh at him.

Kathi came clear from the bay area to join the fun.

After the party we drove home to Elk Grove and stopped at Big Lots. They had the CD shelf I needed but only on display. We had to drive back into town to buy one at another location. Success!

Back home we had a great visit with Sandra Dee and her mom. Dang it I forgot to take a photo. Sandra Brought a shell lamp as a gift so I could have fun attaching more shells, a hobby of mine. Thank you Sandra Dee for the gift and for sharing your mom with us.

I only did one bit of clay work by the end of the day. The Tiki Bob bowl that was blindfolded rejected Bob. I had one more trick to try.

I dunked Bob in a bucket of water.

I dunked the rest of the bowl into the bucket of water.

While both were still very wet I added sticky clay.

I pressed Bob into place.

I smoothed the attachment and put the whole thing into a plastic bag to dry out slowly. Fingers crossed.

There is so much to do today. I'll share tomorrow. Thanks for checking in and for all the super comments. Cheers, Wendy

Dr Wendy, you are needed in surgery STAT

hang10tiki more surgery ahead.

Progress Report on the Wish List:

Tiki Faces are everywhere! After Beachbumz pointed it out I could see it too for the first time. Thank you.

We opened the kiln and removed the pieces of art.


Dan high powered hosed them off and took them into the house to be glazed.

I'll start glazing the Wish List this week. I needed to get my glazes under control. First we added onto the test strip wall. Next I needed more shelves to hole the glaze. I had no place to store all the purples, pinks and the Carribean Tourquoise.

I figured out how to cut up the CD storage case to fit under the existing cases.

After marking we cut it up.

Then we put together the pieces that still worked.

Then we really got busy and made another case from the scraps.

It worked and now it was time to organize.

Some woman like jewelry, shoes and dresses. I prefer Hawaiian shirts and art supplies. Every time I have been paid for one of my creations I spend it on clay and glaze. I believe I am now fully stocked!

dartharnie's Frankenstein's Bob is finished.
Yesterday I tried ears but they didn't work so I gave them back to Dan!

Here's the mug finished.

Sandra Dee ordered a TNT stick to drink from for Oasis 12 Spy theme. The straw will be the wick. She came up with something fun and I was happy to oblige.

I poured a Bob extra thick so I could cut off the bottom to make it straight.

Then I cut off his nose and rolled him into a tube.

I added clay to hide the face.

Then I smoothed it out. Bye Bye Bob.

Next I needed to make a lid with a straw hole.

I marked the size of the mug but then cut it larger. The mug is drier than the clay I'm working with and it will shrink as it dries.

Now I needed to remove clay so that there is a piece that goes into the mug.

To prevent cracking as it dries I remove as much clay as possible.

The last step was to indent the top like the TNT picture and to add a straw hole.

Now it needs to dry enough that I will be able to carve in TNT to the side.

Now it is time to go to work. I wonder what I'll find to do today. Cheers, Wendy

Wendy,

You are just amazing! Thank you for sharing your remarkable gifts with us all.

I truly LOVE my new Zombie Torch mug and will treasure it always (as I do your friendship)...

Aloha nui loa,
Steve

FrankenBob came out great, I really like how you add the stitches to the pattern.

Woot! Woot! super stoked about my custom Oasis mug!! Now to make sure I don't drop it!!

Beautiful mug, I look at it everyday. Thank you Wendy and Dan

Frankin rocks,
TNT is explosive,
U 2 are dynamite...

C u soon...at caliente

Hi Steve Soto, it was so much fun to celebrate C DE M with you and the gang on Saturday. You may have been Dan's friend since high school but I feel like we have been friends just as long. You are a dear heart.

Atomic Tiki Punk my goal is to use a glaze that will highlight the stitches making them darker than the patches. If that works I'll be happy and so will dartharnie.

HBT she is watching over you. Thank you for the email this morning.

hang10tiki Thank U (:

Progress Report on the wish list:

Sandra Dee here's your TNT mug.

The top has been shrinking and is getting close to being the right size.

It was fun adding the TNT. It gets pretty hot at Oasis. You better hope the alcohol doesn't ignite the straw.

You other gift mug is finished and drying too.

Net up was to start on the four Palm Tree Bob mugs like Professor G's. He started this craze with his request on the last Bob run. Thank you Professor G.

I start by cutting up clay.

Then I made dozens of ropes and palm fronds.

Mikey Tiki and McTiki both wanted a tiny tiki with their palms. I made a block of "wood" to carve on each of their mugs but in different locations. I put the palms on differently too. At the side is philot's Diamond Head Palm mug.

I worked for an hour trying to get Diamond head on the mug and then I hit myself in the head when I remembered that all I needed to do was cut the photo and use it to outline the volcano. Dang it.

A few craters added I moved on to the next mug.

This one is Deb's. I added a hut for hers or maybe it's a tiki restaurant.

Five hours later I had roughed out the four mugs.

I wrapped them up and they sit overnight so that the clay I've added will dry some by having the mug part steal water.

Today the kiln opens and I will hopefully have all the ceramics I need to glaze for Caliente ready for this next step.

I better go get busy. It is bright and sunny another fun play day with clay. Wendy

Love it! It is going to look even better than I imagined :) Only 99 days until Oasis !

Thank you so much for everything!!

Wow, those palm tree Bob mugs are looking great, thanks for the update, and keep up the great work! (I can't wait to see how they all turn out.)

oh boy oh boy oh boy!

It's really neat watching you take the basic Bob and coming up with ways to customize him. Seeing four with the palm trees all being done side-by-side is a good demonstration of the technique. Wendy you show some impressive skill with free-hand sculpting.

Those look like the vintage Trader Vics mugs (Actually Better!)

I'm crazy happy if my idea became a part of the Wendy magic, but the way you've expanded the concept is just beautiful. The new mugs are stunners (but I still like mine the best).

I absolutely LOVE watching Wendy's thought process! It is SUCH a revelation! Thank you for letting us into your world!
~kele

McTiki very happy to be in this mix! Thank you Wendy. Just awesomeness coming from Rancho de Wendy & Dan!

Mahalo

McTiki

Fun, fun, fun

Sandra Dee your TNT is hot in the kiln as I type.

Mikey Tiki at last I have the palms blowing in the breeze.

Philot with a capital P. I love working clay. Everyone should grab some Sculpey and have some fun.

Atomic Tiki Punk that's the first time for that compliment, I'm blushing.

Professor G I really thank you for starting the palms. They'll need to start a club like the Blue Bob Group. Then you can be in both of the clubs!

Kele I'll be watching your world on the swap thread. Your replacement ZT card etc. goes into the mail today.

McTiki its fun to be connected to you once more. I need more hours in the day so I can see all the carving and bar building threads. You all rock the tiki world.

hang10tiki here goes...

Progress Report for the Wish List:

Now its time to start to glaze all these ceramics and a few I can't show that are presents.

Elvis and Cracked White Bob for Atomic Chick.

Elvis is covered in clear after the black and white was added. He'll get lots of cold paint, to jazz up his outfit, before he's done.

The Missionary's Downfall Bowl for Loki Tiki. First flat black over the whole alter and bowl.

Then I wiped it off the rock fronts and leaving it in the crevices.

Next came the layer of shinier Gray over the rocks and the red satin paint for the bowl. This color was the best match to the girls swimsuit as requested.

The Bottom of the bowl was also painted in this red. Then I started glazing a Bumatay bowl.

Close up of how the Palm mugs look before I clean them up and start to carve.

Debs SuperCarvedHutMug finished while I watched the news, Hawaii 5-O and 24.

Today will be another day much the same as yesterday. I hope to have a glazed load to fire tomorrow night after we unload those that are presently cooling in the kiln.

Thank you all for being with me each step of the way. Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-05-09 08:53 ]

Brilliant, masterful work done with extreme care by an extraordinary artist.
Thank you, Wendy.

Amazing
Did I say amazing yet?

Zero Tiki and hang10tiki you two guys sure know how to flatter a gal. Thank you both very much.

Progress Report on the Wish List:

The glazing has begun. I will fire a load today. Here's some of the work from yesterday.

Three Bumatay bowls. Two with 4 heads and one with 3 heads. These are for
Psycho Tiki D, Joanne and one on spec.

Making the red runs thicker on Loki Tikis Missionary's Downfall Alter Bowl.

Next up the Tapa Bob for harro in Australia.

harro requested tapaish colors so I picked these under-glazes. They will fire in the colors to the left since I'm putting a clear gloss glaze over them. Leaving something in buff also leaves it open to stains and if left wet for too long the inner glaze can pop off.

So first off I glazed it all in the brown and then I wiped it off leaving it in the depressions.

Then I slowly painted the other colors in all the small areas. Luckily tapa is a very messy rough art so that's how this is painted.

Next up I covered the brown that had been wiped onto the face with 3 layers of white.


Now two layers of clear.


Another one ready to dry and fire.

Diamond Head Bob for Philot

Today I unload the kiln of bisqued pieces and then re-load it with those that have been glaze. Now we are on a roll. Wendy

I think the glaze on harro's brown tapaish bob looks really cool and "authentic". very curious to see what it looks like after you fire it.

Tapa Bob is amazing, but I can't wait to see the glazed KIng! Everyday I log on silently chanting El-vis, El-vis.

I love your daily updates Wendy, it's like a a mini Reality TV show, instead this way we get to see who is "voted in", (being worked on this day) for the program instead of being voted off. There are not enough superlatives to describe your amazing work - thank you so much for sharing your talents with us.

TT

dartharnie me too. I've never done one like this and it will be fun to see what it looks like. Tapa Bob will be out of the kiln tomorrow.

murphdog I just hope when he comes of the kiln out tomorrow he'll still have the essence of Elvis.

Tavarua Tiki I love your "voted in" reality show. So lets see who made it next.

First up we opened the kiln and hosed off the dusty ceramics. Now on plastic in the dining room they will dry until it is time to glaze.

Remember the bowl whose Bob I destroyed? Dunking the bowl and Bob in the tub of water attaching them while wet worked.

The same for Lori Loves Tiki's mug. The hand and small Bob are now attached.

Mikey Tiki I may have not fulfilled your wish here. If not let me know and I'll do a regular Super Carved mug for you. I know you wanted one with a small tiki. For some reason I got started on rocks and just couldn't stop. Here's what happened.

BaconSM likes tropical plants. He picked out his favorite leaves and I added a couple of Bird of Paradise plants. I started by drawing some on the mug.


Then I would build each leaf with clay.

Next I would rough it out. The clay is too wet for fine tuning.

Here I started on a Bird of Paradise.

I will take more photos today as I continue to work on it. My fear is that drawing first may have introduced air pockets that will explode when it is fired. We'll see.

McTiki here's your mug. Surprise!




Last summer I used his tikis in a painting. Now I put one of his designs on his mug.

Yesterday I decided to catch up on carving more mugs and Missionary's Downfall bowls before glazing those that have been bisqued. I will do the same today. Once I have all the rest of these made and drying I'll start glazing again.

Tomorrow the ceramics that needed to be complete for Caliente come out of the kiln. It is always a surprise to see how they turned out. Nelson's Tiki Hut I didn't know you would be there. So sorry that I won't have yours to deliver.

Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-05-11 09:16 ]

DAMN IT WENDY!!! Can you stop making such cool stuff? My list of stuff that I want to order from you just keeps getting longer and longer (ok but really please don't stop). Geez your work is amazing! Can't wait till next weekend...oh yea mug heaven! Me, you, Dan, Joanne, and Jama...rock on!

So cute!!

Coyote Whistle! Wendy! That is just genious!

Oh man these are all so nice....

Can't wait to see it progress

Thank you so much. I'm so lucky!

Mahalo

McTiki