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

Cool pictures! Happy anniversary! Beautiful couple then and now! Congrats!

Creature mug rocks

Wow! That Bob Lagoon mug is brilliant! You continue to inspire and amaze!

Awesome creature Wendy! FrankenBob is looking good too.

Too Groovy Wendy & Dan, Looks like the cover of a 1970s Romance Novel.

wow wow wow wow wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm blown away Wendy that is just fantastic! And the little Doug inspired puffer is the best!

Incredible mugs + amazing Wendy and Dan = happiest thread on TC.

On 2012-05-28 14:02, Tavarua Tiki wrote:
wow wow wow wow wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm blown away Wendy that is just fantastic! And the little Doug inspired puffer is the best!

Wow is right Chris! Wendy is making you a awesome piece of art!

AWESOME work Wendy! Time for you to teach me!

Thank you very much
The Blue Kahuna
hang10tiki
zerostreet
MadDogMike
AtomicTikiPunk
Professor G
bavtech
and Tavarua Tiki - one day he'll be yours!

So many photos that I want to share today so I'm up early and ready to post.
Tonga Tom took this photo at Caliente and of course its one of my favorites because I'm surrounded by men! Sabu the Coconut Boy, MadDogMike myself and Cy. Sorry I don't know who the guy behind me is, do you?

I'm anticipating making more Bob's so yesterday I got out my Bob sculpture and we made two more molds.

Setting up.

Always wear masks with plaster.


Dan does his happy dance for me. He plays music while we work.

Clay snakes where the box sides come together.

My Timex just keeps on ticking. I like to rub the plaster on my sculpture to make sure there are no air bubbles.

We had some major leaks because we filled it higher than my clay snakes. It stopped when it lowered to them.

One mold done.

9 hours later we had two molds finished.

We cleaned up and went out to dinner at On The Boarder.

Oh I almost forgot (: we opened the kiln and here are the photos. I did some cold painting last night so there are some that have enhancements such as the collar for MurphDog. Frankenstein's Bob is still a secret until dartharnie releases him.

Right off I could see that Psycho Tiki D's Missionary's Downfall Bowl was a failure. The glaze had popped off as it cooled.

Looking closely at it I could now see a hairline crack.

It went all the way through. This bowl is shot. I did it all right with a hold at the end of a slow ramp for the bisque and a preheat and slow ramp for the glazes. This bowl is now a loss and I've let Duane know.

The next layer in the kiln looked good.

Remember this bowl? I was so unhappy with how the French Dimension glazes came out that I glazed the bowl again.

This time around the bowl came out beautifully. Deb this is your bowl.


Dan earned this bowl for making molds with me yesterday.

mymotikis vintage looking Tiki Bob bowl.


BaconSm your bowl is finished too.


Tapa Turtle Bob may need another layer of glaze. I'm waiting to hear back.



LoriLovesTikis I did a few more dark purple spots on little Bob so tonight he'll bake in the home oven with MurphDog.




MurphDog has his collar and is ready to bake.

Next up will be the baking and then the contacting of those with finished pieces so I may ship and earn some money!

Thank you for your visit, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-05-29 07:27 ]

Simply amazing...you're Bob's are off the richter. Love the pictures of you two getting married!!! Keeping it Tiki congrats Wendy& Dan.

I hope you had a wonderful anniversary, thank you for sharing such personal memories with all of us. You two are very special indeed!

Sorry about the bowl lost in the kiln, everything looks amazing!!

Chris

Oh wow! Nice Nice Nice!

Hope your anniversary was a memorable one!

Mahalo

McTiki

I love opening the kiln! Such beautiful stuff in this batch Wendy, great colors. Is that the same Missionary's Bowl you had trouble with earlier? I've that some too that kept shivering off even after several firings. Don't really know what causes that though I have heard several theories.

Wendy, the other gentleman in the picture is Dr Z, "purveyor of the not-quite-patented hangover remedy" :D

Scary how great your mugs look Wendy.......

Everything looks fantastic! I can't wait to get my mug. Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me!!!

Your posts make me so happy!!!!

:)
And Happy Anniversary to you both! Thanks for sharing your wedding pictures. The Creature from the Bob Lagoon mug is fantastic!!!!

:)
Lori
Tiki Newbie

[ Edited by: LoriLovesTiki 2012-05-29 11:07 ]

Epic Dan and Wendy show

Hi Wendy and dan,
Such magic in your last few posts! Apart from all the hard work and fantastic results (I don't know which is my new favourite, the murphdog, loris with the mini mini bob, creature bob or the nice black bowl), it's great to see you and dan still enjoying yourselves after so long. Those wedding pics are classic, top marks for Dans "chopper" (as his moustache would be known down here) and your smile is as wide now as it was back then. It's a shame I didn't get to meet you guys at Oasis last year.
Last but not least, as mentioned I'm blown away by your mugs when I finally got them in my own grubby mitts a few days ago. The workmanship is flawless and the colours of the glazes just pop unlike that you see thru the computer screen. They will take pride of place in my future home tiki bar. Pics soon once were back in Oz.
Cheers.

Edit double post

[ Edited by: Harro 2012-05-30 08:34 ]

Wendy, MurphDog looks amazing, amazing, amazing! You are truly gifted.

Terrific notes from you all. They were such fun to read and they made me very happy.

VampiressRN I'm happy for everyone who thought up the mugs they wanted. I'm happy that others liked them too. Thank you. We remember our wedding like it was yesterday.

McTiki I love your tikis so much that I request to use one in another painting for Oasis 12. OK??? Soon we'll be having anniversary's of when I first used your designs.

MadDogMike that has been the "I learned a lot from it" bowl. I've heard a lot of reasons why glaze comes off and I believe all of them. I tried to follow all the helpful hints but then it cracked.

WestADad, AtomicTikiPunk and hang10tiki thank you so much.

LoriLovesTiki I buy my gifts too but this time Dan decided to surprise me. I'm getting TV Ears. He said my hearing aids are not enough and the TV is too loud. I hope they work.

harro your note was so good I got it twice! I'm so happy that you and Swizzle have the Torches in AU and that your Tapa mug made it too. Thank you for the compliments.

These photos are for Professor G. If you friend him on facebook you'll see all of his beautiful food photos. These are our brunch.

I keep checking on the drying mugs and bowls. It seems the Creature of the Bob Lagoon is still drying off after his last swim. If he dries too fast he'll crack. Soon I'll start sanding and fine tuning these mugs. Meanwhile it is time to start contacting everyone whose work is finished.

I was lazy yesterday and I thought about my Oasis painting but I didn't start it. I hope I have more energy today. Cheers, Wendy

PS MurphDog I just saw your post, thank you, I'll contact you later today

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-05-30 08:52 ]

That's a nice looking brunch, Wendy. Hopefully , y'all are having good breakfasts, brunches, lunches, tea-times, and dinners (and a few refreshing late-night snacks) to keeps your strength up for all of the beautiful work you two are creating.

Some day I'm bustin' out of the Tiki Wastelands just to come cook for you.

Can't wait to see the next painting

Professor G everyone read that one day you would come here and cook for us. Deal, the Buzzy bedroom is waiting for you!

hang10tiki here comes the painting. I'm not any faster painting a picture than I am at doing ceramics. It is a matter of one step at a time.

Progress Report on the Wish List:

I checked on the Creature today and he's still drying slowly. It's going to be 100 degrees so maybe the swamp water will evaporate a bit more.

Yesterday I started my painting for Oasis 12. I'll show you all my steps as I bring it to life. If you ever wanted to paint I will do it as if I'm teaching you how. Even though I'm an armature I do know a lot of steps. In a painting you always start with whatever is furthest away from you and then work forward. So I start with the sky and ocean.

First off I tend to hoard some things but I try to use them too. I save the plastic lids from cottage cheese and cans of coffee. I use them to mix paints. What's great is that once I use one side after it dries I can flip it use the other side and then toss it out when I'm done.

I added a bit of water so that the paint was easier to spread. A spray bottle works great for adding small amounts. After I finished painting this canvas I ran my fingers around the edges to remove any accumulation so it would stay flat.

The first blue paint was straight out of the tube. If I'm going to mix colors then I make enough for what I need for that portion of the painting. I have all my 35mm film containers from before digital became popular. They work great. The stick end of a paint brush works well for stirring and a paper towel takes it all right back off.

I started the sky and then I put down a strip of painters tape where I wanted the sky to meet ocean. I measured to make sure my ocean wasn't going uphill.

After I finished the sky I removed the tape. You get a sharper edge if it comes off with wet paint. If the paint dries sometimes some will pull off your painting.

I did a little purple on the clouds for fun. Now I need to think this through before I take the next step.

I hope you day is sunny but not too hot, Wendy

Great start Wendy!
I've always liked to draw and paint, but have never taken a lesson, so I'm super stoked follow along.
I already learned to start with what's furthest away :)
Have a great afternoon!

Great start lil lady

This is such a great thread! I've become inspired by the amazing work that you put out. My wife and I signed up for a slip-casting class based on all the "lump-to-mug" info and pics that you've posted. Keep up the great work.

TikiRootsTocka these photos are not much to see but most paintings start out like this unless you are little lost tiki. His painting are super from the first stroke. You should look at his step by steps. I'm glad I'm giving out some useful information.

hang10tiki you are such a great support here and I really appreciate you.

TikiTie wow I'm super happy to have inspired you and your wife. You should start a thread of your own here and keep us up to date. We all love to watch people learn.

Progress report on the Tiki Oasis 12 Tiki/Spy Painting.

I save the blue tape and re-use it as needed. But if you re-use the tape make sure it is dry or you could transfer paint to areas you don't want it. Here I have put down two strips so that I can paint a dark line at the horizon.

The tape is removed and here is the line. Also note how rough my sky has become. That happens if you don't add enough water to your paint and the brush drags it as you stroke across the canvas.

One challenge is to keep the canvas from stretching. If it does the board holding the canvas will begin to show. Each time you pull paint across it more will be left and it's impossible to hide that later on. Keep the pressure light.
Here is an example. We bought this painting at Caliente in spite of this defect. I'm just showing a corner.

So far Mine is OK.

Using four colors of paint that I mix on the lid I blend this line into the rest of the ocean. The stokes of color become larger the closer they come to you.

Now it was time to remove some of the tiny lumps in the sky. I put my fingers under the canvas and match them to those above holding the sand paper. Gently I sand it until it is smoother. Use water and you won't need to do this but it is a neat trick.

Now I have added a few tiny further away clouds at the left bottom of the sky.

This is a photo to show how I mixed the paint as I worked on the ocean.

Have you ever gazed at clouds and viewed them forming dogs or other objects? I've put two into these clouds do you see them?

Cheers, Wendy

You are so multi-talented!

You amaze me.

Looks great already.

I see a bird's head in the middle left, and possibly a car in the lower right cloud. Or maybe I'm hoping I'm on vacation now instead of in the office.

Not only do we get the great "Cevola Ceramic's Show", but now we've ventured into "Painting with Bob Ross" territory. I think multi-talented is understating your skills.

I've just had the most horribly wonderful thing happen to me. My Frankenstein's Bob and Torch Mug arrived...BUT my wife and kids are at work and school. I promised to wait until we were all home to open it and now I'm staring at a sealed box for the next 6+ hours....ARRRGGGHHHHHH!

At least it's a happy pain!

Thank you Wendy and Dan. I'll send and post pictures for you ASAP.

Wendy! Whatcha painting for Oasis?
I'm dying to see your take on the Spy Tiki theme for this one!
:)

New photos back one page.

Hi Friends, I just had to pop back in. To answer these notes before I start to paint.

LoriLovestiki thank you so much. I was into oxygen acetylene torch welding but gave it up due to it being way to hot to enjoy in the summer so I don't have as many outlets as when I was younger. I just find all art to be fun.

Tavarua guess what I was running a secret (because of the Oasis theme) contest and you won! Yes the bird and car were what I had placed in the clouds. PM or email your address to me. I'll need it for the Creature from the Bob Lagoon anyway.
You have won one of my new Bumatay necklaces. I'll ship it to you as soon as you send your address. Congratulations.

dartharnie, I'm excited that we mailed your box yesterday and you got it today. That's amazing. It was the cheap route and that takes 5 days. The US POST OFFICE must like you. I'm looking forward to the photos.

little lost tiki were your ears burring as I wrote about you this morning? I have only a vague idea for my painting. I have a spy and one of McTikis tikis to put into it. Where they will go will be decided soon. Thanks for asking. Have you started? Please put a link here so we can all view it soon. Elroy Art Show is even closer and I know we'll be doing our best for that show too. Work Work Work and love every second of it. Cheers, Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2012-06-01 13:56 ]

Wendy, that painting is looking great, can't wait to see it develop.

Painting is teasing me...

Imma go find something to do for a while. Be back later to check in.

Mahalo

McTiki

Hi McTiki I think you will see a glimpse of your tiki in one of the photos here but not yet in the painting.

MadDogMike the swap is sure going great guns. Your tile table is really special. I hope you don't have to ship it to the Antarctic.

Here is the Progress report on the Spy/Tiki painting for Oasis. Also I'm keeping an eye on the Creature from the Bob Lagoon. It won't be much longer before I can bisque fire all the Bob mugs that have been waiting.

First off when I start a painting I gather together a bunch of helpful photos. Some from trips, some from Google Images (example type in clouds and click on images and you get a hundred photos of clouds)and if you ask nice you may use friends photos as shown below.

I set them on the painting to see how they look. In the front is McTikis Tiki, in the back a painting off Google and a photo I took of a hut at Crown Plaza Resort last Oasis.

I tape photos together, trim off the excess and put them on the painting and outline them.

I fill in the outline with either black or permanent hooker's green paint.

Then I further outline the base of the building with a silver felt pen.

Looking at the photo I add detail. This will change over and over again as the painting progresses. Nothing is for certain.

On-line I found these great brushes that are good for painting wood grain and thatch etc.

Cutting small pieces of blue tape I position them for the underside of the hut roof.

I also added a bit of thatch to the back edge of the roof.

Now it was time to turn off the lights and spend time with Dan.

Tom Brill bought my Missionary's Downfall Alter Bowl from bavtech at Don the Beachcombers a couple of months ago. It is at the back of the table in this cool photo he put on facebook. He and his friends are making a movie and some tiki art will be in it. I'm lucky that they choose one of my pieces.

Until next time, Wendy

Wendy, thank you so much for the Bumatay i will certainly be wearing it proudly at Oasis this year. I'm honored I won your secret contest!

Tavarua Tiki I'll look forward to seeing you at Oasis. A photo of you wearing the necklace when it arrives would be cool too.

Progress Report Spy/Tiki painting for Tiki Oasis 12.

My camera is unpredictable. Sometimes closeups are fine and sometimes blurry. Please bare with me. I cut the tape into strips and spaced them out.

Next I put tape at angles for perspective.

I painted the base color.

The tape was removed.

Color was added to the posts. I have chosen the light source to come from the left side so the posts that would have light hit them as been highlighted. So far I've not needed to add shadows.

This photo shows detail on the posts and a rock base.

I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday. Deb comes today to pick up her Tiki Bob bowl and I enjoy the visits that occur at the same time. Cheers, Wendy

Wendy, I love your approach to painting with masking tape and such. It's coming along great!

Wendy,
I enjoy & learn so much from your "how-tos." You are a veritable font of knowledge, Wonder Wendy!
~kele

Great update
Can't wait to see what secrets and updates will be on page 100...

MadDogMike and Kele thank you. I'm watching your step by steps on the swap page and they are excellent.

hang10tiki page 100 is coming up, hummmm.

Progress Report on the Wish List:

No painting yesterday because the Creature from the Bob Lagoon finally dried off.
It was time to fine tune and sand all the Bob's and Missionary's Downfall Bowls.
Sometimes I use the wooden tools on dry clay to fine tune them. It works well for the clay but it can ruin the edge of the tool. I just sand it to bring back the sharp edge.

Here are the 9 bob mugs. I forgot to add the two bowls.

I showed the backs so often it's time to show the Bob faces.

I set up and I don't think I do that again. The air compressor is right at my limit for lifting. Oh, there are the two bowls.

Dan blew off the dust and we loaded the kiln. The bisque fire was done last night and the kiln will open Tuesday.

Here are the carving tools I found at an estate sale yesterday. I love tools.

Today I'll be painting again. It is going to rain here so it's perfect for a day indoors. I look forward to your notes, Wendy

Good morning Wendy! Can't wait to see more of the painting, it's fun watching it come to life. And the Bobs, well, just awesome :)

Your painting tutorial is just SOOOOO good! I think you may have been a teacher or instructor in a previous life. You inspire me in so many ways and I am continually awed by your many, MANY talents! Thanks so much for all your posts.

YAY! YAY! YAY!

My heart swells with happy to see the bob train trucking along! And I always enjoy your tutorials-- SO imformative!

~Zero

Love the progress pics! Great creations Wendy!!

The Bob's and Bowls are getting closer, can't wait to see the glazes!

Hey! I know where that factory is. I wonder if it's still standing.

Here are the carving tools I found at an estate sale yesterday. I love tools.

Today I'll be painting again. It is going to rain here so it's perfect for a day indoors. I look forward to your notes, Wendy

That "line up" of 9 Bobs looks great,
I think I saw that on an episode of law and order (dung-dung)...

Dans lid look awesome, I have one of those hanging in my bar...

C ya
Jon