Stachetiki 1.0

As a new clay artist entering the tiki world, wanted to post up v1.0 of "Stachetiki." He's bisque fired here, figuring out what glaze to go with now. Hoping v2.0 will have some better form and lines, and may even be worthy of slipcasting. Would love to hear any feedback!

Welcome to Tiki Central. Keep up the great work!! There are lot's of wonderful artists here that will be happy to give you suggestions for growing your artistic talent.

Welcome to TC TikiAno. I like the clean, smooth lines and the stylized design. Clever name - I'm not sure the mustache makes him look very "tiki", but he'd make a really cool German beer stein. There are lots of glaze options out there!

Enjoy playing in the mud and keep posting your work for us to see :D

Put everything down lower, slant the face, and you're set!

Thanks, guys. VampiressRN, looking forward to hearing from all. MadDogMike, I definitely think 'outside of the box' re: tiki design. I have a few others that are more "traditional." HaleTiki, thanks for the advice- what do you mean by "slant the face"?

Take a look at some moai from the side, or the Duncan mold Moai Mug. There's a little more dimension. And as a mustachioed man, good job so far!

Got it, Hale Tiki. Still working on building out mugs. This is slab built, with features added onto base form. Haven't (yet) worked with 'pulling' features out of the main form-- but definitely plan on it. Hope to finish more details on another (larger) non-traditional tiki mug tomorrow- but want to figure out more three-dimensional work. :) Thanks!

First look at Grungiki. He has a generally dissatisfied expression, flannel shirt, furrowed brow, and (will have) an earring.

Welcome. Where do you live? It looks like you have great work space, I'm jealous. Keep it coming here and we'll enjoy seeing your work. Step by steps are fun too. Will you make molds? Wendy

Thanks, Wendy. I'm in San Diego. The photos are taken in a shared ceramic studio I use down here (use their kiln)- much better looking than the garage where I also play with clay. I'm still working on my (general) process, but I love all of your step by steps (and others)- as well as your work- it's amazing. I plan on making molds, want to get a few mugs finished to figure out which to mold first. The mold making step by steps have gotten me excited to try it- though I'll have to clear out a lot of the garage first. :)

Here's a 3/4 view of Grungiki, showing slight detail of the plaid shirt and earring hole. Hopefully I made the hole big enough for a good hoop. It's a pretty big piece- the base was made from a hand rolled slab of clay around a pretty wide piece of PVC.

Hi TikiAno, I've thought about using PVC pipe but never got around to it. Next time let us see how you do it. Recently I let glaze fill the hole I'd made for the necklace string. Drilling it out was super hard. I'll not make that mistake again.

You have a classic tiki mouth on this one. Wendy

Thanks for the heads-up, Wendy. Will have to figure out something to keep the earring hole open during glazing and firing (maybe plug it with something that will survive firing?) I'll try to shoot a step by step for building around another form- I was having trouble pulling up narrow walled forms on the wheel, found this method easier- though possibly a lot less "cool." :)

The best way to stop the hole closing up is to put a toothpick (or any wood of the appropriate diameter) through it and it will just burn away during the firing.

Thanks, Swizzle. That sounds like the perfect solution. Still going to trim a bit more, then bisque fire it. Will definitely post photos with the update.

Wendy,

As per your suggestion, I posted up a step by step on building a form like this (though smaller) here:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=44206&forum=18&0

It's my first step by step (though I've read a bunch), look forward to feedback/advice!

Thanks!

Grungiki, bisque fired. Waiting for Stachetiki (and a few other pieces) to come out of the kiln. Thought I was going with one glaze pre-firing, now a bit unsure.... does this happen to anyone else? :)

First peek out of the kiln. Pretty excited, new glaze combo (blue exterior w/ orange interior), looks great. More photos to come...

StacheTiki glazed pics:

The orange interior glaze melted a little bit over the side, but I'm pretty happy overall with the new blue glaze. Would love any feedback/thoughts from all.

I dig it.
Don't be afraid to brush on a few layers to really get it to pop.
Looking good!

Thanks, Hale Tiki. It was the first time using a new glaze (without testing it first). I brushed on three coats, maybe an extra one next time around, though I admit I kinda like the "washed" effect. :)

Wanted to post an update to the Grungiki mug/ decanter (it's pretty darn large). Finally got him glazed and fired. Unfortunately, the toothpick I had in his earring hole burned up too early in the firing, have to drill out the little bit of glaze that is sealing the hole up (admittedly, slightly nervous about cracking the ear). A few new pieces in the works, will start a new thread with a number of photos at once (since each piece is taking a while to finish up). Would love any feedback, as always.