Sea Creature of the South Pacific Art Swap ~ Done!

Go tikidave go...

MDM, since you're leading the swap, I'll direct this question to you, but anyone can feel free to chime in.

I've started my swap project, and along the way discovered something wonderful. It's a 19th century etching, and is fantastic. I have original art to use for the piece, but the etching is more better than I could ever hope to emulate on my own.

Would it be preferable to use my original art, or re-purpose a century old etching? I'm fine with either, and will be making copies for myself either way I go.

I guess I could post the two graphics and let people choose if you think that would be a good way to go.

Thoughts?

Zero Tiki its fun to watch you think it through. A lot of master works of art have another painting underneath. Now we've seen it happen.

DaveTiki that' gonna be a whale of a painting. Oh No did I say that? Wendy

So great to see more peoples jumping into the Art Swap!
Everything that I've seen & heard about is making me salivate
... or that may just be the meds for my bronchitis!
~kele

STAGE THREE:

deep sealife makes its way to aquire tikis.

Mike, hang10 and Wendy,

Thanks for the kind words.... Looking forward to the swap!

Peace,
Jason <

Alrighty, back to the depths we go....

I'm working on a humpback painting, however this is a Tiki swap and it needs some 'tiki' culture. I've always admired the Maori culture, so I did a little research. The humpback is PAIKEA in the Maori language and quite a revered creature.

So I begin taking my humpback in a Maori-inspired direction. After viewing a variety of Maori representations of different animals, I begin painting and blocking out a Maori-inspired pattern.

After a much longer-than-anticipated session, I complete the Maori blocking technique. I must say, painting on split bamboo was more challenging than I imagined. It might be easier with a more free flowing subject, but Maori tribal blocking required a steady approach.

I did want the final piece to have a bit of a vintage feel. I hit the painting in a variety of places with some sandpaper before applying a varnish to seal the paint. Then I signed the reverse...

Final photos to come soon....

Peace,
Jason <

Looks great Jason.

tikidaye your art looks way cool
Zero tiki cant wait to see more

Zero - proof that Tiki Hoarders exist even at 20,000 leagues under the sea! Lookin' good
Jason - Looks like a cross between Moby Dick and Shamu on LSD :lol: Just kidding, looks great. I like the "antiqueing" idea.

Digging the variety of all the new additions to the swap. I'm waiting on some test tiles to fire to see how to approach the N.O.T.N.S.P. Mug, and for the Sharkbait Moai Tile to bisque fire. Who else is jumping in next? Wendy, glad I wasn't the only one thinking whale one liners. :wink:

Zero n Dave
Lookin good
Can't wait to see more

Jon

Hurm. No responses. Well, I'll post the artwork that I'm working on. This is just the digital form. It will manifest in a physical object when it's done.

Cool Hale, has a woodblock print look to it.

That's the idea, MDM. Glad it came across.

I love old etchings and woodblock prints, so I knew it'd be one of the two, if I didn't make it around to carving something. The final product is still kind of up in the air at the moment. I'll decide when I'm done with it.

Like the progress Hale, very cool!
As to the etching, I bet it is cool, but I'm loving what you are bringing to the swap as is, man.

Jason, I have worked with split mats before. Tough, but gratifying.

And now,
STAGE FOUR:

Mr. Tiki attempts to hold his breath in this submerged environment, as a puffer emerges to look on.
More Later,
~Zero

[ Edited by: ZeroTiki 2013-01-29 12:17 ]

P.S.: I think all of those whale jokes were merely a fluke.
~Z

Great stuff goin' on Hale and Zero!

On 2013-01-29 12:20, ZeroTiki wrote:
P.S.: I think all of those whale jokes were merely a fluke.
~Z

What do you call a whale who is on land?

DEAD.

Looking good TikiDaye and Zero.

Progress report: Got the piece out of bisque today, stained and glazed and it's sitting on the shelf ready to be loaded... From here on it's a waiting game to see which load it gets put in with...

HaleTiki, love it as it is right now, can't wait to see the next step. Are you working in Illustrator?
ZeroTiki, well played whale joke. You really beluga'd it up. (damn, more crickets).

TikiDave, is there any chance a Paikea monkey will appear in your piece? I suppose a shearling coat might be very un-Maori.
(If anyone doesn't get the reference, quickly look up "Ikea Monkey." Stat.

Okay, must. Stop. Now. Bye.

On 2013-01-29 13:26, Hale Tiki wrote:
What do you call a whale who is on land?

DEAD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79tl2H3QzT0
It's a classic! :lol:

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

Hale- loving the look you've got going there and excited to see it come to life
Zero - great progress shots and really enjoying the story your piece is telling

Very well, I've completed my Maori-inspired PAIKEA

The cool thing about the split-bamboo mat is that it can easily be hung as a traditional painting on the wall -or- displayed upright on a shelf like this:

You can even get creative and make a lighting feature out of it... Here I just quickly tossed a bare bulb behind the painting. The light peeks through the split bamboo. The photo doesn't fully capture the live look but it's quite cool in person.

So, there she is... Finished and awaiting her new collector. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I have in bringing it to life.

Peace,
Jason <

Hale,zero,daye-

Great updates............

This is going to ge a sweet swap

Zero, is that the dreaded Portuguese Man of War? I ain't gonna fight him for no tiki!
Jason, that's beautiful! Is this your first Swap?

TikiDaye, that's a beaut! Love how it can be used in different ways, too.
(Sorry I need better glasses, accidentally wrote you as TikiDave before. Too much rum, I suppose. :wink:

Very nice TikiDaye!

Love it, Jason!

All the projects are SO tikiriffic!
Back to work...
~kele

Less than a month to go...

Okay, I'm going to add a coat of glaze on top of the NOTNSP mug and refire. Since it's fired to Cone 6, hoping the original glazes don't run. This is a somewhat risky move, but I'd like it to have more contrast in color. Keeping my tikis crossed.

Fingers are crossed. Spent some time in the studio today and decided to add some glaze to the Art Swap mug. To get the new glaze to "stick," I heard it helped to heat it up first (many people use home ovens for this). I didn't have an oven lying around, but it was a nice warm day here, so outside (in the sun) would have to do. The top of the car seemed as good a place as any (inside may have been better)...

After a while I added three layers of glaze (one lime green, two light blue), and now we wait to see what happens..... Hoping it will get fired soon.

STAGE FIVE:

The puffer comes closer for a look, as a school of fishes hover nearby.

Since Jason's work is multi-purpose, I'm a gonna do that TOO!
You can hang it on a wall:

OR, it can be a tasty treat!

...OK, not so much multi-purpose.

~Z.

Zero - brilliant innovation on the multi-purpose front... you are a genius

everything is looking good... wonder if anyone else might jump in to the swap. After all, there is a month left... plenty of time to whip up an art swap piece. Perhaps everyone can nudge a TC friend to consider joining?

Peace,
Jason <

Ano- good luck

Zero- looks great, and for some reason I just got hungry...

Jon

Here is the first published photo of my art swap piece. I borrowed the image, but enlarged to a 14" x 18", canvas board. Detailing is still in process, but I didn't want to wait to show you all any longer.

I'm looking forward to this swap!

Aloha!

Mele-Maka
That freekin rocks...

Jon

I thought I was going to run out of time, but today I was home alone and cranked out three hand-built mugs.

I did a tall mermaid mug using a press mold for the upper half, a second slightly smaller and wider mug with a seahorse design, and a shorter third mug with a Tangaroa head.

I used a different clay this time that my wife had bought for an abandoned project -- G-Mix 6 Stoneware -- which is a medium range stoneware that says it should be bisque fired at cone 04 and glaze fired at cone 6. Never used this before, but we'll see how it goes.

[ Edited by: Trader Tom 2013-02-02 22:59 ]

That should probably be cone 06 if it's a cone 04 bisque fire, Tom. Cone 6 is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY hotter than cone 06.

Nice job, Grasshopper.

[ Edited by: GROG 2013-02-03 00:33 ]

Almost completed - just need to fit a wire, hopefully conversion to local power will be easy (i've converted US to UK with no problems thus far - unfortunately never had the forsight to keep hold of the fittings)

I need to get my but in gear. Lot's of cool stuff happening for this swap. Exciting.

TT- mugs look cool so far, hope that cone thing works out
Grog- and where is your entry sir? :)
Pikey- looks awesome
Tabu- what will the Tabu mind come up with, something kool I'm sure

Jon

Lookin good Tom!

Wow, such great art. Wendy

Mele, great work!! Trader Tom your clay work is three-mendous, Pikey a fantastic idea and execution (or maybe electrocution?) MDM way to extend the deadline!

Ok, squeezed in a couple of hours this morning and got a bit further along. Still along way to go.

Now back to this.

May get some more time tonight.

Tabu- that's lookin great
So is the build out...

Jon

Holy CRAP!!!! I left the country for a few days and came back to an art-splosion!!!

Zero - mmmm, looks quite tasty!
Mele - very dark and mysterious, a bit scary!
Tom - you have been busy. Looking forward to seeing those glazed
Pikey - it's HUGE!!! I bet it's gorgeous all lit up.
Tabu - that painting blows circuits in my little brain, I'm having trouble telling where one scene ends and the other begins. It is going to be very interesting to see it finished.

I went fishing in remote Mexico for the weekend and had a blast. Brought back a dried triggerfish head that I have "art" plans for, we'll see how that turns out :lol: