Basement Kahuna -New Maori Bone Pendant 3/04

Aloha auinala brah!
Another pono carving bruddah! Au-way, What can I say? Your smokin' brah! keep kickin' ass cuz! And dont be bumbye on da kine brah! Im salivating over what youre gonna for send me!!!

mahalo again to another true "kahuna"!

Need to bump this up for a friend...Aloha!

aloha!

do you ever trade out any of your sketches or ideas for others to carve?

i have some good ideas, but was just wondering.

i really admire your style and skill. too bad you're a hillbilly. ;-P

i have a nice 12" x 48" x 2" plank of cherry i need to do something with.

mahalo

I was a hillbilly by transplant at one point! Flatlander southeastern city slicker mostly, though! I do like Ralph Stanley...Hmmm...

i give my buddy thed (real name joe) shit all the time. he lives in west virginny and is a professor of music at u of v. his original compositions are amazing. he has a great asian style. he speaks chinese, japanes, korean, english and hilltalk.

i hope you know i'm just giving you poop. i look forward to meeting you.

i sent you a message.

oh, sorry, i meant, "ah cent yoo a compootoor letter. hope y'all reed it."

Aloha BK!!!!
Your carvings are looking Pretty sweet! Nice transfer to carving bone , keep carving and having fun,How about a Ku or a Lono sometime down the road, Aloha, Mooney

Need to do a Hawaiian soon, true. I sort of jet between the Marquesas and New Zealand all the time.. Dem thar seems ta be mah main forms ahm a'nursin.. And dem thar corn 'squeezins :wink:

By the way, thanks, all. The props keep me propped! Dale, I need to go re-read all my PM's. I've been sort of strapped for time..

BK,

I got the bone carving today. It is very cool. Thanks man. I tried to get it over my Maori's BIG FAT HEAD for a pic, but the line was too short.

-Gman

"The saw is family"

[ Edited by: GMAN 2006-01-29 07:06 ]

Glad you like, G! These should stand the test of time well..I've enjoyed working in bone..it's a very heavy duty material and carves and polishes nicely..

BK, I see a while back you were in need of logs. If they are to your liking, the guy here has piles of air dried logs, 17'. Cheap. And anyone else driving in. Could be a chance to go home with good raw carving materials from Coon Tiki.

It'll be good to see chips flyin' in person from your chisels again.

I gotta scrape some dough together and get your talents working on the things on my list. The cannibal trio and the lodge pole half rounds for my entrance to the Hapa Haole Hideaway. Or maybe some knowledge, skill and drive will rub off on me while we're all together in a month and I'll do it myself!

On 2006-01-24 16:28, Mr. Dale wrote:
I swear, it must be something in the southern waters that makes everybody master carvers and makes me feel so worthless.

Indeed.

Your stuff is incredible. I'm just looking forward to the day when I stop cutting myself. Not to mention making a "objet du art" someday. Very nice work. Unbelievable.

Here is the U'U completed!

damn BK looks really good!!!!!!!

Yo BK - how much time did you put into a thing like this club? Really nice man... really nice. It appears to be true to the culture too. How do you know? How does anyone know?

Where's the provenance? I'm not sure what I'm talking about... but it sure is interesting. Thanks!

wonderful work BK...can't wait till CoonTiki....I am impatiently waiting to see this stuff come
to life before my eyes....

I Agree, this club is exceptional and Way over the top. Well done as usual, but better this time.

Thanks all...Ken Pleasant is a Jedi. :) Gap, The way I carve it takes a while sometimes, mainly because I am subject to the weather here and have to do it outside (Jan. and Feb. in the south cold and rainy!). So I get a couple of hours here, a couple there. For clubs like this I use whatever reference books I can find. I had a copy of an old Cyrillic engraving showing side views of this club, which helps, as they are almost never pictured from the side. As for the cultural aspect, the majority of these have some degree of old documentation that explains their purpose to us. A lot of books on Oceanic art are out there floating around Amazon or E-bay. Conga, I'll be bringing an unfinished Sali to Coontiki and demonstrating some aging and torch tricks in the first part of my three hours Sunday. But remember these are trade secrets! What happens at Coontiki stays at Coontiki. I plan on learning a few things from our resident giant among carvers Ben Davis (You da man, Ben!) and wildman Chiki Danny!

On 2006-02-25 07:20, Basement Kahuna wrote:
What happens at Coontiki stays at Coontiki.

Well, I'm not leaving anything there! Finished carving or not, If I can load it up in my van, it's outta there. haha

As a weapon, if I had to be hit in the head with something, I guess I would want to be hit in the head with this beautiful staff. You would get to see detailed views of the tiki inspired eyes just before you blackout. Nice!

BK,
That's just remarkable. Congrats on treading with the ancients masters (again!).

JTD

Good to see you back in full swing, braddah.
Love that club.

Very nice, I'm impressed. The faces came out killer!
JP

I never get tired of marvelling at your marvelousness.

Its tough to be impressed by you BK. Its always sooo good. Its almost expected!

Keep up the nice work. That club is tip top.

BK, any chance you'll bring that (or any of your other recent pieces) to CoonTiki? I'd really love to see it in 3-D. I'm pretty sure I ought be sitting down when you show it, though. Absolutely AMAZING!

Thats a peach!

Awesome job, it looks fantastic!

Here is a Marquesan bone hair ornament I just finished also for Virani, as seen in the recent Metropolitan Museum book "Adorning The World-Art Of The Marquesas".

Very cool looking, another beautiful job.

I don't know how you do it. I tried carving small stuff and I am so not-exact. I'm impressed.
JP

that's because you need an ex-acto knife. :D

great work on the bone BK.

More good Bones BK. I think we should start saving our bones for you. Nice.

I've never carved human...(evil laugh.. :wink:

Holy crap, BK that thing looks TINY. I love the compressed look of the marquesian...amazing job. Virani is getting an awesome piece

POLYNESIAC - putting the 'F' back in ART

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2006-02-27 20:16 ]

Aloha Bruddah BK!
Shootz brah! Your bone work is really amazing! Youve taken to the craft like youve been doing it for years cuz! And all your Marquesan carvings are so perfect, I bet the archaeologists would have a hard time telling the difference between yours and the kahiko carvings!

Have you seen the Marquesan style ear plugs? With all the "tribal" kooks out there now with big plugs in their ears, you could do very well at making da kine for the "Tattoo/piercing" market!

No ka oi brah...NO KA OI!

Malama Pono!

That's a great idea, B.F.A.M.! I'm waiting on a re-stock on cowbone which I need to get bought and ground flat for some more projects. I still have some stuff to send you, too!.

Awesome Basement!!!!!!!
If'n I had hair I'd order a few!

Also....If ya need cow bones....they are everywhere out here. Also deer, Elk, etc. Let me know....I can send ya a box or two.

"Really officer....them are cow bones. Really...this guy named Basement said he needs 'em to Carve. What? ya wanna search my truck? What fer?"

Man, you carve the coolest crap ever. Wait, not crap, cool stuff instead. The coolest cool stuff ever. There.

what sort of tools are you using to manipulate the marble?

your ability to migrate between mediums is really amazing.

nicely done

The traditional carving work of Basement Kahuna is incredible. I really appreciate you posting your pix because they are so inspiring. As a new member to TC, I did a intro on the general info forum last week and have been checking out the mountain of info in all the different forums since.

As a carver, I am always looking for books of traditional oceanic works. Any books that anybody would like to recommend? I have the following books: Hawaiian Sculpture, The Book of Tiki, The Pacific Islands, Ancient Hawaii, Polynesian and Oceanic Design, Shag book, and some tribal tatoo design books. I am interested in traditional oceanic weapons. design patterns. storyboards. etc., etc. Any book recomendations would be greatly appreciated!

Mahalo,
Beachnik

Hi, Beachnik...thanks for the comps! It means a lot to hear those things...it's the best reward. I've always recommended Anthony J.P. Meyer's "Oceanic Art". There's also "Decorative Arts of the New Zealand Maori", Fergus Clunie's "Fijian Weapons And Warfare","Adorning The World-Art Of The Marquesas", etc... If you do a book search on Amazon for "Oceanic Art" several titles should come up. There are probably more books on Maori art than anything else. I'll PM you with a few more I have when I get a breather..I've been sort of covered up with tasks. If you're just starting I'd tell you the Malcolm X-Nike-Ford-Schmaltz rule... "By any means necessary","Just Do It","Quality is Job One", and "Patience is the tiki carver's greatest attribute"..(and Leroy Scmaltz is YODA". Good luck... Alohaaaaa!

Leroy Schmaltz is YODA?
"Carve.....or kick your ass I will"

Many mahalos for the book titles! It makes a ton of sense to understand the meanings behind traditional works... I don't need any more evil spirits cruising my back yard than I already have!

Cheers,
Beachnik

Many of those book titles are great to have as a reference for sure. I was reading "Adorning the World Art of the Marquesas Islands" last night. I was not to familiar with all of the bone ornaments of the Marquesas. Man, after reading and really looking at the pictures, I was blown away by your your latest works. I'd love to see you try something like the ear spools on pg. 77-79 Figs. 43-48. The amount of detail you have incorporated is fantastic. Cheers on a great job.

Thank, Tikis... Here is a Minke Whale bone Maori Marakihau I just finished, very different from the previous one...

Also here is another recently completed Maori image in Walrus bone (Thanks to my good friend Cabanilla!). I love the texture of this material. I left the rather ancient looking back as it was...This one was made for Bete; the previous for Doubravsky!

Hey BK - Can you bring a couple of those babies with you to TN?