Seattle Tiki Carver

I ran into Seatle tiki carver Edwin Germaine last weekend and am happy to report that his work continues to get more interesting. He's added tiki masks ($20-$40 at the sale where I saw him) to his work, they have a strong minimalist quality to them that reminds me of pieces that could have been created for a mid-60's Tiki joint. He also produces freestanding tikis carved out of tree trunks (an excellent 2 foot tall tiki head made from a cherry tree trunk was $30). Mr Germaine's tree trunk tikis have a very expressive and somewhat cartoony style. His business is called Tiki Gods and he has a studio in George Town. His business number is (206)-762-2381.

Address? Next time I'm in Seattle I can swing by?

It'd probably be best to call the number above. I'm not sure about his business hours. I do know he is often at various fairs and garden sales selling his tikis. Calling would be the best way to not miss him.

Does he have a web site?

(bump)..
hey Woofmutt ~ now that i live in seattle, i was looking forward to seeing Edwin's work at BAMFair ~(Belleview Art Museum Fair) at the end of the month.. but i dont see Edwin listed as a vendor..

i googled him, and found nothing.. any idea whats happened to him??

elicia

Edwin recently opened up a little coffee house in Ballard called Fast Eddie's Lowbrow Lounge. Its on NW Market St., near 24th Ave NW (next to Anchor Tattoo). There's an upstairs balcony there, with some of his tiki masks displayed, as well as one or two freestanding tikis. Also there's some great artwork from Roq La Rue Gallery. He's there most days, and I'm pretty sure the hours are 6am to midnight (great Vivace coffee, too ). Not sure if he is still carving, though.

Last year we had to cut down an old spruce tree in our back yard, so we left
12 feet of it in the ground, and Edwin carved a tiki for us, which is the beginning
of our little back yard oasis we're working on. I'll post a photo if anyone is interested in seeing it.

oooh! i'd love to see a pic.

yaknow, im just braindead. i've missed a couple opportunities to tiki-fy (we also cut down a spruce, and i gave away the wood..didnt even think of asking someone to carve it.. also i had my 90 miata painted plain, and shoulda turned it into a tikimobile.)

elicia

Paumana, I'd like to see pics of it.
Dogbytes, where ya' been? Haven't heard from you here in a while.

hey pam...

i sorta took a break from TC and things tiki ~ part of my procrastination plan for not fixing up the family room ala tiki! but im back, and ready to tiki again!

elicia

YEs, Pictures!
ANd I MUST get one of these Seattle
tikis....
hmmmmmmmmmm
also, I'm seeing more Seatikis, so
we gotta plan something!
Pea

A Tiki coffee shop! Very cool. I'll definitely be visiting on my next trip down the west coast.

Hope to see his carvings around. All the different types of wood being used for tikis fascinates me, since they all have their own properties and 'personalities'(and we don't have too many fallen palms in our rain forests) :wink:

Here's a photo of Selector Lopaka & myself with the tiki that Edwin carved. The pic is from last summer,
just after it was carved, so its a little more weathered looking, now. Lots of plants are going into the yard
in the next few weeks, to try to get that tropical thing happening, as well as a little pavilion/structure
with a Polynesian inspired roof. We'll see how it turns out.

[ Edited by: puamana on 2003-07-02 16:40 ]

puamana ~~
its GREAT!! wow, its still on the stump! i guess i really couldnt have done that, since my tree was smack dab in the middle of the front yard.. hm.. or maybe i coulda..

wow, there ARE a lotta seattle tiki folks.. i best get working on my tiki room/bar!

elicia

That's a sweet tiki... how much did that one cost, or was it pro bono work? His prices sound well below average for tikis... does anyone have pictures of his smaller work?

To me, it looks like that tiki design has a definite Northwest totem influence.

Its interesting to see the variety of styles especially how different native cultures may have influenced a particular artist. I just bought the Oceanic Art book and browsed thru it last night. I feel a need to get back to my Native American books and dust them off to have another look. Especially the Northwest Native Americans. Very cool.