Post #479826 by TikiMango on Thu, Aug 27, 2009 4:05 PM

Thank you for the comments. I'll tell ya what, that sea horse was a pain in the arse! It was challenging and I am happy that it turned out so well.

I had a couple of other pieces in the works, some started before others. They seem to finish themselves at their own pace. First up is a Medicine Tiki. You may have seen small tikis that are worn upside down? If so, that was a medicine tiki. They are upsidedown so the wearer can view it right-side up! These pendants were usually created to ward off certain ailments like stomach problems, headaches, etc. Here is what I am calling the Kapu Kava pendant, based on a palm tiki I did a few months ago. He will ward off sickeningly-sweet tropical drinks and prevent your system from violently rejecting pink or orange Mai Tais.

*Do not adjust your monitor! He is supposed to be upside down. His mouth is opened-up through his body so your gag reflex will be passed through him.

*You'll notice that he is not looking directly forward, but has a slight (intended) off-center appearance. He is turning away terrible drinks for your protection.

*He's extra large to ward off those extra nasty drinks that some encounter when they are not drinking at the Tiki Ti or their own home bars.

Next up is a canoe pendant full of itty-bitty tikis. I had tried to carve a larger version of this in a pine plank back on page 3, but didn't have much success. That one actually cracked as I was trying to add a few more details, and I lost 2 of the warriors. I had seen the canoes that Queen K did, and that inspired me to try it again in bone.

The hull designs are a tribute to the Leroy Schmaltz canoe that was shown in the In Search of Tiki exhibit at Forest Lawn. I didn't add any spears or paddles as I was afraid that whatever material I used (bone or wood) would be too thin at this scale and would break off. These brave sailors are letting the currents take them where they need to go.

I stained the upper half in tea to help bring out the details on their tiny faces. The scrimshaw on the hull was a terrible idea, but I tried to make it work as best as possible. Bone can vary so greatly from piece to piece. You'll notice the dark areas around the black ink work right of my thumb, that is where the ink penetrated the bone. I guess that can be attributed to the soft/porous variations in natural mediums. This will probably be my last foray into the India ink for awhile.

*a braided stunt cord was used on the Medicine Tiki pendant. I'm still trying to figure out that 4-strand braiding.

Pupule Tiki!

[ Edited by: TikiMango 2009-08-27 16:07 ]