Paipo's Stone Tikis - 1st Thread - Jun 06 - May 08

this is really cool seeing where your magic happens Paipo. The first pic looks like you are tucked in your own little jungle hideaway there, just surrounded by the trees (and the moas :lol: :lol:). I'd love to see more. It doesn't seem as "industrial" as I would have thought for a rock guy? Almost looks like an average back shed with just a couple of normal looking benches - but we all know it is far from that.

Forgot to express my accolades to you earlier for the last big rock sculpture - another masterpiece. So what was the fate of these 2 big chunks? Do you sell everything straight after making it, or save some special pieces like these for galleries/shows?

PS in reply to the comment on your Marketplace thread - would have loved to buy both, but have to get a job first!! that's on the cards when i move to London in a couple of months. Yes I'm still a jobless travelling drifter, but I'm making the most of it while it lasts! In the future getting a Paipo original will be very high on the list! Might even pick it up from you personally from your little jungle workshop!!

Aloha Paipo!!! What a very cool and organized work space! I love all the art in your work space. Your art is amazing my friend, Mahalo for sharing with us, Aloha, Mooney

Mate, I'd love to see you down here on "the Coast" -I'll order in some prawns and case of VB (cheaper here than in OZ!) and you'll feel right at home. That goes for the rest of you too...I did have a couple of TCers mention they might visit NZ sometime, but nothing has come of it yet. I am most certainly biased, but it's pretty common knowledge that this is one of the most spectacular stretches of coastline and landscape in NZ, and I'd be happy to show it off to visiting ohana. There is even a bit of tiki lurking amongst the fern fronds if you know where to look...

Regarding "The Shed" - My setup is pretty low-tech and non-industrial compared to most. I actually have machines made up and sitting around that haven't even been used! My main bench and machine are 3rd hand equipment, and the unit was one of the first-generation workstations used at "Rock School". Wobbly as hell and I think most carvers would just laugh at it - but it works for me, and I'm resistant to change. The good handpiece is the key to a lot of my pieces.
I made a conscious decision a couple of years back that I wanted to carve in something more akin to a room in a house than a dirty old shed - I did my first few years with bare metal walls, concrete floors etc and it's just not conducive to creating for me. Plus in winter it's downright unpleasant. Putting down carpet was the best thing I ever did! Once our daughter was born I had to move most of my tiki stuff out anyway, so it seemed perfect to just start filling my workshop with it. I feel a rearrangement is on the cards soon though...I am planning to add a couple of new strings to my bow this year and will need room to play. Not sure how I'll squeeze it in yet?

On 2008-04-10 02:20, Paipo wrote:

*I see you've had a bit of a tidy up... :wink:

Great work on the emerging Manaiia - I dont think many would realise how tempramental jade beachpebbles/cobbles can be (although that spa treatment helps..). Pieces like this are also 'risky' in the sense that you might ruin a perfectly good(valuable) pebble if the piece doesnt work out..

You rock :)
Tama

ps: the shells arrived this morning. nice!

Paipo, Thanks for the shop shots, Really makes me want to split a stone or two. Man there is a Ton of Magic floating around those walls, Really wish I could be There!

Really cool work space. More tropical setting me jealous.

Mooney, I must've just missed you while I was writing my last reply...so thanks!
Likewise to Tama, Ben, and seeksurf...

Good catching up again T, and yeah, you'll know just what it was like carving that one. Once you let the tension out of those pieces it's touch and go. The shed was actually pretty tidy that day but it's a pigsty again now. I think I have the most cluttered workshop out of all the ones I've seen posted lately (yours would give it a good run though!)
I might have to tidy up if I'm expecting visitors?

Ben: "Split a stone or two" - which half do you want?
Keep an eye on your letter box... :wink:

Seek: it is the tropics this year - 6 months now of near perfect weather but it's usually way cooler. This just happens to be the best summer we've had in 10 years. It does get very hot in my shed, as it's in the direct path of the mid-late afternoon sun. I usually have the window blocked out and the fan going most days.

I had a ZIPFIZZ moment late today, with just a short amount of time before sundown to do something. Grabbed a stone & a pen, and laid down a few lines, followed by an hour of intermittent hacking with the handpiece:

Great to see a few more people's creative spaces posted in their threads too! MORE!

Forgot to post this one too...

It's a stylised Rei Puta in the form of a Great White Shark - the stone is "Bluegum" jade from South Australia.

Whoa! This looks like it is going to be something interesting.

Paipo!

That shop of yours is cool, cool, cool! What a fun place to hang out and work. It's really fun to see you little center of the universe.

Your work is smokin' hot as always.

Keep on keeping on man!

Paipo,

Very nice works lately as usual. Great to see your workspace, looks very cozy!

That's the key to good work, to surround yourself with things you love and make yourself at home!

Aloha Paipo!!! You have it going on my friend.Always Sweet art coming from you,Mahalo for sharin always nice to see what your creating, Aloha Mooney

Great work as usual Paip, nice to see where some of your fabulous creations are born.
regards
Flynny

Oh your working hut is so cool!! I'm amazed by the exotic plants you have all arround, what a great place to get inspired!!
Amazing new pieces all of them! congrats!
Can you please post me a pic of the classical two faced marquesians you told me about in my thread? Thanks!

Great shots Paipo! I could get real comfortable in that shop. That Rei-puta is wild. Nice form. I bet you thought about that one for hours! It looks like candy!

Looking like a great start NICE.

Oh, Right, I Love this:
"Forgot to post this one too..."

Yeah, you just "Forgot"? I love how you save these sweet, juicy tidbits for when we aren't expecting them!
:lol: :lol: :lol: What ELSE are you hiding from us Paips? :0

Paipo -

Amazing studio! It is a treat to see everyone's workspace. Soooo green and beautiful. Ms. VanTiki and I are still planning on heading your way - perhaps within a year. We've been madly paying down our debt so all vacation plans were put on hold for a spell. The new carvings look fantastic! As always, mahalo for sharing with us -

Henrik "VanTiki"

On 2008-04-13 14:50, Kahu wrote:

Whoa! This looks like it is going to be something interesting.

Oh yeah, another interesting creation to follow, the magic seems to fall right out of your hands and into the rock.

Thanks again to everyone...yep, I dig my little shed. It's kinda cluttered and pretty low-tech but I like hanging out there. Great to get a glimpse inside a few other workshops this month - post yours up if you haven't yet!
Clarita, I'll post a pic in your thread when I find the one I'm thinking of.
Ben - plenty of half-done pieces waiting to be unveiled - if they make it to the finish line.
VanT - keep us posted on your travel plans...

Back from holiday this week and still taking it easy trying to shake off the flu, so nothing new just yet. The Society Islands style guy above may get some bench time today.
I did make a base for the Emerging Manaia from a white granite beach pebble:

The jade bit "locks" in to the base really cleanly...I spent ages contouring the slot so the two fit together and was really happy with how it worked. I think I'll use this style again!

On 2008-04-23 15:45, Paipo wrote:

I did make a base for the Emerging Manaia from a white granite beach pebble... I spent ages contouring the slot so the two fit together...

You could have just used an egg-cup..? :lol: Only joshing - nicely finished.

Is the granite.. local?
And did this piece ever end up with suspension cords?

T :)

Yes, the base Rocks! How is Granite to carve compared to river rock and jade?

Oh yeah, this already IS Something Interesting!

You should just post the pic's of those unfinished pieces, weather they make it or not, we're up for a good Tease. :lol:

T - Local? Most likely...it was in a big bucket o' stone which mostly came from "up the road" somewhere. Plenty of granite rolling out of the creeks up Pakiroa way. It kind of is meant to be an eggcup of sorts, but it also looks like an egg! I've always liked the quartz /pounamu combo, though most stones are too bright and white. No strings attached - after consultation with the new owner, we decided to keep it simple. This should look pretty good sitting on a windowsill somewhere!

Ben, granite is usually easy to work (particularly the black stuff used commercially for monuments and benchtops) but this one took way longer than planned - it's more of a quartz pebble really, which is always hard work to drill out and really takes it out of the toolz. I use very little quartz for this reason, even though it is one of the nicer looking stones to be found here.

Most excellent love the color contrast with the base.

Paipo,

Your hatchling turned out just terrifically! That base is a wonderful way to display the work. I can see why you want to continue in that vein.

It would be cool to see a version of a jade bird hatching from the lighter stone too...

Keep posting brother. I look forward to sitting at the computer in the morning with my coffee and getting in my Paipo fix for the day.

I keep coming back to look at the shark pendant, that is just really nicely done... like everything else you make! I am looking forward to seeing more work like that and hopefully buying another piece from you!

Thanks seeksurf , Babs (check your PMs) and Blowfish. I struggle with bases, as they almost always look like an afterthought, but this is the way forward - using the natural shape and finish with minimal intervention.

Got in a little more noodling on the Society Islands guy (I think? This design just popped into my head but I know I've seen it somewhere)
I keep recutting the lines and going deeper each time so it doesn't look too flat, and I wanted a nice angular look to the various planes so it's got that wood-carved look. This is probably only the 2nd ever full body pebble tiki I've made? Part of this year's agenda is a lot more figure work...

[ Edited by: Paipo 2008-04-24 15:39 ]

Makes me think of a man trying to get his egg back to rapa nui during the trials.

Great look so far. His birthing is coming along nicely.

paipo i love this one. keep up the good work my friend

great work on the presentation base Paipo. It looks even more like a museum piece now. You should present more of your pieces like this, even your pendants. Not everyone can wear all their tiki pendants each day, but if they could be admired on a shelf while not in use in a beautiful little stand like that... wow.

Anyway, just a thought...

Yes, that sucker is coming to life for sure.

Just offering a sigh of admiration for this work.

YES, I was staring at him and he DID start to breathe a bit. Paipo Magic underway!

Before you.. Kumakanui-Ku of the many faces-a ki'i pohaku-stone image.
An old and very rare god image of ancient Hawai'i.
]https://tikicentral.com/uploads/8156/481a7686.jpg[/img]

[ Edited by: kaluna 2008-05-03 21:23 ]

[ Edited by: kaluna 2008-05-03 21:28 ]

What the ...?

I think I saw it move.. :o

TTT

Hail the Tiki Lava God!

Knock, knock! Can Paipo come out to play?

Where've you been man? Did your keyboard break or somethin'? Did the Mrs. restrict your computer privileges?

I hope 'Kumakanui-Ku' didnt get him..

T :)

maybe he is just contemplating his whole career to date and trying to search for a way to continue on in the wake of user "kaluna" effectively humbling our Paipo and reducing him to silence with this masterpiece:

:o

On 2008-05-01 19:07, kaluna wrote:

[ Edited by: kaluna 2008-05-03 21:28 ]

*I hope you haven't taken offence Kaluna; all good-natured 'ribbing' I promise! :)

Where HAS our Man got to..? :-? Paip'..?

Tama

I'm still around - just hovering in lurk mode at present! Two trips away (one unforeseen) and houseguests from overseas have disrupted the schedule somewhat, so I haven't had very much to say/post in the meantime. The day at Tama's on the saw is probably the closest to a full day's work I've managed over the last couple of weeks.

Kaluna - I don't know why you edited your post? I hope you don't think it scared me off or something? The day I saw it I'd just returned from a trip away where I had a slightly odd experience involving a Hawaiian tiki - coincidence? I thought it was pretty cool that you made your first post in my thread, and also shared something that most likely no-one here has ever seen. It seems odd there aren't more stone figures in Hawaii considering the incredible sculptural abilities of the Hawaiian carvers.
I also liked this proverb/quote:
"Na olelo o ka makani ke kahu o na pohaku" (The voices of the wind are captured in the stone)..."

• although in my case the sea is probably more appropriate than the wind in terms of elemental force, as it does most of my work for me :)

Anyway, I have plenty in development - there will be more coming soon. I finally got my hands on Sven's new book and the ideas (if not the carvings) are flowing freely. I will also be starting Paipo thread 2.0 once this one passes 100 pages....

100 pages? Bring on the new stuff..

Tama :)

On 2008-05-14 00:08, Tamapoutini wrote:
100 pages? Bring on the new stuff..

Tama :)

TTT :wink:

On 2008-05-14 00:08, Tamapoutini wrote:
100 pages? Bring on the new stuff..

Tama :)

TTT :wink:

On 2008-05-14 00:08, Tamapoutini wrote:
100 pages? Bring on the new stuff..

Tama :)

TTT :wink:

100 pages, Hooray! Bring it on Paipo!!

TamaTheTERRIBLE! :D :lol:

A HUNDRED Pages? Bring on the Good Stuff some MORE.
Congrats on the 100 mark, Wheres the new Thread?? THis has been a Great 100 pages Paipo!