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

Very nice goods...I love the breastplate especially.

Thanks G - yeah, it's cool to hang with your peers and talk technique and inspiration - you guys are lucky to have such wide group to collaborate with and get together at events. We (stone carvers, particularly those doing contemporrary work) are small fish in a big artistic pond here, and have to work hard to create opportunities for ourselves. I was just thinking about those jade pieces last week - I will have to get started on them again in the next few days I think, and will be putting some serious time into my tiki carving now the show is behind me.
Thanks BK, breastplates are one of my favourite forms and the green one got snapped up real quick. Are you looking forward to the Hukilau by any chance? I hope you've got lots of nice work ready to keep your fans happy :wink:

Gidday mate. Glad the show/work was a hit!
The casting looks great.Must be thirsty work, do you reckon you could cast a couple of those Moai shot glasses..? :) Tama

YES, Happy you had a good Show. With the stuff you had, How could you Not have a great show. Now that you're back home, time to settle down and Get To Work! After you cool off a bit though. :)

Hey Paipo!
Congrats on the show and glad that you were able to let the civilians adopt some of your remarkable work! If you showed here in Cali, I imagine you would.ve sold it ALL! Stoked to hear you're making molds and getting that beautiful work out to the masses! Keep us posted on that! And thanks for such a great and informative thread!

paipo, i'm glad you had fun and success at the show, but i'm glad it's over.:) now you can get started making pieces for the masses of tcers starving for your work. i hope i can get a tang and a cannibal.

Tama , you've planted the seed of an idea mate. I was going to sell the shot, but it would be better to use it as a foray into making more complex castings. I happen to know a man with a kiln, so maybe some mugmaking experiments will be on the cards. We will have to break in the original beforehand though. If you want some custom ones you'll have to come up with a name for your hangout- the "Kumara Kai" perhaps ?:)

Benz, I had plenty of cooling off over the weekend, which is the first one I didn't carve through in over a month! I spent most of yesterday cutting stone and sprucing up the studio for the next onslaught. Today I will finally be working on tikis again.... along with a big bunch of production (read: non-tiki) orders that came in while I was away.

Thanks llt! I'm sure you know how much work shows are and I'm amazed how many you participate in throughout the year. I would love to exhibit over there sometime - I'm slowly working towards that goal amongst others. Watch this space!

Bullet, I'm hanging to make more wild creations! Drop us a PM and we'll talk tiki if there's something special you'd like. I don't have much on the tiki list, but non-tiki orders are arriving almost daily at the moment and will probably increase as summer gets closer. October to April is the high season here for carvers.

On 2006-10-03 13:50, Paipo wrote:
I'm hanging to make more wild creations!

Well, get busy already, we miss the cool rocks you do.
JP

On 2006-10-03 16:17, JohnnyP wrote:

Well, get busy already, we miss the cool rocks you do.
JP

I found this little Ku type guy in a box today - I think I drew him up about 2 months ago. I decided the "production" stuff could wait a little longer today :) :

Kry-Baby Ku!

You love your work, eh Paipo!!! :D

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

He does look like he's bawling Jonesey - he also reminds me of some of little lost tiki's guys. I managed to finish most of the shaping on him before the lure of the ocean pulled me away:

"Anybody got a towel?"

He Does look like a cry baby, Maybe with a few inlaid tears he would Really cry. Cool.

Also glad you had a good show.

Your stone carvings are super nice and clean~ I really like the hidden charms style, BTW!

No tears Benz, but he will have inlaid eyes. I have some ideas for this which I'm playing with at the moment.
Thanks Skully - the Hidden Charms pieces (there was another with a black pearl) were very popular and had both gone before I got to the opening. I think it will probably become of my stock designs now.
Got a little more done on the "Crybaby Ku", in between more excellent waves, household chores and non-tiki carving. One more good session should see him all done:

Ah, NOW I see why he is crying so much,,from Neglect!That you would choose perfect waves over finishing him up has the poor kid in tears! LOL He is gonna be Sombodys Sweetie for sure with all that personality.

Very jealous about the waves... this guy is great. You designs are always so original and creative.

Thanks Benz and AS! The waves are actually what has been neglected over the last month or two while I was working on my show - I didn't even have time to check let alone go out and my fitness has paid the price. Now it's time for some payback! We've had a run of beautiful spring weather, clean swell and favourable winds so I'm making hay while the sun shines (literally!). One of the big motivating factors in becoming self-employed was being able to go out when it's good, and being able to enjoy a beach lifestyle without living at the beach.
With any luck it's on again this morning! Crybaby will be finished today though....

Ive watched this guy 'carving' up the waves -he leaves little tiki shapes & korus behind him... hahaha
Back to work yourself, another little mouth on the way... :) Tama

Crybaby is worth crying over. Excellent. How long did it take you to get from raw stone, to where it is now?

JP

On 2006-10-05 13:37, JohnnyP wrote:
Crybaby is worth crying over. Excellent. How long did it take you to get from raw stone, to where it is now?

JP

Well, unfortunately the wind changed right as I was getting suited up this morning, so the waves were a write-off. Guess I'll have to go and finish my tiki now. JohnnyP, I haven't really kept tabs on this guy, as he's had a few sessions squeezed in around other work, but I'm guessing it'll be around/under a day's work finished. Very few of my pieces ever get made in one continuous go, as it's hard to sutain energy for one piece for so long, so I tend to pick away at several carvings and just do small sections at a time. Often when I think they're done they end up getting more little details added on to them.

looks like a little baby tiki :)

A somewhat fragmented day in the end, but I got the Ku finished and the next piece well underway. I haven't finalised the inlays yet, these are just placeholders for the time being.

"Rhinestone Ku-boy"

Another 1 inch mask which will be fixed onto a rectangular background etched with crossed spears. I couldn't get a good photo of this one - the stone doesn't alwways translate to images very well:

Yo Paipo, Love the Ku boy. After cutting into a bit of stone myself, I have aa newfound respect for your work in it. It's not easy getting that Precise, Machined looking detail. My hat's off to you Again Big time!!
Love the color of the last one who is camera shy. Lokslike another Killer Paipo special dripping with personality.

The castings are getting better, but there's still some bugs to iron out and ideas to experiment with. My hat is off to Crazy Al and Gecko, who make it look easy (but it sure isn't!):
"3 Amigos"

Looking kool Paipo :) The red eyes look tops

Thanks hewey! I love Coco Joe's stuff, which these guys are semi-inspired by. I think black with red is my favourite too, as it has the classic look, but the little albino guy is kinda cute...looks like he's spent too long in a cave! I'm just waiting on a batch of blue/green eyes for the next ones.
I managed to get #15 finished over the weekend - another mug / menu art inspired pendant:

[ Edited by: Paipo 2006-10-08 22:32 ]

Wow! More nice eye candy.

JP

Sweet stuff there Paipo. Always a new slant... What is the back plate made of? I have some Cocco Joe's stuff around here somewhere....if I can find it it's yours....

-Gman

Thanks Johnny...what've you been up to lately? Hanging for my PNG/Maori fix! Never mind...just seen you've got an update!
GMAN, the back plate is argillite, a real nice fine grained sedimentary stone from the beach. It doesn't often come in the cool shapes the other pebbles do, but is great for slabbing and jewellery components for etching and relief stuff, as it's a little softer than the greywacke I carve the tikis from. It also has really nice patterns:

I'd love some more Coco Joe's - send me some and I'll send you some Paipo Joe's!

if I can find it it's yours....

Damn...that's a great offer!

P - great work on your stone work. you make it look easy. Love your designs too - they would definately fit in with the coco joe collector. I've had some success with resin casts feel free to PM me if ya got any ???'s

I'm glad you're making the full time artist thing work for you. With work and tikis, I don't have much time for surfin' anymore....I'm intrigued to know what the surf situation is like in NZ. I'd love to surf there sometime

[ Edited by: Polynesiac 2006-10-08 18:04 ]

Jeez. Cant tell if were looking at the real thing or castings anymore mate!heehee

Is the X'ed spears crest/mask all one piece, or is the mask added?

***Any day Daddy... Tama

***Forget it, just been back a bit & answered my own question, duh...

[ Edited by: Tamapoutini 2006-10-09 03:43 ]

love the pendant with the spears!

Paipo, you just don't stop do you? Every time I turn around you have another rock you have whipped into a tiki or something, And Always a new twist. keep it up, you're getting a good reputation!

Polynesiac, the surf is back on hold for while now anyway, as I've got orders coming out my ears (mostly of the non-tiki variety) and fatherhood is creeping ever nearer. I'm really stoked I got few days in the water while I could.

Tama, I'd say by this time next week I'll be joining you in the "Tiki Carving Dads" club. Yep, it's a 2 part, they work quite well although the colour contrast could've been better on this - hence why you may have thought it was one stone.

Thought you might like that one hewey. It was cool chatting with you on Shout!

Benz, I don't know if this one today is whipped into shape so much as coaxed,cajoled or gently prodded....

Seeing as it's "Moai Week" here on TC at the moment, as part of the greater "Rocktober" festivities, I thought I'd get out the one I started back here again and try and get something decent happening, because frankly it sucked when I last left it.
Seeing the others helped me to figure out where I needed to go next, and with occasional glimpses towards my life models on the tiki shelf I got him looking a bit more like the real thing:

WoW ! Very nice.

Mahalo

McTiki

Another great piece Paipo. You do awsome work. Thanks for sharing.
Keep up the great work!

That Moai is coming along splendidly,Paipo! You Rock! :lol:
I couldn't resist a bad pun.... Now free his arms going before he gets a cramp!

Sweet kiwi ki'i's and Moais! Your hei-tiki's amazing too! I just killed an hr. looking thru this thread, good inspiration, I'm off to make a mess in oil paints now.

Aloha
ST

[ Edited by: Sneakytiki 2006-10-10 14:01 ]

Another kool moai man!

Very nice stone work...I haven't even started carvin' wood and now I wanna do stone !! does the urge ever stop???

Paipo
You are most definately of Alien descent, no one can produce such stuff in quantity, quality or variety. Looking forwards to the prodress of this one.
Regards
Flynny

Thanks everyone for the nice comments, it's always really cool to see fellow carvers and artists dropping by, but feedback from mixologists, urban archaeologists, collectors and general tikiphiles is just as welcome....

I really wanted to keep chipping away at the moai today, but there's little pile of orders on my pinboard that's growing daily at the moment. So I spent another day doing what we call "bread and butter" - the staple work of most stone carvers' incomes. "Making shapes" might be a better name for it.
These are laminated from beach stones (argillite and jasper), apart from the jade which I wish I could find on the beach. They do have a slight Polynesian vibe, with the forms being based on traditional adze and breastplate shapes, and with the recent addition of etched "tattooing" inspired by my Rarotonga trip:

Sometimes I get visitors who distract me from my task. This one is called Tiki (10 points for originality) and checks in several times a day to see how I'm doing. It can be annoying when she jumps on my back while I'm using the handpiece.

Other times there's a just a little bit more work to do before a piece is finished. The "Crying Ku" is now fitted with some nice jade eyes, all ready for his new life in California. Godspeed little fellow!

Nice Paipo! The laminated rocks look real good. Are you using the same two-part glue to do those? B&B pays the bills, please don't stop posting those. I personally want to see all the work you are willing to share.

The Ku looks great with the greenstone eyes. I was hoping he was going to get those! I love his hands and his overall shape. A kicka$$ rock if I've ever seen one! Brilliant!

-Gman

Aloha Paipo! great carvings!! Love your originality!!
I've posted a tiki candle topic,so ask me what ever you want,mahaloz for the good vibes yesterday! Best wishes

Hey Paipo!
That Crying Ku is sweet! You make it look so effortless! Where's it going to in California so I can visit him? Is he crying because he has to leave Kiwiland?

Cheers G, yep, it's the same stuff - the strongest, highest rated 2-part epoxy I can get in a syringe. Unfortunately there are still some things it won't stick - like glass - but it does a pretty good job. I've been fine-tuning these pieces for couple of years to make them durable enough to last the distance.

Clarita! Thanks for stopping by, and I'm very pleased to see you've got your own thread up. Carving probably is the place for you, as this seems to cover the entire 3D side of tiki - and I guess you probably carve your originals? I'm off to your thread to find out!

llt, I thought you'd like the crybaby - I drew him up a long time back, but as I was carving it he started reminding me of some of your drawings. I only put a basic outline down before I start carving, and most of the "drawing" occurs with the tools. It sometimes feels like they are in control, and not me!
He's going to Santa Clara - anywhere near you? If you see him on the street, run up and give him a big hug - he looks like he needs it!

I will be the proud owner of Crying Ku, and will happily show him off at SF bay area tiki events as soon as I can find some extra strong steel wire to affix him round my neck with.

Wanted to post to say thanks to a great artist and to let everybody know that he makes it fun -- solicits input and takes suggestions and lets you be part of the process. Let the orders flow because his tiki stuff is too good to let him spend much of his time carving for the general public.

Paipo,

Crying Ku Rocks! It is Precision indeed! I adore the inlays and the classical style yet, very much has Paipo flair!

Much Mana is this piece.

McTiki