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

Benz, I'm hoping to get a few more of these out now I've got a couple of things out of the way. I have enough ideas for the next 6-10 of these so far - and the materials (see below).
Thanks for digging my stuff enough to feature it on your blog Chris. I'm really happy with the way you presented what I sent you.
Cheers to Harro and Pablus too, and Swamp Fire and crazy al - wow! I just got all the back issues of Tiki Magazine, and I'm in awe of the work you guys do. I couldn't believe the amazing contemporary tiki art people were doing when I found this site, it really opened my eyes. I wish I'd started doing stuff like this way sooner - I've never enjoyed carving as much as I am now.

I have a non-carving update today - I thought I'd show you a little about the material side of things. I was running low on good "tiki stones" so I thought a trip to one of my favourite beaches was in order. This one is good because it has headlands at either end which keep the stones on the beach for most of the year, where they get refined into nice consistent shapes. Some beaches I fossick get cleaned out totally by the big swells that frequently pound the coast.
A quick 15 minute drive and we're there:

Looking north:

Looking south. As you can see, there are a few stones to look through!

A few minutes on the beach, and I found this. Score! I hardly ever find jade these days...

Down the south end, there's some cool limestone formations:

...and a rock ledge that houses one of the best mussel beds around, and also a really good surf break on its day (not today, but the town breakwall was firing later that afternoon! :) )...

Back home, I inspect my haul - one pile of A grade tiki stones, plus some old iron and copper and a hatful of B grade stones that will all be used in my sculpture garden. Not bad for two hours!

On 2006-08-16 14:41, Paipo wrote:

Thanks for digging my stuff enough to feature it on your blog Chris. I'm really happy with the way you presented what I sent you.

No worries! Just keep up the incredible work.

Awesome beach, wish we had somethink like that around here. Lookit all those tikis, man oh man, I Just can't wait, so Hurry it up there!

Damn, where have I been! This entire thread is awesome.

Beautiful work!

As Ben said, you have the touch that so many of us are still looking for.

I'm glad I had time to find this thread this evening... to see the work you do in stone is really special.

Thanks for the pics from the Cook Islands... and keep up the great work!

Thanks for the pics man. Love NZ, gorgeous place :)

Thanks again Chris!
Benz and hewey, you wouldn't believe some of the other beaches around here. We have 100km of amazing coastline with limestone cliffs and stone beaches, and there are even plenty of palm trees only a 1/2 hour north of here (the southernmost species in the world!). No idea if they are carvable - the trunks are quite narrow and most of the land is conservation land so I've never seen one cut down:

Cheers Raffertki - I'd seen your comics in the tiki magazines I just got, but hadn't seen your awesome prints before. Really nice work!
Thanks too Lakesurfer, for your very kind compliments. You weren't one of those guys in "Step Into Liquid" were you?

I've made some progress made on #5 "Skulleater", and this piece will be all done in the next day or so:

That skull eater is a sweet piece

On 2006-08-18 18:44, hewey wrote:
That skull eater is a sweet piece

Thanks hewey, I just did a bit more on it and it's very close to done now.
Bonus carving: #6 is a piece I started but put away because something wasn't right - today I worked out what it was. It needed a tongue! I found some beautiful blood red quartz and jasper pebbles the other day and knew they'd be good for something.

Paipo,

That's some next-level rock carving you've got going on. The skull eater is wild. Is the skull bone? The tongue guy is looking pretty slick too. I love these little stones you work on. Awesome!

And on your earlier post...man wouldn't it be geat to be able to find jade like that!

-Gman

Paipo, your work is amazing!
Love the pics of the beaches, NZ must be one of the best places in the world for beachcombing, so many cool pieces of driftwood and other stuff.
Makes me miss the time I spent living there, around Taranaki.

More excellence from Paipo. The "Stones within Stones" bit is a Very cool and Original idea you have put to use. I Really love the red tongue, and the Skull eater is just as loved. I Know you have a big pile of stones, so I'm expecting a big pile of stone carvings! :)

Paipo
Great use of different stones, and great imagination. I love the Jasper type tongue, it really brings the piece to life.
Regard
Flynny

On 2006-08-18 21:19, GMAN wrote:
Is the skull bone?

Nope, it's a white quartz pebble. I don't use them much, because they're so bright and translucent it's really hard to see where they've been carved. As this one is inside a darker stone, it doesn't matter too much.

cheekytiki, I'm collecting wood as well. One day when I have time I'll start trying to get my head around carving wood. Where in Taranaki were you? I've only been once and loved it.

Benz and flynny, I think the jasper worked really well too, I love the stuff as it contrasts so well with the grey stone so I think I'll be using it again. I went beachcombing again with a friend a couple of days after my last expedition, and he found 5 pieces of jade! Pretty much unheard of these days. Most of them were good enough to carve. I took photos of 3 of of them in situ before he picked them up. No jade for me, but I got a couple of extremely good jaspers, and plenty more tiki stones.

On with the carving....#5, Skulleater, and #6 Pukana, both done:

those are fantastic! the tongue really made that piece.

YES, The tongue is totally Unexpected and the skull is just Awesome. 2 More than Excellent pieces Paipo..Who's next?

GOOD STUFF!!! i really like the fella with the toung sticking out. and that skull in the mouth is amazing. some nice work there

good job

Wow, I don't know why I haven't read this thread before. Your work it truly amazing, very vintage looking and yet still undeniably original. Hats off to you!

Too cool for words--this is some of the finest work I've seen come out of TC (IMO). Just when I thought I'd 'picked a favorite' of your work, a new one (or 2, or several) come along. Keep up the great work, can't wait to pick a new fave!

those look awesome nice to see more carvings for my daily fix keep up the good work

Incredibly precise? Perfect! How do you do that?

JP

JohnnyP,

"how do you do that"

I think Paipo is an alien....when I see the precision of his work, I see crop circles and little green men.....

-Gman

Aloha Paipo!
Just stumbled across your thread and Man! Those are great! Skulleater rocks the house!!!! So does Micro-Marq....actually, they're all Fan-freakin-tastic!Your explanations make it actually do-able to those of us with a fear of carving! Thanks for being so open with howzit's done! Would love to see a large and crazy intricate stone piece outta you in the future!!! Thanks for adding to the incredible art here on TC!

Thanks everybody, especially the new visitors who haven't checked out my thread before. To address a few of the comments - I'm really happy with the tongue too, I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. I already have another "tongue" piece drawn up.
Regarding the precision of my work, I credit a fair bit of that to having an absolute topline dental handpiece. It wasn't cheap, but after using a dremel and foredom, as well as air handpieces, I'd never go back. I'm sure it's the same with the chisellers here - the quality and precison of your gear is reflected in the marks you make on your work.
I'm always happy to share advice on technique and process, because that's how I learnt most of what I know - from other carvers who were willing to share their time with me. I love going and hanging out in other people's studios and seeing what they're working on, or how they solved a particular problem.
As for who or what's next, I have done some extra (non carving) work on the Skulleater, which I will post shortly, and picked out few stones from my beachcombing trip:

Paipo
Your'e way too modest man, even with the right gear and a good level of tuition, you still have to achieve high technical ability and be very creative to put out the quality of work that you do.
Long may it continue.
Regards
Flynny
P.S. As a last project before attempting the pebbles I'm going to have a go at one of your creations in bone. They say that immitation is the most sincerest form of flattery :)

paipo i love the pics, all the way from natures storage shed (the beach) to finished product in all it's glory.

seeing the pics of the beach reminded me of visiting your country on several times - i should go back there again soon, such an amazing place. it also reminded me of a special little piece of rock i found on a tiny remote beach in Rapa Nui - it's kind of green and opaque - maybe if a take a pic of it you could tell me what you think it is???

cheers,
harro.

Hey flynny, go for it- I'd like to see how some of them would look in bone (or wood). Harro, please post your beach stone pic, I love seeing stuff from other beaches. Try and get a good macro shot in sunlight if you can. I got some nice basalt flakes on the Rarotongan beaches that I've been working with.
Here's the update on the skulleater, which I decided to paint in PNG colours seeing that was the style I chose when designing the mask. I also wanted to "antique" the skull because it was too clean and bright:

New signature for my tiki work:

[ Edited by: Paipo 2006-08-26 19:35 ]

Nice man - great fashion for the modern day savage

Hey Paipo, I Really love the Signature looks cool and simple to do with 2 tools. Great ending to a great carving. The Antiquing Really made the skull POP as did the paint on the whole piec. You have taken a supurb carving and made it incredible with a few brush strokes. Ofcourse choosing the correct colors to make it work took the high level art skills that most of us lack. You GOT It!.

Soooper sweeet Paipo! The colors,texture and contrast of material...stone in stone, ORIGINAL! Very special signature works, always a pleasure to see your newest design!
Keep'm coming!!!

Flippity-flip-flOppin-fLipPp... :D

Thanks hewey, I like to think of myself as a modern day savage too. I think that one has a cool slightly cartoonish/disney style vibe to it.
Benz, I got lucky with the paint - I live in a very small town, and went to the only toy shop where I got some model paint. Matt black and white isn't so rare, but I wanted a really specific shade of red, and as you can see they had it. The painting was a learning curve as I don't use brushes much, but I think I'll do it again. As for the sig, writing on stone is way harder than carving it so it's a matter of working around the tool shapes for an easy solution.
TravelingJones, there will be plenty more stone-in-stone pieces to come. Watch this space!

I thought I'd post a pic of what can happen when things go wrong. I broke one of my strict rules today because of impatience, so I ended up breaking a piece I'd spent about 1 1/2 hours on and ruining a $30 diamond burr. If the piece I'd been working on wasn't so deep, the 2 inches of bent whirling steel going at 30,00 rpm would've smashed my fingers so I actually got off lightly. I immediately went and got another stone and remade the piece to the same stage in half the time using a much better method. This will be a stone shot vessel with a relief carving mounted on it, similar to the classic fogcutter mugs.

glad all is well with the digits...you stay safe and keep everything attached....good time to bump the safety thread.

love the finish on the skull eater Paipo.

sent ya a PM about the mysterious green rock from the mysterious little remote island.

cheers.

Stone shot mug - kool man!

Thanks Loki, I posted a little about my incident in the safety thread, as well as reading the whole thing!
Cheers harro - glad I could help with your "rock". Thanks for your trip report on Rapanui, I can't get enough of that stuff.
Thanks hewey, the shot mug is coming along - see below.

A few new progress pics, one of which is a piece I posted much earlier in the thread then put aside for a while. Rarotongan basalt picked up on the beach at Ngatangiia Harbour, where legend records that the 7 canoes left for NZ in 1300 AD.

#7, Maori style piece which will have inlaid shell teeth, paua eyes and a jasper pebble tongue.

My first ever moai. I'm happy with the result considering the lack of depth I had to work with in the stone, but I'm looking forward to doing a much bolder one with a bigger pebble. It's all about the nose! This little guy is about 1 inch long, and I think he will be mounted onto the tiny shot mug I posted above. I'll then engrave a band of rongorongo around the top and bottom.

The Moai is simply amazing! I get all giddy when I see that you have posted new work. Can't.... take.... eyes.. off.... miniMoai......

VanTiki

Kia ora Rhys & howdy Paipo fans...

Brand new member & a close friend of our clever carver here. Just thought Id poke my nose in & give my two cents... Having seen & handled much of Paipos work (bought a couple as well), I can vouch for the quality, integrity, creativity & sheer audacity of his creations! I consider myself a reasonably good carver but just go green when I visit this bloke, enviable work, eh?

*Hadnt seen the skull-eater mate, WICKID! Andy

PS: You're right GMan, he is part-Alien! teehee

[ Edited by: Tamapoutini 2006-08-30 17:51 ]

I am very fond of this piece...love the material/authenticity factor. Superb work. I'd love to have it. PM me...I'd be intertested in trading work.

Paipo,

I agree with BK, that carving is SWEET! I think you will have a lot of interest in that piece from TCers. Wow! is that gonna be a nice one - and from a very special place too. I can feel the vibe from here.........

-Gman

love the rarotonga and i can't wait to see how the maori piece turns out. great work, paipo!

Hi Paipo

I see him, I see him.

Just got my Micromotor, a Weecha with 1/8 and 3/32 handpieces. You are definately right, no vibration, much easier to attempt detail work, why did I not get one sooner.
Thanks for the Jade, I'll have a go soon. Great pendant also.
Regards
Flynny

More really nice stuff Paipo. You should consider offering your work here in the "Tiki Marketplace" before you send it off to e-bay as I'm sure the peeps here would Love having a shot at your excellence.
Having just finished a 1" piece, I know how difficult that moai was, and he looks great!. That stone has to be a Lot harder to work than the wood I get to use. Can't wait to see all 3 finished, especially the middle one with all the inlay..

They are so perfect. They look like machine tooled molds, then cast stone. You must have the steady hands of a surgeon.

JP

[ Edited by: JohnnyP 2006-08-31 16:55 ]

Stunning workz Paipo! All are bursting with character and strong clean lines...each one unique. It's a real treat seeing what you will create next. Keep up the great work and keep posting!

Flip-flOp-fLipPp...

Hey VanTiki, I love seeing your new stuff too...any more musical mugs in the pipeline? The new coin is pretty cool too...

Cheers me old mate "Tamapoutini" - I would've shown you the skulleater when you were here the other day, but he was already on his way to a new home ...as for your comments - flattery will get you everywhere - I'll have to shout you a couple of beers tomorrow!

BK and GMAN, thanks for the nice comments on the Tangaroa - he is a special piece, which is why I put him away for a while. I'd be stoked to make you something from my basalt stash BK.

Thanks kingstiedye - keep a close eye on your mailbox early next week!

Flynny, I knew you'd be happy to see these pics - I bet you were wondering if you'd see this guy again. Looking forward to seeing your output with the dental handpiece.

Benz, don't worry - most of the recent pieces won't be ebayed, and won't even need to go in the marketplace - I'm very happy to say that some of my work has found some good homes here on TC already. I'd rather get a little less and know it will be worn, seen and appreciated.

JohnnyP, my hands weren't so steady when I was trying to use the paintbrush! Truth is, it had been a while since I'd really carved anything detailed, but I think the mind is more important than the hand. I spend a lot of time visualising and "mind carving" pieces before I pick up tools.

Jonesey, I'll keep on keeping up with the posting - here's a couple more of #7. The paua eye looks positively crocodilian! Should be all done this weekend:

Gidday mate. Have lept on the chance to entrench myself amongst our fellow Centralites & lengthen my thread by crowning myself 'Greenstone Guru'! Hope thats cool. Our shared journey of discovery goes on... See you on Easter Island (or tommorrow at the LeftBank, maybe a cocktail; Maitai?, never tried one...)Andy/Tamapoutini :)

Paipo, this last guy is really Beautiful and Evil looking. Well done with the inlays. It is so amazing the different personalities between this "Tongue and the last Tongue. COOL

TP, good to catch up yesterday. Benz, the inlays look good but man do they take some extra time! Especially when they aren't circular. Quick update, this is #7 with the carving finished. The glue will be dry now and I'll do the final stuff today.
Happy Halloween...