VanTiki Studio Notes

Bow Before The Tree Brain

Thu, 9 Oct 2008 14:14:41 -1000

As I mentioned earlier, I’m putting together a special Tree Brain Tiki Mug for Steve over at The Sneeze. For the uninitiated, I suggest you take a look at The Saga of the Tree Brain before proceeding any further.
After a lot of discussion, Steve and I went with a sort of “Tree Brain Deity” look - where we imagined natives had carved the host tree into a fitting cradle for the annually blooming brain. Offerings would be placed before this idol - and if the brain was happy it provided nectar that enabled the chieftains and wise men to attain a higher plane of consciousness. Well - I dunno about that last part. I do know these things are big, and that the brain on top doubles a cup and you can pour liquid out of one of the stumps on the tree. I set up a camera to capture the mugs taking shape - turned out rather neat (if I do say so myself). The mugs need to firm up a bit before I clean up their bottoms (eew) and add a “foot” and signature.
I’d like to give a big Mahalo to Perry Coma of Don Tiki for permission to use the wondrous All Quiet Flows The Don.

Remember me?

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:22:56 -1000

Well - as you may have noticed the mug production kinda slowed waaaaay down over here on VanTiki Island. Needless to say that there is an inverse relationship between the number of hours the Day Job demands vs. the number of clay hours I can squeeze in.
Happy to report I am fighting my way back into the studio. Finally getting glaze on a bunch of bisques pieces that had gathered an alarming amount of dust, and will be starting a commissioned piece for The Sneeze this weekend. As if that wasn’t enough, I’m making a large piece for a local garden art show at the Contemporary Museum, and I gotta get a good stock of mugs put together for the (fingers crossed) holiday rush. Going to be a crazy couple of months till Christmas. Gentlemen, start your engines!

The Golem Is Dreaming...

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 16:27:51 -1000

Ok. So I got a big amazing extruder for my studio. Did I mention that yet? Well I did, and just like the last few big-ticket items in the studio, the thing gathered dust for a while until I finally got around to using it. Why? I dunno - perhaps I’m too intimidated by these fancy new procedures (a further example of this would be the compressor I just got for my trusty old Iwata airbrush - yep, have yet to plug it in - too freaked out). Anyways, I finally decided to take the plunge and attempt a large coil-built figure. I wanted to do a piece for my office, and what better figure could one make from clay than the amazing Legendary Golem of old? I know, I know, it’s not a tiki. But it definitely could be filed under “Curiosity”.

Home-Made Texture Stamp

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:24:30 -1000

Ok, I admit it, I’ve been sculpting a lot of “stone block” mugs lately. I just can’t help it! For one thing, I am totally in love with this new B-5 Brown sculpting body from Laguna clay (It just screams “old stone”), and on top of that I am all out of white clay (will be picking some up this weekend). You may have noticed the stone texture on the recent slew of mugs - all made possible by my driveway and a 5$ tube of silicone caulk. I first saw texture stamps while working in LA - they were little pads of latex or silicone with various textures on them (wrinkled skin, scales, stone) that artist would press into their sculptures to add details. I decided to make a texture stamp for my stone mugs - and my old beat-up asphalt driveway had a great surface that I wanted to capture. I didn’t have any latex or mold making silicone - so I went to the hardware store and picked up a tube of 100% silicone caulk. The caulk isn’t as firm when it sets as I would have liked - but it will work fine for soft water-based clays. Before squirting the silicone on the driveway I painted several coats of dishwashing soap on the asphalt to act as a release agent (so the silicone wouldn’t stick to the driveway). I then carefully squirted out the silicone taking care not to trap any air bubbles and left it to cure for a few days (I put a bucket over it too make sure we didn’t forget it was there and drive right over it!).

Happy New Year!

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:22:24 -1000

I am starting 2008 with a bunch of new creative tools and a whole lot of ideas! First off, I’m typing this on my new Mac, made possible by the wonderful folks over at the Kahala Apple Store (the crazy Apple Idol above is from the thank you card I made for their Genius team). I’ve also splurged on a new clay extruder, several new clay sculpting bodies, and some new signature stamps (made of metal this time - the rubber ones kept breaking down). I’ll go into more detail on the ups and downs of learning to use all these toys as I shape new mugs (and stuff) with them.