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MadDog Mike's Platterful of Pupule - Underglaze Technique |
MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years) 
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6398
From: The Anvil of the Sun
|  Posted: 2008-08-27 08:40 am Permalink
I wanted a Lei O Mano but didn't want to pay $300 for it so I made on yesterday. I had bought some shark teeth on eBay but didn't really like the size or shape so I decided to make so fake ones. After all, it's for show not for go - I won't be helping King Kamehameha battle King Kalanikupule. I debated between ceramic and polymer clay and chose the polymer. Polymer is a little more flexible and maybe less fragile than ceramic, besides I didn't have a kiln bead rack to glaze the ceramic.
 I couldn't sleep at all last night. I was tossin' and turnin' I signed up for a beginning ceramics class at the community college last night (my first art class ever  ) I was up all night thinking of mugs to make 
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Anything worth doing, is worth doing to the point of wretched excess.
[ This Message was edited by: MadDogMike 2008-09-05 10:43 ]
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6398
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2008-09-05 10:42 am Permalink
I had fun with this hat but obviously, Cammo is the master.
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=25149&forum=12
While I was batiking my shirt, I did a pleated hatband too. Added an acrylic painting on top and a sort of Heitiki made of polymer clay to the front. The black shows through the paint to echo the crackle effect of the batik
I think my hatmaking is a little like my stockmarket purchases; I started with a $6 hat and now it's worth about $2
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Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6398
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2008-09-08 07:44 am Permalink
It's a foolhardy plan, but I'm just "mad" enough to try it! GoTiki posted a goldfish a few days ago that inspired me
I thought it'd make a cool pufferfish with some spikes so I gave it a shot
Seems like everytime I try something, someone else has already done it first and BETTER  We'll see if one this has already been done. Still needs some cleanup after it dries a bit. Can he survive the drying? Can he survive the kiln? Can he survive use without breaking off all his little spines?
It's kinda small, maybe 8 or 10 ounces - I guest it will need a potent drink!
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Babalu
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Nov 19, 2006
Posts: 2498
From: Lemon Grove
| Posted: 2008-09-08 08:01 am Permalink
Brother Mad Dog,
Your just blowing me away! Your just jumping out there and trying everything...no fear - no hesitation...way to go Mike! I thinks your fishy will make it fine. The hat, club, everything...damn nice!
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Cammo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 1807
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2008-09-08 09:33 am Permalink
Love da hat, bro. Wish more people would jump in and try it - it's like being in a giant pool all alone!
Bong showed me a puffer fish he had made out of colorful drink umbrellas, all glued together to form a ball, cut up for the fins, and stuck outwards for the spines. It's the coolest thang....
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Robb Hamel
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Mar 07, 2008
Posts: 1013
From: Ohio
| Posted: 2008-09-15 10:43 am Permalink
MadDog - this new stuff is mind-blowingly diverse! Wow!
You are severely multitalented.
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6398
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2008-09-17 8:05 pm Permalink
Babalu & Cammo, thanks for your kind words. Robb, I don't hardly think I qualify for "seriously multitalanted", I'm just trying to find my black velvet.
Here's my glazed pufferfish.
The pineapple and cherry garnish is ceramic too, but it's not attached to the mug
_________________
Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House
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GO TIKI
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: Feb 21, 2004
Posts: 603
From: SURF CITY HUNTINGTON BEACH
| Posted: 2008-09-17 9:20 pm Permalink
Very Cool, Keep it up!, Your on your way!
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Cammo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 1807
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2008-09-18 08:27 am Permalink
Hey Mad Dog - These are GREAT pieces. The ceramic pineapple spears & cherry are really cool, and you came up with a great glaze color for the pufferguy. It's just my opinion, but YOU ROCK!
How did you attach the cherry to the (wooden?) skewer?
Any plans to make ceramic umbrellas????
And screw what's been done before, just go and harpoon that idea! Listen to Babalu, he is the Great and Wise Teacher of Many Who Floats in the Sky Showering Wisdom Over All He Sees.
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Tiki Kaimuki
Grand Member (4 years) 
Joined: Sep 25, 2006
Posts: 813
From: OAKLAND, baby
| Posted: 2008-09-18 08:46 am Permalink
MadDog, I'm really liking where your work is going. Those spikes on the puffer look deadly and the glaze fits perfectly!
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6398
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2008-09-18 10:38 pm Permalink
Thanks guys. The glaze is a Mayco Chunkie, has the spots already built in. I was trying for a dried pufferfish look, I may try another to look like a live pufferfish - olive green with big white spots.
Cammo, I poked a toothpick hole in the cherry before I bisqued it so the umbrella just sticks into the hole. I've got a second hole in the cherry that I'll put a piece of wire into for the stem. I've been reading about paperclay, clay with paper fibers mixed in. Because the fibers give the unfired clay strength, you can make very thin & delicate items with it. I thought about making some porcelain paperclay for an umbrella, the thin porcelain would be translucent like paper. We'll see.
Say hello to the "Great and Wise Teacher of Many Who Floats in the Sky Showering Wisdom Over All He Sees" for me
_________________
Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6398
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2008-09-21 07:09 am Permalink
I was seaching the internet for a small tiki clock to put in my "clay studio" and found this posted on Hot Lava's TikiTalk site http://tikitalk.astropad.com/
It was too big and I didn't like the black color, so I made a smaller one out of faux jade polymer clay. Approx 5x6 inches, it fits nicely on the rack with my mugs
_________________
Clay, the oldest and most divine art media;
"And now, from the clay of the ground, the Lord God formed man" Genesis 2:7
Pirate Ship Tree House
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Bowana
Grand Member (4 years)
Joined: Nov 10, 2006
Posts: 1117
From: La Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2008-09-21 8:10 pm Permalink
Mike, nice job on the Babalu mug. I saw it yesterday in person. Looks like it didn't take you long to get the hang of it all. Keep up the good work!
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That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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MadDogMike
Grand Member (3 years)
Joined: Mar 30, 2008
Posts: 6398
From: The Anvil of the Sun
| Posted: 2008-09-23 07:19 am Permalink
Thank you Bowana, I would have never done it without you and Babalu
It is a little known fact that 3 million years ago, before the continents drifted apart, Australopithecus migrated across to New Zealand. There they developed an elaborate facial tattoo technique before they died out. This is a very rare Australopithecus Maorius skull still showing traces of the facial tattoos.
OK, people like Squid, Babalu, and VanTiki make it looks so easy to sculpt a skull but it ain't! This is my second attempt, it looks a little more humaniod than the first but not much. The "tattoo" is a technique called mishima where the design is carved into the clay then filled in with colored clay. Made of high-fire porcelain, I don't think he is going to survive Looks like I let him dry too fast and he is starting to develop a crack inside. Patience young grasshopper.
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There are those few who learn from observation. The rest of us need to piss on the electric fence and find out for ourselves.
[ This Message was edited by: MadDogMike 2008-09-23 07:23 ]
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octopussy
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Mar 30, 2007
Posts: 47 | Posted: 2008-09-24 06:38 am Permalink
Hey Mad Dog, you're flowing with creativity! There's a Japanese expression: o moye kite it means "go for it without hesitation" I think that fits you. Have you sketched any skulls? It might help getting the contours down. I can sketch but putting it to 3D boggles my little brain. Great work on the puffer fish btw.
o
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