Art Gallery Tiki ...

Ventured from the Secret Island this morning with a school party of unruly natives. I wasn't exactly that inspired by the exhibits at the gallery until I stumbled outside.

Titled Tanifa O Tagaloa it was created by Fatu Feu'u in 2003.

Carved from Australian redgum it is completed with Cook Island black pearl shells. Its an imposing piece standing at 309cm x 103cm x 50cm.

Steve Croquett, Heads Up, Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi 2011...

The Sculpture by the Sea event in Bondi celebrates its 15th anniversary this year from the 3rd - 20th November 2011. The spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk is transformed into a 2km long temporary sculpture park featuring over 100 sculptures by artists from Australia and across the world.

This year has me more excited that normal as it features the work of Steve Croquett titled Heads Up. Whats more these could be standing closer to home after the event if you have the cash! Check out Sculpture by the Sea for more details.

Tiki Returned ...

I thought that I'd mark my return to regular posting with another Tiki Return of sorts. It's a really nice good news story and we all need some of those now and again.

When John Malcon turned 21 in 1943, he was about to leave the country (New Zealand) for the Pacific war. He specified "no presents" but a close friend ignored the request and gave him a sterling silver tiki on a chain. Mr Malcon had his initial and surname, army number, religion and blood type engraved on the back and wore it throughout his army service in the New Hebrides where 36 Battalion was working alongside American troops. He said standing on a sea egg spike while swimming in the tropical waters landed him in an American army hospital there and among the visitors he received were Admiral William Halsey and Eleanor Roosevelt.

With no other injuries from his war service, and with his silver tiki still around his neck. Mr Malcon is a member of the Feilding Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association and for 28 years he was a regular visitor to the Palmerston North hospital on behalf of both the Feilding RSA and the Rangitikei Club. It was not until he was there as a patient about six years ago that he lost the silver tiki which he had worn for more than 60 years.

"I had to remove all metal to have an X-ray and it was not until I was in the shower that evening that I realised my tiki was not around my neck," he said. "I retraced my steps and at the hospital the girl helped me search the X-ray department, but my tiki was not found. I didn't think I would ever see it again."

However, someone had found it, and recognised the number as an army number. About a year ago the person who found it called at the Paraparaumu RSA and gave it to President William Powell. He didn't do anything about it at first, thinking that it must have belonged to a World War II soldier, and the chances of finding him alive were slight. A few weeks ago his wife reminded him that a tiki should be returned to its owner and she set him on the path to find the J Malcon whose name was on the little silver tiki.

Mr Powell said: "I went to Trentham records but, although they could confirm John Malcon had been a serviceman, they had no knowledge of where he lived now or whether he was still alive." He contacted Palmerston North RSA last week but there was no Malcon on their membership, and White Pages showed no Malcon in Palmerston North. "So I went to Malcon in the whole country and there was a J Malcon in Feilding. I phoned John and asked his army number," Mr Powell said.

"That's something you never forget," Mr Malcon said."When he told me he had my tiki, I was quite overcome. When I got off the phone, I couldn't remember who he was or where he was from, only that he was returning my tiki."

On Tuesday Mr Powell and Paraparaumu RSA welfare officer Alan Dempsey travelled to Feilding to hand the tiki back to Mr Malcon. There was huge emotion over the fact that something which held such strong links with the war had found its way home.

From the Manawatu Standard.

Shag Shopping ...

It's been a while between Mai Tai's but I'm back with news of Shag's latest offering. A set of three Terrificaly Tiki hanging lamps.

With the Stock Market stooping to new lows it would seem that these lamps are a rare sound investment! This NEW Limited Edition SHAG TIKI LAMP SET includes Three Tiki Themed Lamps measuring in at 8" in Diameter x 24" high each!

This set of three lamps will only be sold as a set and are limited to 50 signed & numbered sets. You'll need to act quickly if you want to acquire a set of these.
If these cool lamps weren't enough on their own, they come complete with Three Mini Prints by SHAG to compliment each of the lamps. Each of these mini prints is hand signed & numbered by SHAG and are a must for the SHAG completist.

Available for $750 US downgraded dollars from M-Modern.

Wahine of the Week: Ruby Peru ...

It's Tuesday and so time to warm the Southern Hemisphere Winter here on the Secret Island with my Wahine of the Week. This week I bring you Ruby Peru.

Now I have to admit that I know absolutely nothing about Ruby although I do know that she is the perfect accompaniment to a Tiki carved by none other than Marcus Thorn.

Mr. Ho's Orchestra - Third River Rangoon ... a review.

In 2010, Mr. Ho decided to release a series of albums over the next few years under the title "Exotica for Modern Living." These records will attempt to take the best elements of mid-century living, music, and culture and merge them with modern life to provide listeners with a "retro futuristic" listening experience.

The beautiful  artwork by Javier Garcia

The series opened with "The Unforgettable Sounds of Esquivel" featuring 23 musicians playing Mr. Ho's transcriptions of the lost arrangements of Mexico's king of space-age pop. Following this came "Third River Rangoon," featuring third-stream exotica music.I've recently downloaded this and I'm not regretting it... particularly when you can pick up the digital download and CD for $9.99 from their official website.... almost double that on iTunes!

It truly is a wonderful piece of modern exotica. I could give you a review but would rather leave it to the professionals who can far more eloquently articulate what I want to say...

"… Mr. Ho's new album Third River Rangoon, by his shapeshifting ensemble Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica may have been inspired by that subgenre, but it's considerably more magical. It leaves far more to the imagination, a lushly nocturnal collection whose most impressive feat of sorcery is getting a simple lineup of vibraphone, bass flute, bass and percussion to create the sweep of a hundred-piece orchestra. The production is genius…"Lucid Culture. 2011.

"… a perfect cocktail of mid-century 'space age bachelor pad' music deliciously accented with chamber, jazz, classical, and world music…"—Jonathan Perry. Boston Globe. 2011.

Go get it...

Tiki Light eBay Auction ...

Here on the Secret Island depite or relatively closeness to all things polynesian there really is little Tiki infuenced design or decoration. Trips to thirft stores, markets offer few rewards, even to a hardened beaccomber like me. I often return home empty handed...

eBay can cough up the odd local gem and reveal a tantilising glimpse of what else is on offer overseas ... oh if we didn't have to pay postage! ;0(

I've been watching this little Tiki Lamp for about a week or so, being offered up by a seller in South Australia. I'm not sure if they knew what they had or if they were offering an item and were interested in what it would go for!

"The most intricate detail on this fantastic 1960’s New Zealand lamp. Features Maori tiki’s galore – all different. Have never seen another like it. It is large and so very heavy. I don’t know what it is made from… it feels like a resin but has the weight of stone – definitely not ceramic. Either way, it is superb and around 50 years old!

The design is all the way round the lamp base… it looks great from any angle. Thoroughly inspected and there is no damage to the lamp base, it is really really nice. The shade is a neutral colour and has a subtle woven pattern. Stunning focal point in any room. Fantastic large size measures : 76cm (tall) x 100cm (circumference). Unpacked it weighs : 4.3kg"

I would have loved this but it was soon out of my price range. It ended up selling for AUS$358 which when converted is slightly more in US dollars. It set me thinking... is the rarity of such items here pushing the price up or would this have reached a similar price in the US.

Scootiki: Mods and Gods ...

Elroy Artspace Gallery in Portland, Oregon is about to host its 2nd Annual Tiki Fine Art Group Show Opening on the 7th July.

As well as an impressive selection of work from some of Tiki Art's biggest names a special mug will also be released designed by tiki artist Mulder142 in collaboration with, and produced by Paul Neilson of Munktiki! I'll feature this in a future post.

Elroy's "Scootiki: Mods & Gods" show will serve also as the official Art Show of the National Lambretta Jamboree held in Portland July 8-10th!

Here are my picks of the work on show. I tried to go for some artists who I wasn't familiar with ...

Sherill Ann Gross - "Orange", 9" x 9" / 12" x 16" (framed) - $200

Benjamin Burch.

Chris Young.

Adventureland T-Shirts ...

It takes a little while for the Jungle Drums to reach the Secret Island, and sometimes it means you miss out on what's hot... like this fantastic shirt from graphic designer Richard who describes himself as..

"A born dreamer & doer. An idea guy who understands the importance of magic. Specializing in graphic design, typography, painting and illustration."

His blog page is stuffed to the brim with wonderfully creative designs for Disney, that are in every way unofficial but are of the quality that should demand respect from the head honchos in purchasing.

His retro inspired designs have created quite a stir around Tiki Blogs and Forums. To avoid any complications with Disney this shirt design is not based on a show or attraction. Richard says

"Within Adventureland at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World, there's a "must eat" on every visitor's list: the Dole Pineapple Whip! If it's not on your bucket list, it should be. It's the most amazing frozen concoction in the parks! The Dole Pineapple Whip is a staple and is so popular that Disney added a whip machine in the Polynesian Resort back when the quick service area was refurbished."

"I tried to take a whimsical yet kitschy approach with the design. I wanted to not only represent the whip itself, but to also reflect the tropical Tahitian feel of Adventureland. What better icon to represent the spirit of Oceania than a Tiki warrior? To throw a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor into the design, I thought it would be clever to have him holding a whip in his hands. Of course this fierce tropical warrior couldn't be so mean when enjoying this delectable treat, so his intimidating frown has been turned upside down. I can imagine after the park closes that the statues, carvings and idols from around Adventureland break their poses and all hit up the Dole Whip stand to reward their hard day’s work of entertaining guests."

The good news for Richard is that the demand was so huge that he fulfilled his order ... the bad news for most of you guys and me is that we missed out! ;0(

... it won't happen again!

Tiki Farm: Von Franco Ashtrays ...

In a short term departure from mugs Tiki Farm have created from the artwork of Von Franco two new ashtrays.

Done up in “Purple Haze” and “Mellow Yellow” glazes, the ashtrays are further finished in an authentic mother-of-pearl overglaze! Each ashtray features 1 cigar rest and 3 cigarette rests.

They only have 250 of each color so the supply of these is limited. AND… are you ready for the price? Their Smokin’ Joe ashtrays are only $11.11 each!

Get down to the Farm quickly!

Reviewing iPhone Cases Tiki Style ...

It's been a while since Tiki Talk (on of my favourite Tiki Blogs) drew my attention to a rubber iPhone case for the third generation model.

But having upgraded to the 4G version I'm looking for a new case to replace my rather nondescript black one, the reception is remarkably good here on The Secret Island. I was disappointed that the makers of the case above don't have a 4G update and so it was onto the internet to find the best of the rest and I thought I would share...

#3. Tiki Amakua skin from Skinit.com


This one comes in at $14.99 and is a front and back skin. Not a bad look but offering minimal (none!) protection against drops but will keep those scratches at bay!

#2. Magma iPhone 4 Slider Case from Cafepress.

The Magma Tiki iPhone 4 with this back cover, two-piece case. It features a removable bottom (with a soft grip for easy handling) that slides off for quick docking. A hard plastic design protects from scratches.

• Fits iPhone 4g
• Hard-shell two-piece protective case
• Sliding case, with removable bottom for docking
• Felt-lined inside
• Easy access to all controls
• Apple® and iPhone® are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries

They also have the Eclipse... both available for $25. Cheap when you consider the price of a replacement!

#1. Tribal iPhone 4 case by Grove.

Okay, okay so it's not strictly speaking a Tiki but my choice case is hard to resist. Part of its artist series (Jonny Wan, UK) this skull design has all the trademarks of a quality tattoo etched into bamboo. Each case is created from a piece of bamboo with a scary amount of accuracy. The back is a mere 0.075" while the whole thing weighs .6oz!

You might not even notice its there ... even your wallet will feel lighter! But I guess at $89 and taking into account the style and workmanship you certainly get what you pay for!

Webley Edwards presents Paradise Island Capitol Records 1959 ...

I've been doing a little reading around the marketing of Hawaiian music in the 1950's. I found quite an informative article which highlighted its growth, and this Webley Edwards album is a classic example. There are tracks which mark your arrival and departure on the island by boat... you kick back in your favourite armchair and are transported to a Paradise Island aided by the impressive sleeve notes and full colour booklet which acts almost as a travel brochure.

Extract from article...

"Hawaii-inspired music marketed via popular record albums, radio shows, and Hollywood film soundtracks aided Hawaii’s transformation in the popular imagination from a mysterious ‘primitive’ paradise into the 50th U.S. state. Indeed, by constructing and capturing the temptingly tropical so-called ‘sounds’ of Hawaii on the latest hi-fi recording equipment, the music industry offered up Hawaiian music as an achievement of modern technology, promoting these U.S. islands as an acoustic, as well as a tourist, paradise."

"Record albums are useful sights for material culture studies for several reasons. They are durable. Records from the 1950s remain widely available today, collected and coveted by consumers, and recirculate as retro icons. Used records are sold by the thousands in vinyl stores, at record fairs, and on the Internet; and, surprisingly, vinyl has rebounded as a viable niche within the music industry. Furthermore, old records are often re-released on compact disc, thus enjoying a new life. Although images from 1950s and 1960s advertisements usually appear hopelessly dated, record cover designs enjoy new life on compact discs that cash in on ironic trends or retro fashions."

Enjoy a trip to Webley Edwards' Paradise Island.

Introducing Trevor Carlton...

Trawling through Tumblr this week, whilst sheltering from a tropical cyclone,I came across the work of artist Trevor Carlton. I was immediately impressed with not only the subject matter but also the patina of the finish. I love that vintage, slightly worn paint effect to the point that some people who know me quite well just don't understand why I'm attracted to the sort of stuff that most consider tatty or just simply rubbish!

Monte Trevor Carlton was born in 1972 in Olympia, Washington State. Although he took up painting in high school, the first artistic passion that Trevor embraced was acting. He decided to forgo an art scholarship in favor of attending a dramatic arts scholarship at Skagit Valley College.

Trevor next attended the Lee Strasberg Acting Workshop. The following year he relocated to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. Amidst the chaos of auditions and callbacks, Trevor paid the bills by working in a custom furniture store, specializing in antiquing and faux finish designs.

It was here that a style was born. Using reclaimed lumber as his “canvas”, he started painting images of vintage Americana with subjects ranging from pop icon celebrity to the hey day of jazz.

After numerous gallery shows in Los Angeles and private commissions he has now combined his unique style to that most American of symbols, MICKEY MOUSE. Along with a series of classic lobby card paintings, he has also created a performance piece that has him painting a large canvas of our favorite Disney characters in a matter of minutes.

Find out more about Trevor and his work here.

The Tiki Bus @ The Shady Dell ...

Here on the Secret Island I'm slowly being pushed out ... once our primitive hut was our domain. Mrs. Tiki Sasquatch my beautiful wahine and I would kick back, drink cocktails from coconuts watching the waves wash on the shore. Four years and two savages later our lives have become a little less relaxed and a whole heap more exciting.

The savages (as beautiful and adorable they might be!) come with their own flotsam and jetsam which has slowly filled the hut to the point where the now fabled tiki bar might need to go for what the wahine describes as a rumpus! I could kick up a fuss but what's the point! ;0)

That leaves me with the problem of what to do with the bar, the grog and all the tiki goodies collected since the Tiki Bug took over! There seem to be only two options

1, Leave the island never to return and move to the Shady Dell, Bisbee, Arisona, USA
2, Use the Dell as inspiration and do something similar outside!

The Shady Dell’s epic journey began in 1927 as a place to provide trailer and camping spaces to weary travelers along Highway 80, which stretched from Savannah, Georgia to San Diego, California. Like its more famous brother Route 66, Highway 80 was a center of travel, exploration and family getaways in the early portions of the 20th century. Today, the park is a nice mix of practicality and vintage fun-seeking. Their sleek collection of vintage travel trailers are all perfectly restored to combine mid-century Americana kitsch with the comforts of home in a way that only the 1950s were capable of.

My obvious favourite is the Tiki Bus where you and two friends can spend a night in this 1947 Airporter bus that has been transformed into a “Polynesian Palace”, complete with your own hand carved outrigger bar. After a night of Mai Tai’s you can stagger inside and pay homage to the resident Tiki God!

The search for Tiki-able Tin begins ...