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.

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.

Red Pepper Retro Vintage Style Graphics ...

Most things here on the Secret Island, and around the rest of world I guess, work best through word of mouth and so today I'll share a little love for someone locally who is becoming a real mover and shaker in the world of vintage design and graphics.

Red Pepper Retro was established in 2009 as an offshoot of the successful graphic design business, Red Pepper Graphics. Founder Susan Cadzow had discovered that many of her clients shared her love of vintage and retro, and there was a huge demand for graphics in that style. Rockabilly bands like the Sonic Aces and Blue Denim needed CD covers designed and retro illustrations drawn. Sydney vintage icons Limpin Jimmy and the Swingin Kitten needed a website to run their gig guide and promote their DJ business, Doll Deluxe and Retrospec’d needed labels designed for their retro fashion ranges, and on it goes!

The Vintage, Retro and Kustom Kulture world is growing in popularity and it seems even people in the mainstream are now contacting Red Pepper Retro to create evocative, iconic imagery to promote their products and services. Susan can create custom illustrations and designs for people who require exclusive or personalised work.  Or she has a vast library of vintage clip art and imagery to create a design tailored especially for you ... the examples shown here are both available as freebies!

With a wealth of experience, and very reasonable prices, there are packages to suit all budgets. Please contact Susan to discuss your needs at Red Pepper Retro.

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!

Aloha Lanes ...

Now its been a long time since I created a model here on the Secret Island, and when I did it resulted in the use of a basic kit, some glue which seemingly was only useful for attaching fingers and a lot of swearing from my Dad! I ended up with a Spitfire of sorts and lots of spare parts... I've had no interest since ... until now!

Mike Cozart has always loved model making and spent thirteen years working for Disney and is still building and designing models today! His latest project is the wonderful Aloha Lanes (originally to be called Tiki Bowl ... Aloha Lanes is better!) inspired by several structures in the San Diego area some which are still standing today. Aloha Lanes also features a coffee shop called "TIKI COVE" and a cocktail lounge called "THE PELE ROOM."

The good news is that you may be able to purchase a version of Aloha Lanes in a 1/8Th (HO Scale) laser craftsman kit, Mike points out that the version of the final kit may not be as elaborate, and the coffee shop section may become a separate kit to keep the model size a bit smaller but he hopes that these will be sold under the CENTURY SCALE MODEL line.

I'll update when Aloha Lanes becomes available...

Featured Artist: Tez

Here on the Secret Island we're great fans of Tiki and artists that feature them. There's always SHAG serving up tempting Tiki masterpieces, but what about those less well known but equally talented artists? I hope to regularly update viewers with what's on offer and where you can get your own... artists need our support and the tiki hut here is decorated with the work we've purchased from them.

We'll kick off with the work of Tez who resides on the Central Coast of New South Wales in Australia. As a self professed sculptor, painter and tinkerer of things, “MINIMALISTIKI” is just one of his creations. “MINIMALISTIKI” is a modern, minimalist take on the monolithic Easter Island tiki gods known as Moai and are individually hand screen printed ceramic sculptures.

Our very own “MINIMALISTIKI” has pride of place in the bar here on the Secret Island. I'm not sure how many if any of these are still out there looking for dusty Tiki Bar shelves to sit on but the work of TEZ is certainly worth watching in the future.

Artist Profile: Tez
Artist Blog: Sure Ain't Sushi
Artist Website: Skull Pussy