Ocea Otica update,3 new mugs in the works and...

So its been quite some time since i sculpted and molded some new designs. Of recent, many of the one off pieces i produced last year were started off using greenware from vintage molds, the Munktiki x Ocea Otica Zombie Moai, as mentioned earlier, was a sculpture from 2003 and the Kapriman mug, which i finally started releasing at the end of last year, was sculpted in 2007. So what the hell have i been doing all this time, well, who cares.
So to make up for lost time, before i have to go on a little month long hiatus in the beginning of November, I have 5 mugs in various states of completion. Here is some info on three of them.
To get the ball rolling, I was struck with the desire to sculpt a Moai with a traditional feel. The Moai, probably having the largest catalog of interpretation by ceramic vessel, is still my favorite icon from Oceanic arts, and provides endless possibilities for the mug maker and artist. Pictured below is the first greenware pull from the mold. The plan is to texture each mug to varying degrees of decay, then the color combos will range from the natural to the eye popping unnatural. This Moai stands 8 3/4 inches tall, liquid volume to be determined later. I will probably produce these until the mold wears out, or i wear out. I hope to have some available by the end of the year.

Next up, by no coincidence created at this time of year, is the first in my return to the subject of the Zombie, a favorite cocktail of mine. "Thirsty" depicts a man in serious need of a cocktail. Digging to the surface gave him time to consider how many years it been since his last savory cocktail, and being that there is a dry ice chamber in the back of the mug, a Fogcutter may be appropriate, though a Zombie is its most desired. Pictured below is the sculpture close to completion. This is a somewhat stylized "clean" zombie, in which the fats have dissolved, but the skin is still in tact, almost preserved similar to the Bog Mummies. The mold was completed and hopefully I will start pouring these at the end of this year. This mug required two separate molds to complete and each greenware will have some subtle line work added in. Production numbers will be low, and there may be a standard glazed version and one offs.

Next up is another piece in the zombie ilk; this one being inspired by the lore of the creation of the Zombie cocktail. Pictured below is the sculpture in progress. There will be a hat added later. The look I am going for is somewhat caricature-like, or cartoonish, hopefully bringing to mind the vibe of 1950's and 1960's ad art combined with a bit of flappy skin zombie nausea.


So you may be asking, none of these are the mugs i thought you were putting out next. This is true. The Asaro Mudmen will see the light of day next year, also the Maprik and Yamok bird spirits, as well as other mug projects i have discussed in the past.
The Kapriman Traditional version, only a year and a half late, will hopefully be finished as well by the end of the year.

I was recently contacted by designer and prolific mug artist Squid, AKA Dave Cohen, about participating in his group luau pig mug project, so i will have this one off custom version of his greenware finished by the end December. You can see some of his work here: www.squidart.com

And with the holidays coming up, i highly recommend the acquisition of the Ghastly Ones new ep, Gears and Ghoulfinks, out on purple vinyl, available here: http://ghastlyones.com/merch.htm and a mug for the mustache-ed, a beautiful mug with a vintage feel, emoting the charm of Don the Beachcomber, Sophistico by Miles of Munktiki, viewable and purchasable here: http://www.munktiki.com/Newest.htm

So thats enough for now, what a gas bag, i got tired of reading this about two sentences in!

Just in time for Halloween....

On Monday, October 26th at 6pm, at Munktiki.com, Miles' new edition of my Zombie moai will go on sale. His new edition, from my original mold from 2003, features stunning glaze work. This is an edition of only 25, so they will go quick. Here is the link to the sale info http://www.munktiki.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=OO&Category_Code=H. It has been a real treat collaborating with Miles and Munktiki, as it a was a Munktiki mug that was my first non vintage tiki mug.
**October 26th update, got word these sold out**

Tonight marks the one year anniversary of the TDN at the Mixoloseum...

Tonights TDN at the Mixoloseum marks the one year anniversary of the Thursday Drink Night. The focus will be the Tiki drink, with special guests Jeff "Beachbum" Berry and Martin Cate getting into the mix.
Congrats to Kaiser Penguin and all involved who have made staying at the home bar on a Thursday night something i try to prioritize every week. If you have not checked in or participated, know that it is a fun, informative evening in the chatroom, involving a mix of Bartenders, collectors, blog writers, cocktail enthusiasts and home bar mixologists from all around the world. And there is the cocktails, many new and interesting drinks developed and submitted on a weekly basis by some palette talented.
I look forward to crushing some ice, to pulling out my garnish tools, feeling the burn of citric acid on my fingertips,working my way through my spirits shelves, learning something new, the camaraderie, and to being a participant in this TDN.
Here is the info from Kaiser Penguin's blog:
A year ago, this week, the revelry began. And if my sundial displays truth, the Mixoloseum has hosted 50 Thursday Drink Nights since that first mixological day. In that time, cocktail enthusiasts, writers, and bartenders have created over 500 original cocktails using everything from Fernet Branca to buttermilk. Guests who once came in fear of all the homemade syrups and bitters being slung about like fool’s gold in the chat room now make their own cinnamon syrup, have two local sources for Ting (in case one runs out), and don’t bat an eye when someone calls yellow Chartreuse instead of green.
TDN Anniversary - Tiki
50cm gold Japanese barspoon
We’ll be celebrating with rum, rain gods, and back scratchers this week, and Jeff Berry and Martin Cate will be making an appearance to sling potions and generally be jealous that we have more homemade syrups than they do. The prizes are profuse, and the last tiki torch won’t be doused until the first rays of light creep across my sundial.
The Prizes
Best Original Tiki Drink - 50cm gold Japanese bar spoon (pictured at right)
Best Gin Cocktail - Bottle of Port of Barcelona gin signed by the distiller.
Best Absinthe Cocktail - Bottle of Obsello absinthe signed by the distiller.
Best Spiced Rum Cocktail - Bottle of Old New Orleans Cajun spiced rum
Last One Standing - If you close the doors on our party, you will get yourself a pick of one of Mud Puddle’s six new cocktail book releases.
First two newcomers who submit a drink - More books! Pick from Mud Puddle’s line-up.
We’ll also be giving out Annual Awards throughout the night (e.g. Person who consistently submits the worst drinks).

here is a link to the Mixoloseum:
http://www.mixoloseum.com/blog/

and a photo to get you in the mood for this evening, a cocktail I was working on for a TDN I ended up missing:
The Swag's Glow


Happy 1 year birthday TDN, you know where i will be tonight.............
p.s. as of 1 hour ago, two as of yet unnamed winnings of a contest to be figured out shortly will have the prize of an Ashen Black color edition Tumbuna mug and a Underbelly of the Grey Plover color edition Tumbuna mug, the last two of this mug, as the molds were destroyed already

after much delay, the Kapriman mug is back in play

So after roughly an 8 month hiatus from making mugs, I have gotten back to the craft. The Kapriman PNG Palette edition, an edition of 5, will be completed in the next couple of days. 3 of the 5 will be posted on my Etsy store soon, with a notification going out on the Ocea Otica email list. I hope to follow up shortly with the Traditional edition in the upcoming weeks.

Aside from Kapriman, I have started working on some of the collaboration mugs. I have two of the Tiki Tony-Ocea Otica one offs done, and a test fire of the Munktiki-Ocea Otica pieces done. At some point I will get together with the mug artists involved to figure out how my customized versions of their mugs and how their customized versions of my Kapriman mug will be displayed and sold. I can't wait to see what comes of this collaboration project and hope it is the beginning of a yearly melting of the minds (yes melting, not melding).
In the upcoming weeks i will start posting pictures of the collaboration pieces i finish.
Thats it for now, hope to be getting my hands much dustier the rest of the year and get back to some of the designs that i had hoped to originally release at the beginning of the year.
*****Update 8/22 This edition of Kapriman went up today and sold out along with a handful of one off AP's and glaze tests of Torembi and Tumbuna ( a couple of which are pictured below) from my own collection. Thanks to everybody that checked them out, now to get back to working on the last Kapriman edition and and to start sculpting on some new designs.

an original glaze test, this lighter version with highlights in the underglaze was not the final glaze/underglaze combo for the Yam Mask Yellow edition

Soil of New Guinea Tumbuna AP, this was the edition of Tumbuna featured in Tiki Mugs: Cult Artifacts of Polynesian Pop by Jay Strongman

Sadly no Tales of the Cocktail for me, so instead Tales from the Pittsburgh Airport Hyatt

Once again I am unable to attend Tales of the Cocktail; pesky finances and work schedule preventing me from furthering my lifelong education and romance with booze. So instead, here is an alternate tale.....



the start, the hotels Bloody mary, using a mix made at the bar daily

Pittsburgh, well the Hyatt at the Pittsburgh airport to be more exact, where we held up for 4 days, only leaving our room to spend equal amounts of time in the bar. But this was like no airport/hotel bar experience either of us have had. The bar and dining room is large, with a very laid back pleasant atmosphere, with large open views of a simple, but beautiful wooded grassy "courtyard." View and space aside, it was a very accommodating and sweet bar staff who went above and beyond, filling requests initially, then going as far as providing fresh fruit and veggies to make cocktails with. After some discussion, in particular with Brian, then the sharing of a copy of 'Sippin Safari' and Jeff Berry's Tiki App on the I Touch, enthusiasm and personal interest grew (Brian took the book home to read one evening), and so did some experimentation and close recreation (well as close as a hotel's limited bar stock would allow)of some of the classics from 'Sippin Safari.'




book in hand, i take a knife to a cucumber

out comes a Cou-Cou Comber, with the adjustment of a bit of Sambuca in place of their lack of Pernod


so named by Brian, our Pineapple Minnetonka, a mix of vodka, pineapple juice, Tuaca, muddled mint and i believe soda, notes got left at the bar, but we drank many of these over 3 days.


Brian, pouring it up


memory is hazy on what i put together for the pineapple i cored out, but the wife concurs it was tasty.

This was just a small sampling of the cocktails consumed, as their were were numerous rounds of each cocktail, samplings of the cocktails on the bars list, and a few adjusted versions from said list. One of these evenings of heavy sampling lead to some snapshots of us sprawled out on the floor of the hallway en route to our room, pictures best viewed upon request on a visit to our apartment after a few rounds of cocktails.

An older couple who were watching my back and forth with the bar and who took to viewing my copy of Sippin' Safari shared tales of traveling to Polynesian bars in the heyday and of their large collection of mugs they have from those early travels. The husband then proceeded to buy a round of a rum coffee drink whose recipe he recalled from years past.

Who knew we could have some Tales in an airport Hyatt, in Pittsburgh no less, a special thanks to Brian, and the other bartenders and wait staff for such a lush trip.

a slew of cocktails from my messy files....hi, how are you doing?

So it has been some time since i posted something new. Between work and personal projects, this blog, or the hopes to post with some frequency, have been dashed. So I am attempting to go through my mess of a computer and pull out some drink photos spanning from some time in 2008 until just recently to re open the door to this, my ramshackle digital house, in attempt to put together a recap rerun episode. As to be expected from my mess of a brain, not all the cocktails names can be dredged out of the fog that is my memory.


Perfumed Beauty

* 4oz Oval vodka
* 1/2oz sloe gin
* 1/2oz lime juice
* 1 1/2oz simple syrup
* 1 large wedge pineapple
* 3 mint sprigs
* 2 dashes Angostura bitters
* 1/4t ground cardamom

Rim snifter with cardamom mixed with simple syrup, then muddle a large wedge of pineapple with three mint sprigs, 2 dashes angostura bitters, 1/4t ground cardamom and then fill glass crushed ice. Separately shake remaining ingredients, pour into glass, garnish with a bunch of mint sprigs and a lime wedge.

ITS GOT A RIM, ITS GOT STRAWS, WHAT DO I DO?!?!?!
This goes back to earlier experimentation with cardamom, wanting the perfumed scent of this wonderful spice to be as present in flavor as in smell. The rim addresses this, and as long as you do not gouge your eye out with a straw, savor the flavor of the rim with the drink on occasion as you try this one out.

This was the cocktail i posted for the recent Thursday Drink Night at the Mixoloseum, the second time i have been a participant and not just an onlooker. This would have been a more beautiful presentation with a fat base round snifter, as the muddled pineapple and mint sprigs had a really nice layered look at the bottom, not captured in this photo.

Hot House Landing
This was the first cocktail i had submitted to a Mixoloseum TDN, will put up the recipe later, but it had muddled hot house tomato and a number of spices.

This is a mystery to me, do seem to recall it was something with a fresh (or really really ripe 7-11) banana, hence the banana peel wrapping, which would have been a more beautiful presentation had it not already donned its leopard print coat. My guess, beginning of this year. My hope, it tasted good.

Another take on the Kiwi's Nest Grog, recipe can be found in an earlier posting here.

somepin. another one lost in the fog.

from 12/11/2008, a true mystery of a mystery bowl, may have notes on this, though surrounding bottles give some indication, and the bits of zest in the drink just caused me to salivate a bit.

mystery drink from 1/15/09, not sure, thinking something from the Grog Log

something utilizing a tangerine from sometime, something off the cuff


HI, HOW ARE YOU DOING?

"tiki" mug heaven, signing event for Jay Strongman's Tiki Mugs book at La Luz Gallery, March 7th

post party, i got there close to the end. Unfortunately did not get Tiki Tony in this photo, actually did not see him the whole night. Also, in showing up late, missed Miles Sabatini, my friend and co founder of `Ona Tiki, whose Lama Akua, in a few color variations, is featured in the book. Seems like everyone was having a good time. the "new" mug i was debuting was a joke of sorts, a lunch sac paper bag ceramic vase form a hobbyist mold, that was customized with paint markers and stickers, done up by Miles, Notch, Falin and I, went over well (we got requests from attendees and La Luz staff to make more.) You can see one of the bag mugs, which held a good 2 1/2 mai tais, in Falin's hand below. i was told by the La Luz staff after the fact that approx. 500 people attended.

From left to right back : Danny aka Tiki Diablo, Bosko, Miles of Munktiki, the author Jay Strongman, me, in the front from rt to left: Notch, Dave aka Squid, and Falin aka Tiki Kaimuki, i think Bora Boris may have shot this pic

The long awaited Tiki Mugs, Cult Artifacts of Polynesian Pop by Jay Strongman will make its debut at a release and signing party at the renowned La Luz De Jesus Gallery in Hollywood this Saturday, March 7th. This book, published by Korero, is a look into the history of the "tiki" mug and focuses on the modern revival by artists who have taken these mugs from faux Polynesian restaurant souvenir to hobby and serious artform.
Having gotten to view pages posted on a few websites, i can say it is loaded with eye candy, and as a collector of vintage and modern mugs i think it pleases on both ends. The book samples mugs that draw their design origins from Oceania as well as modern fusion tiki pop themes such as space-tiki.
i look forward to reading the text crafted by Jay Strongman, who worked hard to give the reader insight into the artform amidst a barrage of beautiful full page images shot by Jonpaul Balak, Dan Cevola, Duane Jones, Sven Kirsten, Martin Shaw, Nick Grant, David Dye, Greg Burmann, Martin McIntosh, and Annene Kaye.
As one of the artists featured in the book, i am grateful to be included amongst the great artisans who led the way and those who have taken up the craft since my start somewhere around the end of 2002, beginning of 2003 (crappy memory, don't recall).
The book covers artists form throughout the country and across the seas, and what is going to make the signing such a unique event is the attendance of almost all the California artists whose work can be seen in the book. Aside from those in Southern California, Northern California artists Miles from Munktiki, Notch, and Tiki Kaimuki will be flying and driving down to make this evening. i doubt there will ever be this many of these mug artists in one room at one time again, and i am personally excited to have the opportunity to talk shop and story with them all. Though not formal, Jay Strongman, the mug artists and at least one of the photographers will be available to chat and sign copies of the book. Holden, owner of Tiki Farm, will also be serving up free Mai Tais, made from donations by Trader Vics.
Hope to see you there!
And, just recently announced, there will be a UK (home to Korero) release and signing party hosted at the London Hilton Trader Vics on March 10th.