Tiki Kon 2015

A few weekends ago Dave and I attended the 13th Annual Tiki Kon gathering which takes place at the Red Lion at the Quay hotel located in Vancouver, Washington which is just across the Columbia river from Portland, Oregon.

We have been looking forward to attending this event as it is the first Tiki gathering we have been to that takes place outside of California.

We arrived at the hotel on Friday night around 6pm after a five hour drive from Medford, OR.  We got quickly settled into our room and changed as quickly as we could to join in the fun.  This year's theme was "Tiki Kon Air" or a throw back to flying in style in the 1960s.  Instead of a wrist band we got a passport to wear around our necks that we could get stamped with each event we attended, vendor we purchased from, and symposium we attended.  

We wore our latest matching honeymooners set which were both purchased from the southern Oregon area.  I found the dress at a local thrift shop and then found Dave the matching shirt on eBay from a seller who happened to be located one town over from us.  I'm convinced these were originally a set that were temporarily separated and we brought them back together.

We walked in just in time to catch the tail end of the Rat City Brass performance. They are an excellent Tijuana Brass tribute band.

It was the perfect background music for when I got to meet and pose for a photo with the original "Whipped Cream" girl herself Dolores Erickson. 

I was kicking myself for forgetting to bring my copy of the album to have her sign.

The event takes place outside and has an excellent view of the Columbia River.

Next up was DJ Cabana's Vintage Fashion Show.

Marina MeduSirena the Fire Eating Mermaid was among the models wearing some fantastic vintage.

I'm so happy I had a chance to say hello to Marina!

Here is a view of our balcony.  We shared a room with our friend Daren and he had brought two of his recently purchased Tiki Diablo tikis as well as excellent lighting to use as Lanai Swag. Not pictured from the evening performances are The Satin Chaps.  I was dancing my tushy off hence no photos.  I ended up purchasing their CD and have had it in the car now for almost two weeks.

The next morning we got up early, had breakfast and headed to the Tiki Kon Island Marketplace.

There were so many great vendors with so many excellent items for sale.

Daren and Dave.

I absolutely love Sophista-Tiki's work (aka Dawn Fraiser).

Dave and I did pretty good and held ourselves back on purchases.  I did buy a skull mug and an excellent luggage tag that looks like the world as seen in the Witco artwork.  Daren purchased many excellent finds including this August Holland "Pearl of Wisdom" framed art.

We had some fun with the TKA photo spot the organizers had set up.

The plane is going down!!!

Love at 30,000 feet!

Here is a better photo of my day outfit for Saturday.  I was lucky enough to have found this vintage palazzo jumpsuit during Halloween time at a thrift shop in San Diego.  I've finally lost enough weight to be able to wear it!

I topped off the ensemble by wearing my favorite beetle bangles. I was also sporting matching beetle earrings and a necklace which I purchased on my most recent trip to Los Angeles at the Topanga Vintage Market which takes place every 4th Sunday of each month in Woodland Hills.

With Darren and Daren on our lanai.  It was so awesome meeting and connecting with fellow tikiphiles.  Darren and I have been friends on Instagram for over a year and finally had a chance to meet each other in person.

Hamming it up with my monkey pod snack platter.

Sadly the weather did not cooperate for the pool party.  We didn't end up getting to wear our swim gear or even have a dip in the pool.  Dave and Daren did however join in the fun for the "Bananas for Cabanas" poolside meet up.

Not pictured is when we had dinner with Daren and his wonderful parents Susan and Bob.  After dinner we headed back to the hotel to watch the evening's performances. I wore one of my DeWeese Design dresses and Dave wore his incredible tiki themed blazer which I spotted for him at a vintage shop when we were in Portland last year. The tiki tie was a birthday gift from me.

Dave and Daren.

First up was the Iron Tikitender Showdown which featured three local bartenders competing for the title and a cash prize. 

The event was hosted by Blair Reynolds, owner of B.G. Reynolds syrups as well as the Hale Pele bar located in Portland.

We were rooting for Sierra of Hale Pele and she ended up coming out in First Place!

Next up was swinging sounds from the band Johnny Astro. I love a band that can play a mean Bond song.

The highlight performance of the weekend's events was the Roy and Marina Anderson of Ronin Taiko performance. This was Marina and her husband Rob's first time performing their Japanese wadaiko and fire show to a tiki crowd. It was an amazing performance!

Marina looked beautiful as she always does!

It was pretty intense at times....but a good intense of course!

We had such a great time and look forward to attending Tiki Kon in the future.  The event is like a mini version of Tiki Oasis and is much more intimate of a gathering. We are so happy there is a tiki event near to us here in the Pacific Northwest! The countdown for next year begins!

Till' Next Time,

Suz

An Interview with Driftwood Beachcomber Artist Tiki Tony Murphy

Several years ago I attended, with friends Natalie and Angie,what was to be the very first International Tiki Marketplace gathering at Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach, CA.

This was also the first time I was introduced to Tiki Tony Murphy and his amazingly imaginative artwork.  My initial first reaction was "this guy is too cool".  I ended up purchasing one of his carved tiki pendants and have tried to make it a tradition to purchase one every time I see him at various events he vends.  I was also extremely happy to find that he had created a mug for Bar Pink, located in the North Park district of San Diego, CA, and was quick to add it to my collection. Below is my interview with Tiki Tony himself!

Suz - What was your very first introduction to Tiki/Polynesian Pop?

Tony - When I was 17 I met Alene and she had a Coco Joe's type resin Tiki in her bedroom that was from her dad  from the 1960s.  I was really interested in surfing and started the year before, so Hawaii and surfing and Tiki just all clicked with me.  And at age 15 me and my friends were wearing old Hawaiian shirts we got from thrift stores.

Suz - Where do you garner your inspiration for your artwork from?

Tony - I grew up with a lot of old National Geographic magazines and I always loved the old illustrations in the ads.  The 1940s through the 1960s have some of the best illustrators. I also grew up reading MAD magazine and I love Dr. Seuss, Tim Burton, Mary Blair as well as Shag and Derek Yaniger.

Suz - Are there any specific icons that truly inspire you?

Tony - Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room, as well as the posters and visual art advertising of the attractions also inspire me.  Thor Heyerdahl's book "Kon-tiki" is a huge inspiration.  I read that when I was twenty and loved how we weaved history, adventure and folk lore into a story.

Suz - When did you start making and selling your tiki art?

Tony - I carved my first tiki when I was 18 or so and my dad sold the first one on eBay or a swap meet and then some friends bought one.  I sold a bunch of them at a swap meet in Ventura, CA and someone told me about Tiki Central.  That was August 2002. After meeting that community of people my eyes really opened up.  I was introduced to Sven Kirsten's "Book of Tiki", which has been my biggest influence of all.  It's a cohesive history of how WWII soldiers stationed in the South Pacific brought back tikis and opened bars and restaurants with a tropical theme.

Suz - Do you remember which piece of art was the very first item you sold?

Tony - Yes it was a crudely carved piece of driftwood that was more driftwood than tiki.  Haha!  But it was kind of cool because it looked like an old tiki that had aged.

Suz - What is one aspect of your art or being apart of the Tiki art community that you are truly proud of?

Tony - One of the best things about the Tiki community is the people.  Most of them are creative and have great ideas.  It's fun to make artwork for creative people and see how they display it in a fun and interesting way.  Many of them have a Tiki room or bar where they get to create their own environment.

Also since my very first tiki mug in 2006, my wife and I have been working together on mugs.  Over the last few years she has been making all of the mugs.  We sculpt the designs together based on my characters and she hand glazes each one so perfectly and precise that they are truly a work of art alone.

Suz - Tell me about how a piece of your driftwood artwork became a part of the Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar?

Tony - I was asked to be in an art show in Anaheim by Tom Laura aka Big Toe.  The theme of the show was shrunken heads so I made a painting for it.  Just before leaving I grabbed another painting last minute.  Brandon Kayla, a Disney Imagineer and set decorator, just happen to be at that show and bought the artwork I grabbed last minute because it fit the theme of Trader Sam's.  It was an islander in a tiki mask capturing a safari guy and a guy with a fez who are tied up.  The guy in the tiki mask theoretically could be Trader Sam.  The characters are a simplify boxy kind of cartoon modern style.  After Brandon bought the piece we became friends through Facebook and he purchased more items for the Trader Sam's in Florida.  I think there are four or five mugs a wall mask and a small whale painting in the Florida's Trader Sam's of mine.

Suz - Do you have a favorite event you sell your art at and why is it your favorite?

Tony - Tiki Oasis in San Diego is the ultimate tiki event.  It's put on by Otto Von Stroheim and it's a huge gathering of creative people who are into vintage tiki culture.  Seeing everyone dressed in vintage tiki shirts and dresses is the closest thing to a time machine we will come to.  It's also the biggest show that we do all year long.  Second to that is the International Tiki Marketplace at Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach, put on by Chris and Karen Garland.  It's every six weeks and has been a consistent and great show for us to showcase our latest mugs and artwork.

Suz - Are there any other events you hope to vend at in the near future that you haven't previously vended at?

Tony -  I would like to attend most of the tiki events like Tiki Kon up north and Luau by the Lake in Lake George, New York.  We also just came back from Florida from the Hukilau which was a lot of fun.  We are actually going to focus more on our online sales and shipping orders out this coming year and maybe do less events.

Suz - What new mugs and or other new Tiki Tony art can we look forward to from you in the future?

Tony - I'm looking forward to doing more of my Disney inspired artwork as well as prints that will be available on our new website.  We are also expanding our mug making productions so we can supply tiki bars and restaurants, that I have relationships with, with a mug designed by me but made outside of our studio.  Alene will continue to make our high-end art mugs, but we will just have a different version for restaurants and bars.

Suz - Do you have any words of wisdom to anyone starting a business selling art or more specifically selling art within the tiki community?

Tony - The only thing I can say is learn as much as you can about the history of whatever you're doing and be authentic and true to yourself.  If you are entertaining yourself, most likely other people will be interested.  Whenever I'm making something new I always try to make something that I would be interested in. Not everything will be a success and you have to learn to roll with the swells.  For the few things that sell well, I have dozens of things that never sparked anyone's interest.  The best advice I have is to play and have fun and if you are having fun, others will want to join.  Making artwork is more about the community of people who support it than the piece itself.  I'm always stoked to have a new fan, but I absolutely love seeing people come back to purchase mugs or even a pendant a second or third time.  Repeat customers truly become friends and family because they influence me with their stories and displays.

For more information about Tiki Tony, please visit his official website here.

Till' Next Time,

Suz

The Crane Wedding

Last week Dave and I flew to Los Angeles to attend his Mom Ana's wedding which took place in beautiful Santa Monica.  The weather was perfect, despite a few trickles of rain just prior to the ceremony.

Here is my handsome hubby all dressed up and wedding ready. Note his cool vintage fleck coat directly behind him.  Later on I would accidentally spill beer on this coat (so happy it was beer and not red wine).  Dave is still getting used to my clumsy ways.  So glad he was able to get it out and it didn't damage the piece.  Woops!

I wore a pink and black floral dress I purchased on Modcloth.com a few years ago during their Online Black Friday sale.  I also wore the flowers my friend Angie made for me for my wedding day. 

The wedding was held at the brother of the groom's house in beautiful Santa Monica.  It was gorgeous and the backyard was the perfect size for the event.  Dave and his brother Roger escorted their mom on her way up to the alter/awning. The bride Ana wore a beautiful white, pink, and lime green floral dress.  She looked fabulous.

The ceremony was beautiful and brought many of those in attendance to tears.

A closer look at the beautiful bride Ana.

Rob was so sweet and did his best to hold back tears while reciting his wedding vows.  It was truly a loving and sweet moment.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife; you may kiss your bride!"

The wedding party. Rob's best man, his brother Dennis, is the owner of the beautiful house where the wedding took place.  Ana's sister Jessie was her Matron of Honor.

David and his brother Roger.

Dave's aunts.  From left to right Verna, Jessie, Carol and Lourdes.

Me and my hubby.

Me and the beautiful bride Ana!

Roger's daughter Roslyn and Fiance' Ashley.

Isn't our niece Roslyn so precious!  She is the spitting image of her dad when he was her age.

Having their first dance to "Happy" by Pharrell. Such a fun song choice for a first dance! Later on Aunt Carol was trying to get everyone on the dance floor and she said something that I absolutely loved. "Everybody can dance.  You just gotta get our there and do it!".  I loved meeting more of Dave's extended family.

Their cute and delicious wedding cake.  So good!!!

Getting ready to cut the cake.

Me and my sister in-law Debbie!

Aunt Jessie and Ana.

Aunt Carol, Dave and Roslyn.

Ashley and Roger.

Dave and Roger with Uncle Paul.

Dave and I with Uncle Paul and Aunt Lourdes.

Carpenter family photo!

Dave and his sister Debbie.

Dave, Ana, Rob, Roger and myself.

Dave, Ana, Rob and Debbie.

It was truly the perfect day and wedding was just lovely. It all went by too quickly.  We wish Ana and Rob all the best! 

Till' Next Time,

Suz