Jumbo Hula Girl Tiki Carving

Giant hula girl tiki carving

Big Texas Tiki

Large palm tiki. Marquesas island style

Mesquite Tiki - Marqaori

Texas Tiki Carvings. Mesquite Marqaori

Mesquite tiki carving

This is an 18-inch tiki carved from a South Texas mesquite log. 6 lbs. 7 oz.

Hawaiian
influence via the style of Tongan tiki carvers around Maui and the
other islands, I choose as a tribute to call him Tongaboy.

He is gifted with powerful arms each adorned with tattoos, one on his left being inspired by Marquesan island imagery.

The mesquite wood has red and yellow highlights and has been finely sanded and coated multiple times with tung oil.

Island Princess Polynesian Dancer

Chunky Mesquite Tiki Carving

Tiki in Texas

Tiki in Texas

Texas has a coast. Texas has beaches. Texas has palm trees and tropical plants. Where is the tiki?

A good question when I arrived on North Padre Island to plant roots. As I created my tropical oasis in the back yard, I recall thinking that something was missing. When I lived in California I recall seeing tikis in the garden section of Home Depot. Just what I need as an added touch to my yard! I assumed it would be as simple as going to my local Home Depot and picking one up, but no tiki was to be found.

One of  my first larger tikis

Well then, there must be someone that makes tiki carvings here, right? None that I could find. So it would be up to me. Ten years later I have created a large body of work, part-time as it is. It started with twelve-inch attempts, but what I wanted was something to dominate the yard. An imposing god! So my attempts at five and six-foot versions, and everything above and below, were cranked out at every opportunity.


Eventually a local restaurant took notice, they asked what it would take to "tikify" their place.  I really had no idea, but I was willing to try, and they were willing to let me. I was constrained only by my own imagination and was allowed to make permanent cuts into the supporting structure of their establishment. I took the responsibility seriously and made the coolest tikis I could at the time. My first gig a success.

Tiki carving and haka at the restaurant

Tikis adorning the bar area

Tiki warriors protecting the entrance

A gentleman eating at the establishment took notice and decided that my work would fit perfectly with his residential palapa beside his pool. Again I was given the honor to just go crazy. His home bar now has an exotic touch that no one else can match.

Tiki palapa supports

Tikis at the outdoor bar

A local home builder caught wind of my creations and decided that adding tiki to his new construction would help him become the winning entry in the annual parade of homes. I was given free reign on the waterfront deck to turn it into a functional art object with an exotic feel.

Boat port Polynesian supports

Boat tie-up tikis

Tiki Books

Mark Ferdinand has created an unusual chronology of his tiki carving works. As an added touch he has filled in the blanks to the pesky questions of the origins of humanity.

Budget B&W print version or full-color Tiki Books

"Every Tiki has a Spirit" is an immature account of the works of a tiki carver, and a serious account of the origins of the earth and mankind. The author indulges in his quest for creating bad-ass oceanic art that one can sip a cocktail by. This he alternates with a concise mythological blueprint of how this all came to be, and what we were given to navigate our way through it. A book for tikiphiles, mythology buffs, and wood carvers.

Other Books by Mark Ferdinand

Fortune on the Spectrum – An Adventure Novel

You’re Gonna’ Get Bit! – Harrowing Tales of Herpetology 

The Autistic Prankster – Enjoying the Fun Side of Autism

Every Tiki has a Spirit

Wild Boar: A Case for the Most Beautiful Game Animal

Mark's books are available in Paperback, Kindle, Android and Apple devices.

Available through other retailers as well!

 

See Mark's tiki work at https://www.facebook.com/texastikis/

Texas TIKIS!