Friday, January 05, 2024

A Moment of Tiki: Nathanael Ross Smith

Nathanael Ross Smith mai tai glass design
Happy 2024! In the first episode of A MOMENT OF TIKI for the new year, Jayme sits down with Nathanael Ross Smith, an artist probably best known for his illustration work done for the tiki bar Pagan Idol in San Francisco. During our conversation, Nathanael discusses his love for Universal monsters, film noir, tiki culture, the mid century design aesthetic, bad Roger Corman movies and touring as a professional bassist for the folk rock group The Oh Hellos. Nathanael mentioned he'd designed a custom mai tai glass for a home tiki bar and I said I would share it during the episode. Well, that didn't happen, but the glass design may be viewed above for those who are curious. The episode itself may be watched at the link below:

I also realize now that I've been lax in sharing recent episodes here, so let me catch up real quick. In episode 62, I carved a tiki based on the logo/mascot from the late 1950s television series "Hawaiian Eye":

In episode 61, I acquired a replica whaling harpoon from an estate sale and took viewers on a step-by-step restoration of the piece:

In episode 60, I construct way too many tiki light covers for a soon-to-be open new tiki bar in downtown New Braunfels:

And finally, in episode 59, I show how I power carved two Tiki Bobs--one an outdoor sculpture and the other an indoor side table. These were a lot of fun to put together and I hope you find them equally entertaining:

Now Playing: Martin Denny Hynotique
Chicken Ranch Central

No comments:

Post a Comment