About

Artist Dean DeWinter with "ka wahine a," Dianne, on an earlier expedition.

I must have been 10 or 11 when I carved my first Tiki. It was a little stick of wood but I carved, sanded and stained into the small tiki god that I hung around my neck the whole summer.  Little did I know that it would be such a lifelong relationship. 

I attended Art Center College of Design, worked as an Art Director in advertising and publishing and enjoyed a fairly high level of success.  It was all work and not so much playtime. Then, one day, while visiting a small tropical island, I discovered the next mountain I would need to conquer. You see, I reconnected with a Tiki God necklace in a local shop and IT FLIPPED THE SWITCH. I rediscovery of the Tiki Spirit! 

Ancient tribes throughout our island chains have shown their color pallet to be bight, alive and with bold designs. I try to incorporate this into every painting. It is my belief that color can take a person to incredible places. Both good and bad, But don’t worry, Tiki People only focus on the good side of life. Harmony and Tiki People seem to go hand in hand. They enjoy music, play hard and do the latest 21st Century thing!