I love the idea of suspending a taonga, special stone that has been beautifully shaped from your neck. Sometimes you can incorporate a hole into the design to hang it from, sometimes you need to drill one just for the purpose. I really prefer keeping the carving as intact as possible, for me it feels…
This is a project long time in the making. I carved and finished the Pounamu the start of 2015 and it was presented for the first time at the end of 2016. It is a collaboration between myself, a student at my school, and the Maori/Technology teacher. I did the Pounamu and they together did…
This toki was made for a special guy on a big round birthday late last year. It has beautiful colouring with light to mid green swirls. It carves really well, pretty consistent and didn’t flake or chip at all, a really nice stone. It held a good edge to and I put this to good use…
Making a matching set is one of the best projects I like to work on. There is something real special about receiving a matching set of Taonga that have been carved from the same stone, as you may feel you and your significant other have been. This pounamu toki and kuru are carved from a…
My Grandfather passed away earlier this year. He was almost 80 years old, his lungs started to fail him and he couldn’t keep his body running any more. He was a much loved member of our family and there is still a huge gap he has left behind. I made these pieces because of him….
These three pieces were made for speakers at a conference. I love the colours in the flower jade kuru. The tokis are super long and based on old functional designs that are now displayed in museums and books as historical examples. The photos on the black seem a bit overexposed and bright with really strong…
I love this set of pieces made for 4 siblings, 1 boy and 3 girls. What I really like about this set is it is part of a larger family set all from the same stone. These two pieces, the toki, and the larger drop are pieces I made for the parents. Having pounamu pendants…
This is a piece I designed based on a pre European toki that was used for carving. I love the old shapes and simple elegance they have. It is now with a good friend of mine in Germany. An important piece of New Zealand he can carry with him now.
This piece is a beautiful deep green Toki made from NZ Jade, Pounamu The dark inclusions add variety of colour and character to this piece. I like the tapering from the bottom to the top on this, it accentuates that cutting or bottom edge of the pendant.
These were made for a set of pendants for a wedding of some very good friends of mine. Having two pounamu that are carved from the same stone is a very special thing for a couple. Jade goes through some pretty serious stuff to become what it is today. It is formed when two…