Dark Green Kuru Set

This set is a special request from a friend for a friend.  Two women that live in different countries yet have remained close friends for many years.  A Kuru is a great form to represent and strengthen friendship as it is an emotional and healing shape.

I always enjoy carving Kuru. They are a simple form but there are many variations on this form. It is the first time I have been asked for a kuru set from the same stone of differing sizes.  It really highlighted to me how much size has on the wairua/spirit of a piece.  Each of these pieces feels very different to hold.

When I showed this piece of pounamu to her and she said yes I was stoked.  This is a cool piece of pounamu that lets the light through just enough to give you a hint at the inside of the stone.

I really liked the idea I was presented with of passing on the rest of the slice with the Kuru’s to keep the wairua of the greater piece of pounamu together, possible for future use or for ornamental use.

The final form is roughed out here and the first level of smoothing and sanding is completed.

When sanding, the stone is always wet and it looks very different to when it is dry as above. The wetness gives an idea of what they final surface will look like, never exactly the same but an idea at the kind of stone you are revealing.

The last interesting part was the finish of the large Kuru.  I paused for her advice when I had polished the smaller one glossy and left the larger one matte.

She decided that it would be good to polish one half of the long length ways from the bottom to the top to give the impression that one side is wet like it have been picked up from the wet sand of a beach.  A very cool idea and these photos do not do it justice, I will be interested to see how this goes as it is worn and contact from the skin enhances the surface.