Roimata Pounamu – Tear Drop

 This was an interesting piece to make.  It turned out quite different to how I visualised it in the beginning. It was a small outer piece of… stone from a piece in the Arahura area. The outer white part of the stone was actually quite soft and there were several fractures through the middle that…

I recently completed a very special taonga for my wife – a 5cm long Roimata, crafted from Aroha Stone. This piece holds deep significance not only because of the stone but because of the connection it symbolises. The Aroha Stone I used features stunning shades of deep purples and pinks through to whites, capturing the…

This taonga is more than just a carving—it marks a moment in time, a step in my son’s journey as a carver. He chose the Pounamu, shaped the form, and put in the hard work sanding and polishing. My role was simply to guide when needed, offering advice and support as he brought his vision…

This was a cool job to do. I really liked the natural finish of these pieces as well as how they ended up looking with the full kuru lashing. You can see in the photos below the starting point and then the process I went through to reshape them for the lashing.