Post #292851 by Basement Kahuna on Sun, Mar 18, 2007 2:57 PM

There's no attempts on my part to copy artifacts verbatim. I do try to do my homework. I try somewhat to keep it true in form and detail, and treated with all the respect or tradition to the items of old as I can, whether that be an indigenous style carving or a pop style. Look around, and you'd be hard pressed to find an exact match in the real Oceanic realm. But I do carve straight along those lines. I don't tell anybody else to do what I do, that's just the way I choose to do things. And my customers appreciate it; that's very important to me. As for how someone else goes about it, that's completely up to them. I've had three different persons of Maori descent over here in the States write me asking me for instructional information on carving their own Taiaha. Now that was intimidating, because, frankly, I treat myself like student every time I carve. I was honored to have a chance to bring some of what I taught myself and learned along the way back to a culture that I have a deep admiration for..and do everything I could to make sure a nearly lost art doesn't slip away. It was a priveledge that I barely deserved.

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna 2007-03-18 18:32 ]