Post #371730 by Paipo on Fri, Apr 4, 2008 11:48 PM

That sure looks like jade to me! Some nephrite carves like butter, and some are almost impossible to work they're so hard. NZ stone in general I would rate as easier to work than Aussie (Cowell) or BC stone. I've also found the inanga type jades the hardest (especially Siberian), probably because they're so pure. I have stones I've given up on because they were just too hard on the tools. (Again, this is all generalisation - there are always exceptions to any rule, even more so with stone). Your olive stuff looks like a lot some of the Wyoming stone I've seen? It still could be something else I guess - maybe you should send some over for testing?

Stone talk aside, these are mad skills you're displaying here. The kotiate is a miniature masterpiece! I love the sunken/undercut effect in the middle, and you did a great job rendering the little face on the butt. The binding and cord are just the icing on the cake - it's not often I see something new there, the scene here being what it is, but you've come up with something really original.
Don't worry about symmetry on the other piece - it would be boring to go to all that effort just to end up with exactly the same thing on both sides. Think yin/yang, good/evil...two for the price of one!