Post #383655 by Tamapoutini on Fri, May 30, 2008 10:28 PM

BenZ: How about we just make an agreement - you send me all your finished work & Ill send you all mine.. deal? We'll both die penniless but happy, happy, happy.. :lol:

Toa: I cant thank you enough for that - youve opened an amazingly carved door for me.. Im also glad to see that youre finding your way around TC and ingratiating yourself with the natives. You seem to have had good direct-source learning in tikanga Maori; many of the artists here are interested in Maori culture & would do well to pick your brain if youre willing to share. I can only pass on so much and still consider myself a student along with the rest of them. A student with a slight advantage in being part-Maori and living in NZ.. :lol:

Blowfish: Cheers for that info. I believe the Maori Re-Niho was similarly of tongue-form and probably also reserved for the higher castes, Ali'i = Ariki

TikiFreak: There will be more games.. :) I know it may look as if it happens quickly via the medium of TC/internet, but believe me jade carving is a slow business.. The intial grinding may be only a matter of hours and the piece may look 90% done but from there on in it all changes down several gears. Each stage also becomes progressively slower as finer tools are used and 'fine-tuning' becomes the task at hand. The hours this Palaoa has gobbled into has even surprised me, but considering it is the first time Ive made one, perhaps not so surprising. Tell you what I rule a line..

..and continue this down here.

Being a new form and also such an Ancient/powerful form - and with me being 'tau-Iwi' from the culture concerned (dont know why it bothers me with this particular form so much when Ive 'replicated' designs/figures from other cultures before now?), I really wanted to make the best job of it that I could. There may be subtle 'rules' to the design that I havent picked up on from pics but despite a lot of trawling for info I couldnt find very much..

Still not quite finished. Ive decided to readress certain areas with a heavyish diamond cloth which will go and get it all scratched up again (!) but will iron out a bit of rippling on the curved surface underneath. After this Ill probably need to go over the whole thing again with a finer cloth. Im thinking of leaving the inside with a reasonably matte/frosted appearance and may even go so far as to polish the outer areas to a bit of a shine, to enhance this contrast. Not sure yet but the next time you see it, itll be finished - and bound. (gawd, Im waffling tonight..)

'Lei-Niho Palaoa' or in Moari 'Rei-Niho Paraoa' - carved/pierced whaletooth pendant:

Have a good weekend everyone! :)