Driftwood face

Today I started working on this carving again. I'm terrible at working on one carving at a time which makes it seem like it takes forever to finish one. This has been a struggle. As I am teaching myself I keep making mistakes and it takes hours upon hours to bring everything back into some sort of perspective. I hope to work on this tomorrow so hope to be closer to completing this difficult, learn by your mistakes, carving.

Progress on fish hook carving

Although my progress is slow I am getting there. As you can see from the comparison there has been a reasonable amount of progress. I think the name of this particular piece of greenstone is Kakotea. Forgive me if I am wrong. I am trying to teach myself the differences of greenstone in New Zealand. The photo background on the right shows the carving sitting on a Brisbane river nodule.

Solo Exhibition

I'm happy to announce I'm having my first solo exhibition at the end of Feb running through to the 26th Mar.  I began creating artwork for the exhibition around Dec 2013 so have been pretty busy over the last two months.

New Carving

This is my latest carving. It took approx 10 hours to complete. It is deer antler that is very old and was buried for several years. The colour gives the illusion that it has been stained but I can say it has not. There could be something very special happening with this particular carving and I am waiting for a reply before I reveal anything on here. The leaf-side of the carving is the back and carving itself is titled Únity'. I hope you like my newest piece of art.

Two new bone carvings

Here are my latest bone carvings. One was based on the outer shape of a tear/raindrop so it's title is rain droplet. The other one I'm not sure what it looks like to others but it looks like a particular part of a male appendage. It is actually a contemporary designed fish hook (Hei Matau).

Final touches on baby elephant

I hope to complete the baby elephant carving on the weekend. The last bit to do is cut a amethyst crystal to place in the center of the elephants head. (It's third eye) The difficulty carving with few features makes it hard to see the contours, especially in the head and top part of the thighs.

Torso

I bought this mannequin torso a few years ago for displaying my T-shirt designs and Jewelry but the other day decided to transform it into it's own piece of art. Covered in Maori design to fit my other works I've been working on to form a collection of artwork I'm left wondering whether I need to add to the design. I'm going to leave it for a while and see what I come up with. I do have an idea of what to do but am unsure at present.

Two carvings

These are my latest jewelry pieces. The pendant is from wood, I'm unsure what type but will hazard a guess and say limewood based on that it smelled like limes when I was working on it.  The pendant on the top right is the feminine side with it's soft curves and the pendant bottom left is the masculine side with it's crisp lines which means it is suited for both sexes.

The other is beef bone and the back side is greenstone. I will include a photo of the back at a later date. The etching of the Kowhai flower is called scrimshaw.

 I plait my own cord which is black waxed nylon cord

Elephant carving update

As you can see, the head is still oversized and I'm being careful to not lose the playful baby elephant look making it a bit nerve racking to take off too much at once.  All'n All coming together quite well. I'm sure my friend will appreciate it once completed.

Elephant wood carving

Today I began a carving of an Elephant. Surprisingly it has turned out pretty good. It even has character. A playful baby elephant is what it reminds me of. I think the wood is Black Maire. Very hard to carve! Its been clamped as it split while it was in the vice. I still need to shape the trunk and work on the body and head before sanding but I'm looking forward to the end result.
I've got a day in town tomorrow so will hopefully complete the elephant on Sat 2nd Nov.

Carving nearing completion

Finally I'm nearing the completion of my deer antler carving. The greenstone has been attached along with the wooden caps. I just need to shape them closer to the actual carving and remove marks and stain part of the carving for some contrast then join the two pieces together.

The Temptations of John the Baptist

Finally I have found the time to make the base for this deer antler carving. I certainly add to my own stress level by working on too many projects at once. I'm hoping to have learned my lesson. It's a lovely grain running along the edge of the base.  Forgive me for the background. Carving measures 24cm L and has been stained in a tea blend. The base is made from Totora.

new wood carving

The piece of driftwood I purchased from the arts recycling center the other day is now beginning to take shape. It is a very hard wood. I'm guessing it is Jarra but have my fingers crossed that it's Black Maire. Even my files are working hard to remove the wood. I've spent most of today thinking about the back of the carving and as you can see by the image I have begun work on it. As far as a story for this piece, I still am working on that too. The top image is day two where I have started to add more detailing to the hands etc. The bottom image was from yesterday.