Nelson Pounamu Kuru - Tear Drop, Greenstone, NZ Jade

This is from a dark smokey piece of Pounamu from the Nelson Region.

It is a Kuru - Tear drop.  For me it represents emotion, commonly it is said to encourage knowledge, confidence and independence...

My Carving Studio, Pounamu, Greenstone, NZ Jade

I thought it would be a good idea to share about how and where I have been doing my carving.

I don't really have a dedicated space to the place I am living so have had to make do with where we have space with running water for now. Yep that is the bathroom

It works well enough but it does mean that I need to be able to pack everything up when I am done, no messy workshop yet...

Dark Smoky Toki

This is a very interesting coloured piece of Pounamu.  Found in Nelson this is characteristic of the colouring found in this area.  Darker than a lot of greenstone with more greys and blacks in it.

Toki (Adze)

The Toki (adze) was an important Maori implement...

Pale Creamy Inanga Pounamu Pendant

This is carved from a pale creamy piece of inanga jade.

Here is the piece that I started with...

Serpentine from the Arahura Rough Waterworn Pebble

This is a pebble that I found in the Arahura during my Aoraki Bound course.  At the time I didn't think it was pounamu, after reflecting and talking to a few other people it turns out it is.

I just ended up polishing one side and leaving the other natural as I