Post #408421 by Paipo on Wed, Sep 17, 2008 1:53 PM

Surfin - I'm sitting in my car on the breakwall, looking down. The takeoff zone was literally a stone's throw away right next to the rocks this day. Gotta love a 10 second paddle to the lineup! Patience grasshopper - top results with jade take lots of time and careful finishing . There is no other material that is so unforgiving when it comes to showing up where the time and attention to detail have not been put in. Get the basics down, then focus on the hand finishing to bring out the best in the stone.

Ben - well, you know what's coming, and it's looking really nice about now but still not quite ready for the unveiling. Soon....still some more of that painstaking hand finishing to go, using every stick and scrap of abrasive in the box of tricks!

Seeksurf - see Perry's reply. I'm obsessed with these bird-headed/beaked figures and have carved all the different styles of them I can find. Still got one more to come!

Perry - thanks! There actually are quite a few of these guys in NZ museums, certainly Te Papa and Auckland, but they never made it into the big-time like the regular manaia or hei tiki. I still think of the koropepe and pekapeka as essentially just manaia figures - sometimes the name can be misleading.