New Whale Tail and Matau

I've just finished these two sculptures which are winging their way down to Te Huia Gallery in Arrowtown as we speak! The whale tail is made from NZ native Kahikatea, otherwise known as white pine. It's a LOT harder than what we normally think of as pine. In fact, it's one of the hardest woods I work with, but it does create a beautiful finish, and is very hardy by comparison. The matau (fish hook) is made from NZ native Beech. As you can see it has wicked grain in it. The "fiddleback" is amazing. That's those shimmies branching out from the middle of the hook. They have a haulographic effect as you move around it. You can see it in the raw piece before I sculpted it. They're created by stress on a branch as the tree tries to hang on. They're commonly referred to as fiddleback, as it's what violin makers used to look for to make the back of their "fiddles". Now I look for it to create my pieces.