Pania of the Reef

Well, here she is at last! I did a matau (fish hook) which I posted on October 28th. In it's raw state, I'd sawn it down the centre. I was going to do two the same - mirror images of each other, but this one then morphed into - this!

So she's a fish hook - beautiful, hooks men in. She's Pania of the Reef. We look out on this reef, and there's a local legend that goes wth it. Pania lived out there - in the ocean, then met a man and they fell in love. She came to live on shore, and they had a son. But Pania couldn't bear to be away from the ocean, so she moved back there. Apparently if you go out to the reef, you can see her on the ocean floor.

So I've done her as a mermaid. I think she must have been one, if she lived in the ocean and on land, and local Maori who I have shown this to (and I have another Pania who I've done as a mermaid) have told me - "Well, yes, she was!"

Koru Manawa

I split a whales tooth down the middle to form two pendants. Each one I carved with koru so they are mirror images of each other. Koru are fern fronds, meaning new life. If you put the two together, the opposing koru form hearts, or manawa. I then cut a red beech burr in half, and carved out spaces to insert the pendants into the base. On the lid, I caved a manawa (heart), and you can see how the two koru form the manawa. So we have two halves, new life forming a heart - the ultimate wedding gift.

It is at Otarere Maori Arts and Crafts, which is located at 577 State highway 1, just north of Otaki and is run by Cheryl, Coral and Henry. They're really nice, so call in and see them (look for the marae style building, with some wicked carvings) or phone them on (06) 3679317 or a/h on 027 736 6229. They also have a beautiful red beech burr bowl with a paua inlay of mine there.