Ko Rangiriri rakau whakangautai te taniwha!

 

The progress of Rangiriri...

 I had a tutu on my tekoteko yesterday using toki, whao and angle grinder.  It was nice to work outside even though chips went flying everywhere.  I think next time I'll put the tarpaulin down to make cleaning up easier.

I enjoyed trying to figure out my cuts.  Something Arama shared with us was to 'enjoy' the process, so I made a conscious effort to not stress about any of the cuts I made and 'rolled' with it.  It worked and after my session I felt good.

 

 

Our haerenga ki Waitangi - 10th Oct 2020

 Our class embarked on a haerenga to Waitangi last Saturday.  It was an awesome day for all of us and was described perfectly by one of my fellow tauira Heketia Ahomiro:

"Today we honoured our ancestors, e tātou mā.  We reaffirmed their deeds as great mana, he mana tuku iho, mana atua, mana tupuna, mana tangata, mana whenua. Kei tua ko te aka matua he mana Māori motuhake e.  How blessed are we?"

I managed to capture snippets of our day and put them together in movie form for us to cherish.

We also had the pleasure of meeting Arama Hamiora Davis in the carving shed based at the Waitangi Treaty grounds.  He gave a demo of carving pākati.  I managed to film some of it:

Tekoteko wero - i haere tonu ahau!

After many attempts using pencil/paper, clay and wood.  I am still trying to get my 'form' right for my Tekoteko. 

I started with my sketches and ideas and once I drew my design onto my maquette and started chunking/cutting it out, I couldn't get my head around how to make the cuts so, I turned to clay/uku.  I figured out some of my cuts using clay and tried NOT to add bits back after I had cut out.  It was pretty tricky.  The upoko and face I found particularly tricky.

   

Once the maquette was finished, I wasn't happy with the form.  I think it was the arms that threw me so I decided to play around with the concept of making a maquette without arms.  Out came the clay again.

 

The form looked interesting but the head reminded me of a moa... NOT the look I was going for.  So I cut the head off and made a different style head after looking at other 'pictures' in books and online.

 

The second upoko didn't quite look right either.  So I ditched the idea of doing a 'human' figure because it still didn't look right.

I thought more about the kōrero of Rangiriri and decided that because he was a totara log that swam against the tide, he might look better as a 'log' figure with maybe a contemporary type head.  So back to the sketch book...  I wanted to create something quite contemporary and thought the pīhere should protrude from the chest.  So I had a go at carving what I could see on paper, and in my head.

 

My next task was figuring out the 'eyes'.  I knew I didn't actually want eyeballs (as such) because of the nature of Rangiriri's enchanted nature so it had me stumped a bit.  Probably because my attempt at creating what I wanted was unsuccessful using clay.  Kawiti came to my rescue and reminded me about the 'tuere' which we drew way back in April in one of our zui sessions.

So, I drew on the eyes and Kawiti showed which whao to use to create the right cuts - check cuts are sooo important.  It ready does stop the rakau from ripping or chipping.  I was pretty stoked with the final look.

 

Kawiti rocked into the workshop with a 'surprise'.  When he asked me a few weeks ago about Rangiriri, one of the stories I shared with him was how Rangiriri would transform and cut the chains of the kauri logs waiting to be taken along the Wairoa river out to the Kaipara Harbour.  Kawiti shared with me that he may have a rakau that I may be interested in.  He pulled it out of a stream in Whakapara.  

 

It was perfect.  There were chains embedded in the rakau and it was a twisted form.  Perfect to represent the transformation of Rangiriri.  My intuitive and initial reaction was quickly replaced with apprehension and fear.  Could I achieve this wero?  Would I ruin Kawiti's log?  So with the roller coaster thought process for the rest of the class, Kawiti put me at ease by telling me it could possibly go to waste if I didn't take on the wero.  So I said I'd take it home and think about it.

So in the shed it sat.  It felt right and I sketched some ideas down in both my head and on paper.  I was thankful that I had a toki sharpened by the matua down at Downtown Tools so bit the bullet and started to toki out parts of the upoko.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and am excited.  I was suprised at how nicely the chips came away and the strong aroma of pine in my shed (it reminded me of cutting xmas trees with my Dad).  So, here I am at the first stage of shaping Rangiriri... A massive wero!

 

 

A visit to Jay's Whakairo Shed.

Today was an inspirational day.  I was invited by Jay to visit Otamatea High School to have a look at her whakairo shed.  

I was impressed with the set up and how well resourced the shed was.  It was great to see the quality of the chisels and tools which shows she values the students and expects quality mahi.  I learnt so much from her today.  One of my greatest challenges next year will be getting my head around NCEA assessments and Unit standards but thanks to Jay, I was able to look at some exemplars.

I met two of her students (Year 12 girls) who were a part of the team that worked on a commissioned waharoa for Whangarei Heads Primary School.  It was erected inside the shed for an open viewing session at lunchtime for students and teachers.  It will then be dismantled and taken to Whangarei Heads School next Tuesday and I'm looking forward to heading along to document the event.

I'm looking forward to the ongoing whanaungatanga with Jay and her students and I'm super excited on the new wero next year.

Tekoteko wero

 One of our creative works for our second semester is a tekoteko.  I started a maquette way back in June for a design I had sketched up based on a tekoteko my bro had started.  It was good practice and was just on a block of pine.

This semester we have a block of totara to work on (150x150x600) to create our tekoteko.  I decided to create a new design for this project.  Here's the project brief:

I've decided to create a contemporary tekoteko which will represent 'Rangiriri - he rākau mana.  I've played around with shapes and I had a go at using polystyrene for my first maquette to get my head around the first cuts.  Still not satisfied I have the design right yet, I continue to sketch ideas for the contemporary piece.

When arriving at the workshop today I looked at some of the artworks and took photos to try and give me ideas of different 3D forms.  There's some beautiful pieces in our carving shed and I'm thankful to have access to them, there's nothing quite like walking around pieces rather than looking at them in a book.

Pākati Whakarei

 My new wero is to practise carving whakarei.  Pākati is the first (of many) that I am attempting to improve in.  Ive had a number of lessons from Kawiti and the little videos have been helpful.  There's nothing quite like getting in there a tackling the task at hand.

Last week I started practising.  It's a looooong process but I like the fact that Kawiti is a perfectionist when it comes to pākati so it's great having a tutor that takes the time to try and teach the 'correct' way - he taonga tuku iho from our tūpuna and also a tribute to his own tutor/mentor Eric Korewha.

Here's some photos of my progress:

The thing I'm struggling with is telling those who are trying to share their own knowledge about how to carve pākati that I don't want to do it their way lol.  I'm just too nice.  I appreciate others sharing their knowledge and I sit patiently, watch and listen, but I don't have the heart to say "Well, Kawiti is our tutor and I'm going to do it his way"  Haha!

So this week I've been sharpening my whao and working on pākati.  Here's a comparison I've made of Kawiti's and my pākati.

I need to work on consistency and trying to keep the whakarei centred and sharp.

Pouwhenua for Te Wairoa

 When I took on the wero of learning whakairo, I thought to myself "Cool no-one will ask me to carve them anything because of my bro Johnny".  

A couple of weeks ago a dear friend of mine asked me to carve her son (Te Wairoa) a taiaha for his 3rd birthday.  At first I was like... "What the heck, I'm not at that point yet!"  But the more I thought about it and after talking to my hoa rangatira Patrick about it, he suggested I carve him a pouwhenua, which he said would be better for a toddler because there are not rules around using it compared to a taiaha.

I had the honour of making Te Wairoa's ipu whenua (which I hadn't made for over 20years).  It is now buried out at Whakapara on his Mum's tupuna whenua.  So, I warmed to the idea and thought it would be good practice.

I purchased some doweling from Bunnings and thought about how I was going to make it.  Patrick recommended it to be short so he would get used to swinging it around and doweling would be nice and light.

I drew a few sketches in my book and looked at some traditional pouwhenua online.

I kept it simple and decided that I would paint it when finished.  I called it "Hoeroa" which refers to one of the kaitiaki in Te Wairoa Awa.  A story we all learnt growing up.

Ko Poko poko te Taniwha
Ko Rangiriri te rakau whakangautai 

Ko Hoeroa ngā Ngaru
Ko Mahuhu ki te rangi te waka
Ko Rongamai te Ariki
Ko Ngatiwhatua te Iwi 

I enjoyed the little wero of creating this pouwhenua,  I painted 'Hoeroa' nga ngaru e toru and highlighted parts of the face - taniwha Rangiriri.  The feathers represent the karuhiruhi (shag), another kaitiaki of the taniwha Rangiriri te rakau whakangautai.

 

 

Wahaika Wero

My next wero is to create a wahaika.  I knew I wanted to replicate a wahaika patu that my bro had made for me as a koha to Pt England School when I left back in 2015.  I asked him to carve me something that I could leave behind as a taonga gifted to a student who showed leadership in Te Ao Māori.  So, he decided on a wahaika patu.  I named it in honour of my grandmother who was the matriarch of the whānau - Parehuia-manu-o-te-tau.  The wahaika i'll be working on will be named in honour of my grandfather, Hori Winiata Tito so it will be a 'matching' piece to the taonga created 5 years ago.  I just hope I can do it justice because the piece Johnny carved was ataahua.

I found another piece in the 'shed' at home and again, not sure of the wood.  I thought it was Kauri but as soon as I started carving it, I knew that it wasn't.  The grain was very different and the wood seemed to come away easier than that of kauri.  When I showed my bro, he seemed to think it was black Maire from one of his mates up in Waipoua. 

When I shared that knowledge with Kawiti, he was stumped because my piece wasn't heavy, (one of the characteristics of black Maire)  He later on found a piece in the workshop and showed me, and I knew too, my piece is NOT black maire.  When I told Johnny, he said there's some in the shed somewhere so I am super keen to go and find it.  Apparently it's a hard wood and it can make your whao blunt, but has a stunning grain and colouring <3

I really enjoy shaping pieces and am thankful for the grinder.  I slowly worked on the shape using the grinder but leaving plenty of room to finish using the whao.  I didn't want to 'over' grind the piece in case I took too much off.  I am always aware of taking too much off.

My first real challenge came when carving the manaia.  I chose a manaia for its significance of kaitiakitanga.  I had to get my head around the form and with advice from Kawiti I had to resort back to drawings.  It helped with the visualisation of what I could work towards, I could see it in my head and had to put it down on paper, that was tricky too.

My first task for the manaia after drawing it was to drill in some holes for the negative spaces.  I found it helpful in trying to keep the manaia in line on each side of the wahaika but then in saying that it was also a challenge keeping everything in line when shaping both sides.

 

I didn't mind chipping away slowly when shaping the manaia and it took me a long time to complete it.  The manaia isn't fully symmetrical:  the mouth is slightly slanted and the tinana is not quite the same on each side too.  The centre line is super important and I need to draw it straight back on if I take it off with a whao (VERY important lesson) and it pays to keep taking the piece out of the vice often to keep the balance as accurate as possible.  I then cut out the paua laminate for the eyes and tail of the manaia.

 

Once the manaia was completed I knew my next challenge would be the tingongi.  Again I resorted to drawing to give myself an idea of how I wanted it to look.  The tingongi on this piece represents tupuna.  I drew the unaunahi on the design because ultimately, that's what I want on the piece.  In reflection, I wasn't ready (equiped with the skills) to put whakarei on the wahaika (not to say that it will NEVER have whakarei on it, that is the ultimate goal)

The tingongi took as much time as the manaia to try and get right.  I see there is a slight tilt of the tingongi when looking front on.  I know where I went wrong and it was from not redrawing the centre line once I had taken it out with the chisel while shaping.  It's a constant taking out of the vice/jaws to try and keep things symmetrical.  Thankful for the superjaws (especially after screwing blocks in the feet so I wasn't bending over my mahi)

Finishing touches:  Once I had competed the manaia and tinongi I glued in the paua laminate using wood glue.  It was left overnight to dry and then I brushed on some danish oil.  I got a headache afterwards too because I should have worn my proper mask with filters.  A GOOD reminder about safety.  I then prepared the muka and feathers, sorting through my kūkupa collection for right colours, size and shape.  I bound a few using wax cord and then tied them to the muka.  I use Kūkupa feathers because of their significance to our whānau (Tito) and whakapapa.

A completed taonga in honour of Hori Winiata Tito.  A wero I thoroughly enjoyed and love the piece for all the learning and for what it represents.

Things to improve on: 

Starting to focus on gaining skill in whakarei because at the moment my pieces are 'naked' and would really benefit from the beauty that whakarei have to offer in both visual context and that of adding 'meaning'/korero to pieces.  In particular pākati, unaunahi and haehae - I would like to come back at some stage and add whakarei to the tingongi.

I learnt afterwards from Korotangi about how to size up pieces and how to measure using non-standard units ie: fingertips to inner elbow, palm, shaka etc.  He also talked about how the wahaika would have been used to disembowel opponents.  He also spoke about the meaning of 'wahaika' mouth of a fish and the hook shape where it would bite into kidneys.

Instead of just picking up a block of wood and shaping it, next time it would be nice to try and design something with the grain in mind, utilising the grain to strengthen, enhance a piece rather than just for the sake of doing a piece.  I acknowledge that I'm at a stage where I'm utilising rākau to gain experience but would like to put more thought into the grain and type of rākau suitable for the pieces.

New Wero: Rākau Māori - Patu

I thought I'd take on the wero of creating a patu.  I had a cut out piece that my bro had left behind in our hut in Tangiteroria.  To challenge myself, I completely changed the shape.  His original design was a mere pounamu shape, so I thought I'd do a more contemporary design... a cross between a mere pounamu and a wahaika patu. 

I am learning so much about identifying rākau.  I thought this piece wasn't kauri because the grain looked so different from my pūtōrino.  I discovered while shaping this piece that in fact it was similar to the kauri with 'end grains' running throughout it.  Sure enough, it was confirmed as kauri.  

I designed my piece and was going to attempt some more stylised designs.  While working on it my mind changed, firstly because of the nature of the grain while shaping, it was 'all over the place' so I thought if I tried to carve whakarei on this piece, I was going to make a heck of a mess.  As the grain started revealing itself, it was very interesting and thought it will look beautiful without any whakarei, as long as I got the shape right.  There was a tricky knot to get around and it tool me a long time to chip away at it.

Some of the challenges/learnings I have come across during this process are:

*  Don't mark both sides of your design unless they perfectly align, it really threw me when I was shaping the design so after struggling getting confused I figured out to sand off the marks and it was helpful.  Also, don't use a vivid so you can rub them out.

*  Grain direction - ripping.  So inconsistent and you have to be on your toes (and listen) the whole time so you can change direction when you need to.

*  Knot - design around the knots.  It took such a long time to carve out this knot and I had to sharpen my tools.  

After spending all day wānanga working on my patu, it took a LONG time to shape.  I pretty much spent all day shaping.  I started drawing out the tapering and used my chisel to start chipping away.  The next day, I pulled out my angle grinder and orbital sander - OMG what a difference they made.  I appreciate the mahi that goes in to using your whao but I am also mindful of the words of wisdom from Matua Hek Busby around tools to use the best tools for the job, be it a chainsaw etc.  

Once I started sanding, the grain really revealed itself.  I was concerned when I inspected part of the patu and the pathway of the knot.  I messaged my bro in Oz and he said it was probably a 'shake' which happens when the tree is felled.  He told me it will either be weak OR really strong.  I'm hoping it's super strong.  Now I'm just working on getting the balance right in the form and weight.  Lets' see how we go.

I was unhappy with the butt of the patu because I felt that it wasn't thought out properly, which proves the importance of sketching out you idea fully or to at least give yourself options visually.  I also learnt about ripping the rakau while drilling.  So to create a hole in the butt so I could tie in muka and feathers, I drilled a hole using my hand drill. 

I pressed too hard going through and probably should have had a wooden block underneath the handle so the drill wouldn't rip the wood during exit.  So I had to fix up that mistake or 'make and adjustment'.

I am stoked with my first patu.  I spent a lot of time sanding it because the grain was so beautiful.  I quite like a rough finish that shows the whao marks but for this piece, it felt right to give it a smooth finish and to coat it with Danish Oil. 

I adorned the patu with muka and Kūkupa feathers.  The muka was made from harakeke collected from Mangakahia Road between Awarua and Nukutāwhiti.  Sadly the muka flax aren't there anymore because of forestry, but we were lucky enough to have transplanted some to the kaumatua flats in Tangiteroria.  I like to add feathers to my pieces because on both sides of my parents, manu are considered kaitiaki and I use Kūkupa feathers in honour of our tupuna Kūkupa.