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.