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!
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