Wheku - Mātau

 After working on the practise wheku I felt confident to tackle the larger MDF wheku.  I sketched up the final design and went for it:

My first mistake, was not drawing the waha properly.  A regret that I had to work on fixing later on in the process.  A good lesson for future project.  I think because I knew I was going to have to redraw the pencil lines over and over, I assumed it wouldn't really matter not getting the waha perfect... boy was I wrong.

I kept referring back to my notes that I had written for the practise wheku and grateful for them.  It meant I didn't have to hōhā Tom much.  I appreciated his 'pop ins' to see how I was doing and he gave me great tips along the way.  I often referred back to my practise wheku AND sketches throughout this process.

I slowly worked through the whakangao stage and onto the Āomarama stage of the wheku.  It took quite some time and effort during each of the night classes to try and complete the wheku.  I thoroughly enjoyed the challenges and decided 'yep' I def like carving native rākau as opposed to the MDF.  I notices my chisels were getting pretty blunt also.  I have made it a goal to spend some time learning how to sharpen my whao.  I believe it is the make or break difference to your mahi whakairo.

I am happy with the progress on my wheku.  I hope to have it completed by the end of semester 1.