I thought those on Wow may be interested in this piece that I have recently refurbished. Ringa Ringa Nui was a collaborative piece between Lynoel Grant, Len Kay ,Garth Dobney and myself. It measures 650mm x 650mm and is 300mm thick. The piece is very heavy weighing in at 40kg. Postage might set someone back just a wee bit!
A few years ago talented traditional Maori carver / turner George Flavell passed on some words of Maori wisdom. Ancient Maori culture has the belief that even though a living tree has been cut down or fallen to the ground there is still life within. You only have to look inside the piece and bring out the living. His teaching always comes to mind whenever I pick up a bit of wood. The Red Beech burl in the picture was the knarliest bit of wood I have come across. It was found on a sand bank by a South Island river. With Georges mantra in mind I walked past this piece many times and finally visualized the hand that was within.
The hand has been textured to give it a life-like skin effect. I remember seeing a gorilla at the zoo and thinking the skin would make great sandpaper. The copper bracelet was sandblasted with a Tuatara Pattern by Garth Dobney. Len Kay carved the Tuatara out of bone which was then caste in bronze by Lynoel Grant and given the Maori name Ringa-Ringa Nui (Large Hand ). The thumb nail is a New Zealand Paua shell. This piece has been in my entrance hall for a few years. The thumbnail was broken so I filled the new one with epoxy and inserted a dowel pin in order to allow attachment to the timber. Hopefully the paua is now solid enough to resist accidents! Recoated the piece with Harlem oil and it is now sits proudly in the entrance of my gallery. It generates memories of working with world renowned artists and the solid friendships behind the piece.
At the Collaboration all work created goes into an Auction I couldnt resist buying this back as at the time I thought it was a dazzler and I would one day sell it for a small fortune .I ended up paying a small fortune at the Auction as I got carried away .
Please have a look at the work of these talented guys:
Lyonel Grant
http://www.lyonelgrant.com/
Len and Candy Kay
http://www.kiwiartz.co.nz/art/96_len-and-candy-kay-deer-bone
-carvers?cat=maori-art
Garth Dobney
http://garthdobney.vc.net.nz/cgi-bin/WebObjects/ArtFind.woa/
4/wa/publicView?ownSiteURL=garthdobney.vc.net.nz&seekType=3&
artistCodeToShow=gartdobn
New Story, well this piece has been sitting around for a while .I have yet again refurbished the piece .Gordon and I are exhibiting in my first Exhibition at the Morgan street gallery in March.
The Gallery owners were adamant that this piece became the feature of the event.
I hope their enthusiasm runs to a sale finally .As I dont want to have to carry the thing up 3 flights ( OR Down) of stairs again as I think I may have ended up with an extra appendage .I forgot how heavy it was .
I forgot to say my wife still hates this piece and ribs me for the amount I paid for it
Comments welcome
www.sawg.org.nz go to Terry Scott gallery
timberly@xtra.co.nz
