“I started carving by hand instead of power tools. I used sand stone and old stone rasps and files in a similar manner as our Tupuna would have carved. I finished the pieces with many laborious hours of hand sanding and hand polishing.

I have been interested in pounamu from a young age. At age six I found my first piece of pounamu at our whānau beach Whareakeake. It presented itself to me after a sun shower, a bright green piece of stone glistening on the white sand so out of place almost as if it were a piece of plastic. And from that point on, I was fully seduced by pounamu.”

Gavin creates taonga/treasures from pounamu/greenstone in a traditional style for clients. He also works with schools and learning centres around Murihiku where he runs day long courses sharing the art of pounamu carving with tamariki/children. His work is inspired by his tupuna/ancestors and he also draws inspiration from the whenua/land and his natural surroundings.