Carving up for Auction

Lessons in Trust

Mick has carved a beautiful piece of Pounamu which went up for auction to help fund this project, but was not sold when the auction finished at 9am on Friday. I was disappointed and decided to wait to talk to the team before relisting it. I knew we needed the proceeds to pay the final bills.

At 2pm the phone rang and someone said they had heard Mick had a lovely carving for sale and they offered the exact amount I knew Mick wanted for it. It is going to a beautiful woman as a birthday present from her husband.

I rang Mick to tell him the news and Katie was there. I told her the stone hadn't sold at auction and I could hear her disappointment. Then I told her I had subsequently had a call and would Mick accept the offer. She was over the moon as she had had a sleepless night last night wondering how she was going to pay the last bills.

This whole process has been such a journey of trust.

Its been the impossible made possible through love.

What a team we have, what hope it gives me for the these times. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Jan

Carving for Auction

The stone is a marsden flower jade and the tree carved into it is the rata. It's story is emerging as the carving progresses.

The Story of the Carving

The sculpture, in a beautiful, very rare piece of Marsden pounamu (greenstone or jade), is of a rata, a tree that means a wealth of things to him. Its crimson flowers, paint the mountain-sides with a blush of flame, to speak of beauty. Its tenacious grip on the steep hillsides allows it to seed and heal lands ravaged by slips and icy avalanches. So it’s hardy and strong. And when it flowers it provides food for the birds in the wild reaches of the land, offers nectar to the bees that in turn provide delicious rata honey for the people.

For Mick it represents the universal ‘Tree of Life’ which is the essence of the spirit of rata.

This special jade piece has within it the colours of the land and the waters and hints of sky. It’s Mick’s way of bringing his understanding of the stone and his skill as a carver into the mix that will provide him with a home.

The sculpture measures
height 165mm
width 150mm
depth at deepest point 75mm

The rata tree emerging	The first cut