Greenstone Carving: Techniques and Concepts in Pounamu

This concise guide to the art of greenstone carving, out of print for the past 20 years, returns in a smartly designed, fully illustrated new edition.

Greenstone Carving takes readers from the origins of pounamu/greenstone through the basics of the artform — design, tools and techniques, different stone types and potential projects.

Len Gale draws on his background as a craftsman and teacher explain popular Māori designs like hei tiki, toki, pekapeka, mere and patu. The text is accompanied by detailed drawings and photos, including images of superb finished works from the Moko Pounamu studio, Ōtautahi/Christchurch.

This new book joins an expanding range of Māori craft books from Oratia, including Te Whatu Tāniko and Te Toi Whakairo.

• Len Gale, Author

  Len Gale spent a lifetime committed to arts and crafts. After a varied career as a railway engineer, high-school teacher and artist, he devoted his later years to sharing and documenting aspects of his work, including in four books: Greenstone Carving, Wood Carving, Creative Metal and Technology Basics. Len passed away in 2016 at the age of 89.