The Jade and Bone website is a place to explore and appreciate the work of renowned carver and taonga pūoro maker Brian Flintoff, alongside the work of his long-time collaborators Clem Mellish and Robin Slow. While Brian no longer creates Taonga Pūoro for sale, this website remains as a record and celebration of his life’s work, bringing together many of the remarkable pieces he has created, exhibited and shared over the years.
This display features paintings by Robin Slow and carvings by Brian Flintoff as presented in the Ngā Hau Ngākau exhibition as well as a feature video and music by Bob Bickerton. Stories and layers behind the imagery and music are eloquently explored and insights are revealed into an ancient world which is still relevant today.
Now available to view online is a stunning artistic collaboration between Master Carver Brian Flintoff, Painter Robin Slow & Taonga Pūoro Musician Bob Bickerton. Become immersed in this beautiful melding of craftsmanship, art and sound.
Brian Flintoff has established himself as a master carver of traditional Maori instruments - Taonga Puoro. Recognition within the Māori world is matched by his Artist membership of the N.Z. Academy of Fine Arts. His love of nature and of myth shows in the animal forms which become part of most of his pieces. Read more →
Robin Slow is a highly respected and accomplished artist, Since 1991 Robin has worked with the whanau at Onetahua Marae and considers the the area, the people, the natural resources (and the protection of them), the histories and stories that go to make Mohua (Golden Bay) his greatest influence. Read more →
Brian manifests a unique passion for telling ancestral stories in old forms but in new ways – and telling them beautifully. My tūpuna would be profoundly envious of the treasures that we in our time are able to wear and display. They are treasures as beautiful as those of old. Brian Flintoff has taken an ancient art form and imbued it with new life. It now evolves and grows in a way that could not have been imagined even fifty years ago. He has been at the centre of that new life.
