Snagging some of the world’s oldest wood turned out to be much easier than expected. A small shipment of various sized pieces of Ancient Kauri arrived the other day and after ten seconds of pondering over what to do with it, I decided on carving a bear. Okay, bears have nothing to do with New Zealand but when the voices in my head say, “Make a bear”, I’ve learned not to argue. They can be quite persistent. I began by drawing the shape based on a style used by many Zuni artisans. After carving and sanding to 1500 grit, the iridescent quality found in Ancient Kauri really pulled through. I was pleasantly surprised because the piece I started with really didn’t look like anything special. The wood is relatively easy to work and finishes nicely. It’s cool to know that a tiny piece of a grand old tree, once buried for thousands of years, is now sitting on my coffee table!