Well-known Northland artist Len Kay is being remembered for his bone carvings, the beautiful work he did, and his family.
Well-known Northland artist Len Kay is being remembered for his bone carvings, the beautiful work he did, and his family.
OBITUARY:
From bulldozers to bone, Janine Anderson writes about the life and work of her father, Len Kay.
The well-known Northland artist passed away on Wednesday, February 22 at home in Whangārei. He was 87 years old.
Leonard Thomas Kay (Len) was born in Hamilton on July 23, 1935. His father was a sharemilker and farmer and came from Lancashire in England, arriving in New Zealand around 1911. His mother was of Māori and Irish descent and was born in the Pakōtai, Mangakahia area of Te Tai Tokerau Northland.
His working life was centred around the heavy earthmoving machinery business and was a complete contrast to his later years as a talented artist and bone carver.
In the 1950s and 1960s, he worked for earthmoving contractors W Stevenson & Sons in various roles, and in the late 1960s was a foreman at the Kopuku opencast coal mine near Maramarua, in the Waikato. In the 1970s, he worked for Gough Gough & Hamer in the sale of Cat bulldozers and other heavy machinery, based in Auckland. His territory was huge, encompassing a large part of the North Island.
In 1971, Goughs decided (with encouragement from Len) to have a Northland base, so he moved to Whangārei still doing sales with his territory ranging from Wellsford to the Far North. He eventually organised a base, got more staff, built a building for Goughs in Whangārei and was regional manager for Goughs for over 20 years.
In 2014, Whangārei bone carver Len Kay was commissioned to make gifts for Venus Williams and David Ferrer at the Auckland Tennis Open.
In the 1980s, while visiting the Rock & Gem Show in Whangārei, he saw a bone carving demonstration and decided to learn a new skill. That was the start of a hobby that a few years later saw him leave his management position at Goughs to devote his time to the ever-expanding bone carving business that he and his wife Candy developed, Pacific Carvers.
It was his link back to his Māori whakapapa and something he was very talented at. He was a self-confessed perfectionist, and did both wearable bone carvings and bone sculptures.
He had several exhibitions of his work in Whangārei and sold his pieces nationally and worldwide in various galleries, as well as doing commissions for individual buyers.
He and Candy were very active in the Northland art scene and were founding members in 1999 of CollaboratioNZ (a collaboration of worldwide artists) and an event that is held every two years here in the Whangārei Heads area.
In 2014, his work was used as presentation gifts for tennis superstars Venus Williams and David Ferrer.
Harking back to his early working life, he and Candy are also lifelong members of the Northland Vintage Machinery Club based at Heritage Park, Maunu, Whangārei.
Len’s legacy is his bone carvings and the beautiful work he did, and his family. He is survived by his wife, Candy, three daughters, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
