Whanganui taonga pūoro carver Tom Carroll opens workshop doors

Tom Carroll plays a pūtātara shell trumpet with Alistair Fraser during last month's Artists Open Studios. Photos/ Supplied

After years honing his skills in taonga pūoro, Tom Carroll is ready to pull the curtain back on his craft.

The Whanganui carver and musician opened his Drews Ave studio and gallery space during Artists Open Studios in March but from April 12 the doors will be open weekly on Friday and Saturday.

Carroll has been carving and learning to play taonga pūoro for about seven years since reading a book about the traditional Māori instruments.

"I was pretty inspired by that and just set up a little workshop in Wellington and started to experiment with some of the forms and basic recipes in the book," Carroll says.

"And because I was teaching myself to play at the same time there was kind of this weird relationship between making and playing.

"The better I got at playing the better I got at making instruments as well."

Carroll was a sculptor and musician while living in Melbourne a few years back and says taonga pūoro "was a natural progression from that".

"Because it is sculpting and making music in the one form I was really excited to get into that."

Moving back to New Zealand and Whanganui sharpened his focus.

Carroll shares the Drews Ave studio - with its workshop in the back and gallery in the front - with Kieran Donnelly and the pair are now ready to let the public in.

"This place has grown pretty nicely and organically which is cool," he says.

It was friend Kit Lawrence, who works in content creation, design and creative strategy, who encouraged him to open his work up to the public.

"I've never been focused on that and Kit came in and said 'hey, if you did this stuff this could help you grow and you'd at least get more opportunities to do some travel with or get funding or sell your instruments," Carroll says.

"Just as far as getting some of that social media and website stuff together so I can share what I do.

"Which is stuff I knew but never really thought I'd take it from this hobby thing to presenting myself - which is cool."

Kit Lawrence worked with Carroll to bring his work into the public eye.

Lawrence says that's something artists can often struggle with.

"When I first met him I thought 'these are incredible, how come I've not heard about it?'

"For someone like Tom, he sees himself as an artist and a carver. But I see him as four or five different things.

"He's part of the community, there's reasons he's doing what he's doing, he hasn't just dropped in.

"Tom's got a story and it's a really interesting story and so part of it is to show how good his work."

The pair worked together to photograph the work, record the instruments and set up a website and social media.

"The basics haven't really changed in terms of telling your story and being truthful and having integrity," he says.

"I just saw this potential in Tom and I wanted to help," Lawrence says.

Carroll says taonga pūoro was a "broken tradition" which has been revived in recent years to a point where it is now here to stay.

"A lot if that sort of stuff died off. I guess now it is almost like a renaissance period where what we are doing now is essentially rebuilding a tradition.

"It's at a point where it's not going to die again - which is great."

Carroll makes his instruments from recycled and found native timbers and while some modern tools are involved they're still very much made in the traditional mould.

"It's taking the instruments and the basic principles and rebuilding them."