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Obituary: Marlborough carver Norman Clark
Renowned artist and carver Norm Clark will be sorely missed by the Marlborough's arts community, and his family and friends.
The Havelock man died on 2nd May 2016 after a long career exhibiting in New Zealand and overseas.
His carvings were exhibited and sold around the world, notably as part of the landmark Te Maori exhibition in New York in 1984, and his pieces were often given as gifts by New Zealand diplomats when they were travelling overseas.
Norman Alfred Thomas Clark was born in Tauranga in 1942 and grew up in Tauranga and Whanganui.
When he was young he wanted to be a pilot.
When he was young he wanted to be a pilot.
That hope was dashed because of his partial colour-blindness, but Norm did join the airforce in the late 1950s as an aircraft engineer.
In his spare time he did wood carvings, and among the first were salt and pepper shakers.
His daughter Sandra McDougall said Norm always enjoyed working with his hands.
Norm left the RNZAF at Marlborough's Woodbourne base in 1967, and took up cabinet making for Snow Drummonds, all the while continuing his interest in sculpture.
He married nurse Evelyn Chadwick in 1964, and built their family home in Blenheim.
McDougall said the family spend the first 10 years of their family life there.
His son, John Clark, had fond memories of growing up in the town.
"I think mum must have set a record for making the most cups of coffee with a constant stream of visitors from around the world, coming to look at dad's latest creations and to enjoy a coffee and peanut biscuit," he said.
Norm began Maori-influenced woodcarving, but initially struggled as a European Maori carver, Sandra McDougall said.
From their Howick Rd house the family moved to Renwick in 1974, setting up Norman Clark & Co on the banks of the Opawa River.
The part of the business Norm really liked was its
The part of the business Norm really liked was its
The business side of things faltered but one of the first students, John Wickliffe, asked to come back to work for free, to finish his apprenticeship.
"The two of them worked side by side, carving, laughing, exhibiting, touring.
Sometimes the roles were reversed, and the student became the teacher," John said.
Sometimes the roles were reversed, and the student became the teacher," John said.
Throughout his career Norm worked with wood, beef and whale bone, as well as ivory, jade and assorted New Zealand stone, as well as casting in silver and gold, and using paua inlay.
Over many years he tutored and passed on knowledge while attempting to promote Maori culture in New Zealand and to the world, Sandra McDougall said.
She described her father as "generous to a fault".
"He looked for the best in people and believed everyone had a good heart," she said.
His son John said over the years there were hundreds of newspaper articles and radio items on his father.
"Many of the interviewers became life-long friends, the likes of Graeme Brooks and Don Grady," he said.
Fellow carver and friend "Mitch" Mitchell said Norm was a man of huge knowledge and patience, and a great teacher.
Mitch first met Norm when he was hitchhiking in the area and wound up staying with him for 18 months.
Havelock carver Clem Mellish said he had always admired Norm's work.
"He was a big influence on me when I first started," he said.
Norm took in people from all over the world and helped them create their own pieces, Mitch said.
Norm died at his home, at Mahakipawa Arm, in the Marlborough Sounds, which was where he wanted to be, Sandra McDougall said.
He is survived by his children, Sandra McDougall, John Clark and Sam (Ann-Marie) Clark, his ex-wife Eveleyn and six grandchildren.
Successful last show
Norm Clark's final exhibition, 'An Artist-Craftsman's Life - A Global Reflection', ran from May 12 to May 27 2016 in The Gallery in Havelock.
Gallery director Brett Avison said more than 400 people came to see the exhibitions, including some distinguished carvers who attended Clark's funeral on 11 May 2016.
The exhibition was intended to be a "trip down memory lane" for Clark, who put a lot of effort into it.
Gallery director Brett Avison said more than 400 people came to see the exhibitions, including some distinguished carvers who attended Clark's funeral on 11 May 2016.
The exhibition was intended to be a "trip down memory lane" for Clark, who put a lot of effort into it.
Avison said it was sad Clark was not there to see it, but it was very successful.
Although the exhibition had ended, the Gallery was still carrying some of the prolific carver's work if people wanted to see it, he said.
Although the exhibition had ended, the Gallery was still carrying some of the prolific carver's work if people wanted to see it, he said.
"The gallery will miss him enormously," Avison said.
- The Marlborough Express
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From the heart to Frankfurt
It is a brave Pakeha who calls himself a Maori carver, but Mahakipawa artist Norman Clark says his work comes from the heart.
Examples of his bone carvings will be among New Zealand works shown at Museumsuferfest, a three-day art and culture festival in Frankfurt, Germany this month.
Dubbed the biggest event of its kind in Europe this year, it starts on Friday, August 24, and Clark's works will show viewers traditional forms of Maori bone-carving.
Clark, a Pakeha, acknowledges he has been challenged for identifying himself as a Maori carver and someone once even called him "brave". But one of his former tutors, master carver Pineamine Taiapa, always told him "art comes from the heart".
"The majority of people who are buying my works . . . don't go around buying ticky-tacky souvenirs made in China. They want accuracy, so I'm always honest," Clark says.
He pulls some examples of his work from protective cases and arranges them on a table. His carving methods reflect the distinctive styles developed by five separate tribes, he says.
Marks on one are identified as ritorito, or swamp, and mimic the imprints left by pukeko as they walk across the mud. Another, pakura, is more appropriate for Marlborough where receding water in the Marlborough Sounds leaves delicate, almost lace-like wrinkles in the sand.
Clark, 70, has lived in Marlborough since moving here as a Royal New Zealand Air Force aircraft engineer in 1959.
His interest in carving developed much earlier, though, as a small child growing up with his English-teacher mother in communities along the Whanganui River. "I was brought up with Maori . . . I had ‘aunties'."
It is his non-Maori grandmother in Invercargill he attributes to instilling a sense of responsibility in his work, however. She taught him that everything he did had to be done properly. "There was no halfway.
"I'm a classical carver. When people buy Norman Clark pieces, they can recognise patterns, tribal styles.
"Pine called me a Maori carver. It is just that my skin happens to be white."
Clark's works at the Museumsuferfest in Frankfurt will be joined by those of another Marlborough artist, Waikawa jade carver Ross Crump.
It is a brave Pakeha who calls himself a Maori carver
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Marlborough carver Norm Clark
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Norman Clark - Master Carver
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Wooden trophy carved by Norman Clark of a beaver holding a
rugby ball has people at Marlborough Museum stumped
ASHLEIGH MONK
Last updated 06:00, April 27 2016
A peculiar donation to the Marlborough Museum has everyone
baffled.
A polished wood-carved beaver holding a rugby ball was
gifted to the museum last week, and while it appears to be a trophy,
it actually has no relation to rugby.
The plaque on the front of the carving says the trophy is
for the people of "Beaver Town" to commemorate the demolition of the
original post office built in July 1878, and it was built by Havelock wood
and bone carver Norman Clark.
"It was actually made from the cedar from the floor
beams of the old post office," says Norman, who can only vaguely remember
carving the trophy in the 1970s.
"I'm not quite sure about the rugby ball. I said to
Steve [Marlborough Museum chief executive Steve Austin] that it
could be a nut, because beavers might have stored nuts for the winter like
squirrels did."
Norman says the rugby ball might have been because Marlborough
people loved the sport, and the district "had a lot of rugby teams for
such a small place".
Norman, who has been carving bone and wood since he was
3-years-old, says he does a lot of work, so some pieces he can't remember quite
as well as others.
"I would have people ring me up and say 'I've got this
piece of wood, would you like to carve it?' I'd never say no."
Marlborough Museum chief executive Steve Austin says the
trophy was donated by someone in Nelson who had found it in an op-shop.
"We thought it was a good addition to the government
buildings collection, the Norm Clark collection and the beaver
collection," he says.
"It is very strange. There's a story in there, but
we're still a bit mystified."
If you know anything about the rugby-ball-wielding beaver
trophy, email ashleigh.monk@fairfaxmedia.co.nz
The plaque reads:
"From the people of Blenheim, Beaver Town, on the
occasion of the demolition of the original post office built in July 1878.
Hand-carved by N.A.T. Clark from cedar from the old PO."
- The Marlborough
Express
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| Ray Palmer Len Mills Bob Morris Graeme Hughes Norm Clark (Nata Bear) |
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| A photo from Nata Bear's album Ross Edmond Len Mills Bob Morris, Paul Lagan |
