Though a gentle, modest man he knows the value of his work and refuses to negotiate with those who want to bargain. The lacy holes he finds as he turns the wood upset one prospective buyer. In two instances what seemed a tragedy lead to even greater beauty. As he worked on two bowls they cracked in several places. He patiently fitted them back together and sewed them in place with cord made from the hau tree.
Every stitch is the same size and adds a delightful pattern to the bowls.
Sometimes he will carve a design around the bottom, and even if it takes six hours, he never stops because he might lose the rhythm. Perhaps this amazing patience comes from a childhood spent caring for his four younger siblings when his mother died. All this taught me endurance,' he says with no regrets. I'm the only one who ever graduated with 8 credits in shop,' he says with a laugh. He started out as a partner in a cabinet shop then moved to the Kauai Surf Hotel as a plumber and electrician, using correspondence courses to earn his licenses.