Some timbers carry a presence that you feel the moment the gouge touches the grain. Puriri is one of them. Growing only in New Zealand, it’s a wood I quickly came to love when I strated woodturning — dense, resilient, and quietly powerful. When I began turning this plate in my workshop in Carcassonne, I felt that familiar strength beneath my hands, and the form that emerged seemed to call for a symbol of transformation and good fortune. That is how Dragon Lady came to be.
Puriri is renowned for its durability; Māori used it for tools, weapons, and structures that needed to withstand time and weather. Even today, it remains one of the hardest and most enduring native timbers. Its grain is tight and complex, shifting between olive greens, browns, and deep earthy tones. As the plate took shape, those colours revealed themselves like layers of a story—one rooted in heritage, resilience, and the organic nature of the land I call home.
In many cultures, dragonflies represent maturity, change, and good luck. For me, they also carry memories of New Zealand summers, hovering above streams and gardens with a kind of effortless grace. Pairing this symbol with puriri felt natural: both embody strength, transformation, and a quiet beauty that doesn’t need to announce itself.
The dragonfly motif is was laser etched with my home built diode laser.
Turning puriri requires patience. It resists the tool, demanding precision and respect—skills I refined during my training at École Escoulen. The final form is smooth, balanced, and substantial in the hand. Finished with hard wax oil, the surface retains a natural sheen that highlights the grain without masking its depth. It’s a handmade wooden object that can serve food, hold fruit, or simply sit as a piece of collectible wood art.
Whether you use Lady Dragon as a serving plate or keep it as a symbolic sculpture, it carries both the strength of puriri and the lightness of the dragonfly. If its story resonates with you, I invite you to make it part of your home or explore the other pieces shaped in my Carcassonne atelier.
Diameter: 27cm Height: 4cm Weight: 620g
