Jon Jeet (Ngāti Maniapoto, Fijian Indian) holds a Masters in Painting from Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury. He is also a registered Ngāi Tahu carver of pounamu and has taught art at secondary and tertiary institutions, as well as in the wider community-particularly through his kaupapa, Tūhono Taonga, Tūhono Tāngata, founded with his wife Irihāpeti Mahuika.

When cutting into pounamu, the meditative sound of the grinder against the stone sets up a rhythm for Jon, 'time stops and you are just one with that stone.' Next comes the process of sanding, coarsely and then finely, to bring out the wairua of the stone. He will then either drill directly into, or cut small wedges at each side, to bind or thread his beautifully plaited cord to the pounamu toki. Of the stone, Jon says 'just looking at it, there is that myriad of colours and imagery, that abstract imagery that you find in the raw stone whilst you're shaping it. When it leaves this place, someone is going to look at this and revere it and regard it as taonga.'