Claire Jensen, of The Brown Bach Studio in Opunake, recently completed a commission for the All Whites national football team, where she made each player a handcarved wooden huia feather made from salvaged rimu.

It took 100 hours of toil but a Taranaki artist is proud to say her efforts have ended up in the hands of the country's top footballers.

In November last year, Claire Jensen, of The Brown Bach Studio, completed a commission to make 45 palm-sized, hand-carved wooden huia feathers for the All Whites team to take on tour, along with two bigger versions for the coaches.

It took two weeks to complete the pieces, which were cut from salvaged rimu, crafted with a palm chisel and then painted black, before being adorned with a white tip.

The distinctive feather of the huia, which is now extinct, was highly prized in Māori culture and symbolised leadership and mana. Often the feathers were stored in a box called a waka huia.

CLAIRE JENSEN The set of carved wooden feathers took about 100 hours to make.

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Jensen said being involved in the project had been an "amazing" opportunity and the huia feather design reflected her own views of the natural world.

"I think it's quite a poignant symbol of how fragile nature is and how special."

The mother-of-two has been working as a full-time artist for about four years and is based at her Hickey Pl studio in the beachside settlement of Opunake, South Taranaki.

During that time, Jensen said she had worked hard to define The Brown Bach Studio style, which she called "edgy Kiwiana".

CLAIRE JENSEN Materials for Jensen's projects come from a range of places, including leftover native timber from house renovations.

She uses recycled native timbers with a focus on representing nature in her works and finds her materials in a variety of places, including dumpsters or wood which is donated from people in the process of renovating their homes.

"I'm getting quite a reputation for someone to contact if you've got materials that are too good to throw away."

From her studio, she is also working on a side project called wastemedia.art, which is based on the premise of using recycled plastic and turning them into other objects, including lamps and sculptures.

Since her All Whites commission, Jensen has completed another set of carved huia feathers which will feature in a Hamilton gallery and she hoped to work on an entry to the NZ Art Show, in a bid to be chosen to exhibit there later this year.

For more information visit www.brownbach.co.nz.