Tāwharau

Design Story

This half sleeve tattoo depicts a warrior at spirit, who works his way patiently with tenacity through every adversity in order to protect his family and give them harmony and prosperity.

The hammerhead shark swims across the paths of Kamehameha at times (difficulties) but always gets through them towards freedom (the manta) and harmony (the Marquesan cross) always learning from each trial (the standing stones).

Family is always there with the warrior (the coupled ani ata and spear heads motifs).

The rows of birds symbolize watching the world from a higher perspective (the right one has a white bird to symbolize uniqueness) and voyages, like the canoe on the left (it also represents adventure and sociality) while the tiki on the two sides protect them from every direction (the all-seeing eye in the shark is a protection symbol too).

Fish and coconut leaves symbolize prosperity, the sun joy.