The te reo Māori teacher has been doubling as an artist since 2005, when he began carving intricate Māori designs using stone.
"I Arrived in Wānaka and thought I would never be able to teach Māori here as there were no Māori. That was right at the beginning of what I’d call the Māori renaissance."
He was ahead of most when he started swapping tools for greenstone with miners in 2005, before any new pounamu that was found would be handed to South Island iwi, Ngai Tahu, by law.
"They had it in bucket loads. I was meeting all of the carvers and miners. In those days, people would have containers full of it.
"I wasn’t earning a huge income, but I knew the direction stone was taking and I knew it would become more exclusive and hard to get. All my pocket money went into investing in stone."
"She cooked breakfast for everyone at Waitangi so I carved this piece for her and thought ‘I will set her aside for her’, in case I did meet her."
They met and he gave the pendant to her as part of a contract, he said.
"I gave it to her with a clause that every day she was being human with us, your people."
"I am wanting to tie a forgotten history to an unimagined future and whoever is wearing these pieces is the bridge between these things."
"It’s in stone and has to be authentic and last forever and the person wearing it is the most important element. A carving is not finished until it is on the intended recipient."
The purpose of his carvings was to connect the generations, and people.
"The kids and the elders, I try carry that through with my carvings. To make something culturally significant to tell old stories and to carry it through to the next generation. The big thing for the old people is carrying history through our babies, and we need a vehicle to be able to do that."
He has some work in Te Papa in Wellington, but van Reil said he had not managed to get his pieces into a Wānaka art gallery.
However, it had not stopped him getting noticed by one of the world’s richest families, the Rothschilds.
"I was told to make a very special piece and wasn’t given many details except the person was called madame and I arrived and there is the richest person in the world."
"Typical Invercargill boy, I did them a good deal like I would do for my neighbours."
He also made celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay a pendant after spending time with him in the Matukituki Valley for one of Ramsay’s television series.
van Riel had about 50 unsold pendants of pounamu and said he did not market himself well, but would be proud to hand on much of his work to his three children.
"I have never made a fortune out of stone and I do it because I have hope in people and I want to promote a message of good and hope and love.
"Stones are like people — we spend time with them and polish them so when we hold them up to the light, they shine."
