It is a great honor for me to have been invited to participate for the first time in 2015 at the ZIGANG CUP OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL JADE CARVING FORUM and in this Blog I want to share my experience.
First of all, it was a surprise, I felt great emotion to see a dream come true, for the pride of representing Mexico in such an important event and, last but not least, being chosen to give one of the 4 conferences of the Forum. The theme of my lecture was “Guatemalan Jade”.
I share with you a part of the conference video.
On the other hand, it was a challenge on the economic side because I was going through a change having closed the Gallery a very short time before and I did not know how or where I would get the resources but I had to be there.
I prepared some pieces for the competition and others for the exhibition.
At the bottom of this page you will find a short video of the preparation process of one of the 3 pieces that competed.
It is a Chameleon carved in Jade, with this piece I won First Place at home, Quintana Roo, in the State Crafts Contest “Let My Hands Count it” in December 2016 but this piece was not awarded in China.
In China I won a Bronze medal with a Fairy carved from a much appreciated Jaguar Jade with Silver Wings and Mother of Pearl, holding a Diamond in hes hands, representing the Jewels of the Earth. The scene is complemented by a Danburite throne from where, peacefully sitting, she contemplates and guardes the Treasures of the Earth.
The body of the fairy is not more than 3″ high and captivated the Judges by the concept of Fantasy.
I had the pleasure of meeting again with my dear friends Jade Carving Masters from the West and the pleasure of meeting the Chinese Great Masters and admiring their works, understanding their culture and the way they rate a piece. For them the most important thing is the CONCEPT, creativity, the beauty of the material and the mastery to incorporate the qualities of the material into the theme of the piece. Mastery in carving is taken for granted, execution is important but concept is more valuable.
We had the privilege of visiting their workshops and they introduced us to their tool suppliers. This seems insignificant but for me it represented a quantum leap in my work to be able to finish unfinished pieces since until then I did not have, nor did I know, the specialized tools to capture what my mind visualized.
Loaded with tools of all shapes and sizes, full of enthusiasm and ideas, I returned to Mexico and within a few hours I was already working on the pieces that I would take in 2016. My mind was going a thousand an hour, I wanted to try all the new tools, I wanted to outdo myself … I wanted to win a Gold next year!
I cannot describe in words the emotion that I lived with this experience but it can be noticed in my work from there. I can say that there was a before and after China for me.
But there was something that I did not like, it made noise in my head, and that is because I was the only Latin American there and in all the International Jade Forums I had attended: Big Sur, Tucson, Vancouver … only me representing a culture so vast, so rich in Jade Master Carvings, with museums full of treasures of Historical, Cultural, Religious and Spiritual Heritage of our roots …
I decided to look for Latin American carvers and share my experience with them, make them aware of the forums, tools, techniques and everything necessary to include them and thus a page on Facebook called Talladores de Jade de Latinoamérica (Jade Carvers of Latin America) was born, where I managed to group the jade carvers. I also opened another page where I share all my knowledge and techniques, which is called Escuela de Talladores y Lapidarios de América Latina (The School of Carvers and Lapidaries of Latin America).
The following year there were 2 of us, Mario Zamora from Costa Rica and I, and we both returned with awards. By 2017 there were already 4 of us.
It is an unforgettable life experience and I heartily thank all the people who helped me achieve it!
