Fanatical Art and Music

Abstract sculpting can, at times, be extremely difficult to complete, however, this is also a very satisfying way of shape the stone.

Somehow it offers artists the freedom to create works of art using an expression of ideas at a subconscious level. This gives it a personal and unique feel, and, as a result, it will be aesthetically pleasing for all as a fine piece of sculptural art.

Usually the stone sculpture reflects what is taking place in the artist’s life at that specific period in time, while nurturing the artist’s spirituality. Thus it is viewed as an individual process.

The Shona people express their connection to nature through art. Their culture seeks to balance and honour the union between the natural world; which includes humans and animals, water and land, men and women, the old and the young, the ancestral and the living, as well as the earth and the sky.

The sculptures depict the family and life of the Shona people whilst expressing universal themes pertaining to birth, death, and family roles that are common to all individuals. Many of the artists are self-taught and they love the idea of creating something with a hint of movement out of an object that seems so solid and immobile.

The Shona abstract sculptures are artistic celebrations of peace, love and family. These stories are carved into the stone.

Steeped in the legends and traditions of this ancient African culture, Shona stone sculptures are a profound expression of human connections with the world around us. Primarily self-taught, Shona carvers do not plan or pre-draw their sculptures. Instead, the stone itself and the ancestral spirits appear in the artists’ dreams to reveal the spirit that dwells within the stone. By utilising simple handmade tools, they ‘release’ the trapped spirit. Once released, the spirits soar with dynamic mysticism.

Modern civilisations honour the Shona people for their art, culture, and their close spiritual relationship to the world around them. We can all learn from the Shona’s traditional belief that life is sacred, interconnected and interdependent. Humans (ancestral and living), animals, plants, as well as the earth and sky are all part of one extended family in the Shona world.

Every stone sculpture reflects combined joy with various emotions and feelings, while providing one with the opportunity to discover one’s own feelings when observed.

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To watch more stories, Food News, or Cooking Fresh videos, visit: cookingupastory.com The pictures can be tantalizing. Some even cause us to stop and stare. Join us, for a behind the scenes look at a food photographer and his team as they create sumptuous images out of fresh ingredients that seem to jump off the page. Recipes from this episode Ed’s Tangy Eggless Caesar Salad; Canning Pears, raw pack; Pear Bread

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The Costly Lesson

Liu started collecting purple clay teapots because of his contact with flowerpots. When he was a child, his father had a great taste for miniature landscapes and owned a number of purple clay flowerpots. Liu was unconsciously influenced by what he saw and heard, and gradually took up collecting purple clay.

In the 1970s, there were just a few antique markets in Beijing. Liu went shopping just like his father had, and began visiting Tianqiao, Deshenmen, and Shichahai, all venues that featured traditional items. He was searching for ‘treasures.’

One day, Liu hit a second-hand curio market. He purchased nearly 50 secondhand Yixing purple clay teapots! Then he hurried home excitedly, and dipped all the treasures into a tank. He was petrified by what he saw. The handles and spouts dropped one by one off the teapots. It turns out he bought many worthless, broken teapots pieced together by glue. He was taught a costly lesson.

Gone, Then Back Again

According to his judgment, this pot was crafted several hundred years ago by a famous purple clay teapot maker named Pei Shimin. It featured a coat of yellow glaze on its surface. Finishing this pot called for two firings, and the technique was very hard to master. Today, a teapot like this can only be admired at the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Save a Pot or Save a Hip?

Liu treasures his purple clay teapots to the uttermost, for he knows their intrinsic worth. One day he purchased a rare purple clay teapot from the late Qing dynasty. He felt very glad. He put the pot into his backpack with great care, and then rode away on his bike. On the way, he kept singing his favorite songs.

But unexpectedly, in order to avoid hitting an old man, he rolled and fell off his bike. At that moment, he held the teapot tightly in his arms, and let his hipbone smash into the ground first. Consequently, he was confined to bed for one year. It became a popular story among his friends: Liu would rather break his bone than to break his purple clay teapot!

Over the past 30 years, Liu has been addicted to collecting Yixing purple clay teapots. His face lights up as if he was talking about a family member whenever someone mentions his pots. He seldom makes a mistake now, and as a matter of fact, he has developed a very good eye for purple clay teapots.

Liu thinks an Yixing purple clay teapot inevitably involves its creator’s ingenuity, workmanship, and vision. And he says a purple clay teapot embodies its collector’s ability to find good things, and a little luck.

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