How many steps does it take to transform a fossil into a carved work of art?
In the winter of 2023, Li Yajuan, the inheritor of Li's stone carving in our city, received a "special request" from a customer, Mr. Bai from other places bought a fossil in the local antique market, wanted to decorate it, and learned that Li's stone carving in our city is exquisite, and made a special trip to our city, hoping to carve a dinosaur on the fossil.
Li Yajuan is the representative inheritor of the city's municipal intangible cultural heritage project "Li's carving and production skills". She has been passionate about art since she was a child, and has specialized in jade carving for many years. Jade is processed and carved into exquisite handicrafts, called jade carving, which is one of the oldest carving varieties in China. In the production process, according to the natural color and natural shape of different jade materials, the craftsman can carve the jade into exquisite handicrafts after careful design and repeated pondering.
Knowing Mr. Bai's needs, Li Yajuan carefully considered that fossils are different from the stones usually carved, and even more different from jade, and the carving should not only consider the graphics, but also take into account the characteristics of the raw materials. But seeing Mr. Bai's expectant eyes, Li Yajuan took on this "challenge".
Mr. Bai's fossil has a grayish-yellow surface, about 29 centimeters long and 18 centimeters high, heavy, and weighs about 5 catties. According to the shape, size and concave and convex characteristics of the fossils, Li Yajuan finally formed a rough outline through multiple processes such as design, painting, carving, and polishing.
As the saying goes, "everything is not in the east, and it is useless to die of exhaustion", in order to better meet Mr. Bai's needs, Li Yajuan took a picture of the general outline to Mr. Bai, and asked Mr. Bai to see if her design concept and preliminary effect were the same as Mr. Bai thought. After Mr. Bai saw it, he felt that the dinosaur was not very obvious, so Li Yajuan proposed to depict the dinosaur again on the basis of the original carving work, and Mr. Bai also agreed to this method. When Mr. Bai saw this work again, he was very satisfied and greatly appreciated the intangible cultural heritage item "Li's carving and production skills".
After a winter, Li Yajuan finally completed the carving and painting of the fossils, and packaged them and sent them to Mr. Bai. After receiving his favorite "fossil dinosaur", Mr. Bai gave a thumbs up to Li Yajuan's craftsmanship.
Heshan News reporter Ma Guoping correspondent Jiang Jingbo).
Editor: Guo Bingxin.
*: Heshan News client.