Riding the wind of rebirth

There is another huge difference between cherry red and persimmon red. Cherry red has many cracks and cannot produce complete large pieces like persimmon red.

After Zhu Qinghong had his apprentices cut the mineral material sent by Zhou Zhi along the cracks, they found that the largest piece of cherry red mineral material weighed only 70 grams, far from 100 grams.

Seventy grams of material can only be processed into a small handle that can be completely held in one palm. The size is slightly smaller than an egg. How to create the subject matter is a headache for Zhu Qinghong.

Because for craft awards like the Hundred Flowers Award, carving, subject matter, difficulty, aesthetics, and ideas are all taken into consideration, and size and complexity are also two very important indicators.

Aniseed will undoubtedly play a big role in this regard.

But how to make the most of the small ingredients is a test of one's ability.

"Elbow, you have a lot of ideas, give us some advice."

"How about we make a picture of a hundred dragons?" Zhou Zhi pondered.

"What is "One Hundred Dragons Picture"? " Zhu Qinghong didn't understand.

"From ancient times to the present, the Chinese people have had many different ways of portraying dragons," Zhou Zhi explained. "From the turquoise dragon-shaped funerary ornaments of the Neolithic Age to the Nine Dragon Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there have been countless evolutions and assimilations in between."

"It is said that a dragon gives birth to nine sons, each of them is different. In fact, there are more than nine kinds of creatures that can be related to dragons by blood."

"There are many species, including the Chilong and Chihu from the Han Dynasty, the Capricorn from the Song Dynasty, as well as the Qi, Jianma, Pixiu, Panchi, etc."

"We can adopt examples from ancient historical legends and dragon emblems on various objects, carefully select and design a hundred dragon-related carvings, and then design and make a red sandalwood sea water screen to place them. Can we achieve the effect of a mountain?"

"What a work of art..." Zhu Qinghong imagined a hundred cherry-red dragon-shaped carvings gathered on a rosewood screen stand, which must be at least one and a half meters square.

"One meter and two meters square is not a problem." Zhou Zhi said: "Don't we have to limit our thinking to the expression form of sitting screen with two planes on both sides? We can completely imitate the theme of immortals riding on a raft and make it three-dimensional!"

"Wow..." Zhu Qinghong imagined the shape of this sculpture set: "How big a piece of red sandalwood would it take to make it three-dimensional?"

"Yes." Zhou Zhi said, "I have a large red sandalwood stump. It was purchased by Mr. Wang as a spare material for repairing Ming and Qing furniture. It is large, but nine out of ten red sandalwood stumps are hollow. In fact, it is just an empty shell and was never used in the end."

"If you want to design according to this idea, I can contribute this original pile, but you will have to worry about how to design it into a beautiful seat."

"Great!" Zhu Qinghong was overjoyed: "As long as we have the materials, it will be easy!"

Zhu Qinghong is a master at making antique carvings, and this kind of subject matter is more to her liking, while Lu Man and Zhang Mingyu are also adept at handling small pieces.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Zhi closed his eyes and imagined the base of rolling waves carved from red sandalwood, with a hundred cherry-red carvings as big as eggs and as small as candied dates inlaid on it. It would be a spectacular sight.

"Elbow, the carvings you mentioned..." Wu Renzhong had been listening for a long time, rubbing his hands with anticipation. "Oh, by the way, do you want to go to Shudu with me?" Zhou Zhi asked, "and buy your wedding clothes?"

"Uh... forget it. If you leave now and I follow you, it will really kill me." Wu Renzhong hesitated for a while and finally rejected Zhou Zhi's temptation: "Just develop the wedding photos for us and bring them back."

Using his expertise, Zhou Zhi took a set of wedding photos for Wu Renzhong and Shama Ricong at various locations in Lianhe Township.

Although the Tusi building and mountain villages in Lianhe Township looked old, they were very beautiful in the camera. In addition to the rented wedding dress, Zhou Zhi also took a group of photos of them in ethnic costumes, and Zhou Zhi himself was very satisfied with them.

For someone with a family background like Wu Renzhong, getting married is a very complicated matter. Even if he just wants to go out for a trip, get married, or have a honeymoon, his sister won't approve it, and she will definitely have to organize a big event.

Half a year ago, Wu Renzhong would definitely use this as an excuse to go to Shudu for some purchasing, but now, he feels that he is too busy.

This is a manifestation of the beginning of overflowing professional ambition and is also motivated by achievements.

The investment promotion organized by the Second Light Industry Bureau was very successful. The traditional porcelain fired in the Mantou Kiln in Jiukou Township caused a small craze in the island country. This kind of powdery and matte porcelain, with purple body and thick glaze, and shape and craftsmanship similar to the Chai Kiln porcelain of the official kiln of the Song Dynasty, was named "Jiukou Kiln" and was featured in a special exhibition at the Fujita Museum of Art.

Old Zhong was hailed as Master Zhong, and interview invitations came one after another, which also made the Second Light Industry Bureau proud.

It is inevitable that Lao Zhong feels a bit embarrassed when dealing with such a situation, but another Yi artist, Leso Ag, is very accustomed to this situation of constant invitations.

Just like the amazement that Matsui Zo and Jin Junyi felt when they first arrived in Liangshan, Lesoag's ethnic minority identity and the ethnic themes he consistently used in his works also amazed art lovers on the island country.

If the oil paintings of this professional painter who is good at both oil painting and sculpture depict traditional themes with modern techniques, then the lacquerware he created is a modern innovation based on ancient craftsmanship.

Many lacquerwares can be seen to have inherited some styles of the island country's Maki-e lacquerware, but there are also obvious differences. Some patterns bring a sense of strangeness in familiarity to the island people, or a sense of familiarity in strangeness.

In fact, Lesoag was taking advantage of Zhou Zhi's advice. There are so many patterns left over from thousands of years of Chinese history that all he needed to do was to polish the black background, outline with gold powder, and then simply process the size and proportion relationships, the line relationships, leave a lot of white space, and add a few embellishments, and he would basically be able to hit the islanders' weak points.

The same is true for rhinoceros skin lacquer, but it uses a more concise subtraction method, especially the patterns that are only stacked and polished with black lacquer and gold lacquer. It is like the ripples of lights in Qinhuai at night, revealing a mysterious and natural beauty, which is absolutely beautiful.

Lesoag's innovation was limited to the use of lacquer, and there was no need to innovate the shape of the vessel. The countless lacquerware shapes in the history of the Warring States and Han dynasties had all undergone the strict selection of ancestors and the test of time.

The lacquerware sent to the island country for exhibition are all made of the Qinggang wood that is a specialty of Liangshan Prefecture. The wood itself is very fine and can be pressed to produce very thin objects.

Lacquerware became famous in the Han Dynasty for its exquisite workmanship, bright colors, beautiful patterns and delicate decorations. In "Salt and Iron Discussions: Scattered Insufficiency", it was described as "a cup of wine requires the efforts of a hundred people, and a screen requires the efforts of ten thousand people".

The lacquerware of Lesoag imitates the lacquerware unearthed from the No. 1 Han Tomb of Mawangdui in Changsha. (End of this chapter)