The Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique exhibit is here in town at the California Legion of Honor museum. This morning, I fought the rain and traffic in order to be able to attend Alan Revere’s lecture on The Art of Jewelry Making, as a bonus to the exhibit.
Here are a few of Alan’s words of wisdom (in making jewelry) that I walked away with:
- The quickest shortcut is to do it right the first time.
- It is a race for quality and not a race against time.
- There are 10 techniques but 10,000 tricks.
The exhibit captured the moment when these three designers rivaled each other at the 1900 Paris World's Fair. It was an event where each of them presented their most spectacular creations to show the world what they were capable of in order to win future commissions. It was an exciting time in design history.
At the turn of the 20th century, Art Nouveau (a design style and philosophy) spread throughout Europe. I remember my architecture history class where we studied about René Lalique’s bronze figures, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s stained glass, Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Glasgow School of Art, Antoni Gaudí’s lava-like Sagrada Família, Victor Horta and the Vienna Secessionists, and Hector Guimard’s metro entrances.
Seeing the works of these masters at the exhibit, I feel sad to see some of the techniques are extinct or had gone out of favor. In this economic climate, I felt I had to keep my work simple so that they are affordable. Yet this exhibit inspires me to keep pushing my limits, learning new skills, and to not lose my sense of purpose.
The competition was held in Shiyan, an automobile manufacturing city in Hubei Province, approximately an hour by bus from Wudang Mountain (Wudangshan). Over 2,000 athletes representing 69 countries came together in friendship and a common love of Wushu. The nearness of Taoism’s sacred mountain infused the competition with the Taoist culture of Wudang. We were privileged to see Wudang Wushu in both performance and competition venues. Even though we did not compete with Chinese athletes, this year we were able to watch them as they competed side-by-side with international athletes in the same auditorium. Most of us quickly became addicted to watching the Wudang Wushu Team, and found ourselves drawn to these gentle men with their hair in topknots, wearing flowing black and white robes, who were so open to interaction and cultural exchange.
We found the local citizens to be friendly and eager to display their hospitality throughout the week. Many US team members were interviewed for local newspapers and TV broadcasts. The entire competition was broadcast on TV, so there was always the option of watching from the comfort of the hotel room (or even outside the Shiyan Sports Center on the huge TV screen there), but the real excitement was at the Shiyan Indoor Stadium, where teams members cheered each other on and met and mingled with other teams, as well as local residents of Shiyan. From the Chinese Wushu Association came one competition highlight which captured everyone’s attention. Dramatically demonstrating the health and longevity benefits of Wushu were two 86-year-old men who competed in weapons forms for China in extremely colorful attire, receiving very high scores of 9.01. The crowd roared its approval as they performed splits and all manner of acrobatic moves to astonish us. If you needed motivation to continue your practice, this was it! 
Visiting Wudang
After an uphill walk through the forest, we were met by a costumed choir and orchestra when we reached the entrance to the temples. The mood was ethereal, as we listened to the beautiful music in the drifting mists. As 2000 international pilgrims, we climbed the steep steps of the temple complex, stopping along the way to observe and participate in a variety of Taoist ceremonies. Wudangshan is the seat of Taoism and is also home to a deep tradition of Wushu, dating from the 13th century hero, Zhang Sanfeng, who is said to have been the originator of Neijia, soft internal martial arts, and is associated in legend with the Wudang monasteries. 
The architecture of Wudang can be traced back to 7th century Taoist buildings. The organized complex of palaces and buildings dates from the Ming Dynasty (14th – 17th century). Wudang represents the highest level of Chinese architectural and artistic achievement, a demonstration of the harmony between architecture and nature. In 1994 the monasteries and buildings were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 
Closing Ceremony
I believe this hobby balances me as I have a very analytical day job as a quality engineer for a flexible packaging facility in Providence, RI. I enjoy my evenings with family and my art.
