Master A-fa established his own studio in the alley in front of Changhua Nanyao Temple. At the very beginning, the company was small and there was only one employee (himself). He specializes in helping with the OEM of some statues of gods. Through active management and expansion, he opened the current store.
Master A-fa never stops learning and improving after starting his own business. He even works harder to improve his statue sprucing skills. In addition to the already proficient statue sprucing skills, Master A-fa also began to try to add his own ideas and creativity to make the statue more lifelike. Taking the coloring the statues for example, in the past, only the inner layer was usually painted, and the color matching was quite simple. Starting from the 1990s, Master A-fa attempted to incorporate richer colors and more detailed painting skills into the sculpture of statues, making the tones of the statues more delicate, vivid, and complicated. Such flexible and colorful coloring of statues has become the mainstream now.
Moreover, Master A-fa has also developed many innovative skills for the drawing of eyes. He uses superb painting skills to make the eyes of the statue as lifelike as possible. In the past, the eyes of statues were usually simply black and white. However, in order to make the eyes of the statues look more vivid and lively, Master A-fa also uses brown, blue, light gray, white and black, etc., and mixed at least seven colors to draw the eyes of the statues, making the eyes of the statues brighter and more lifelike, as if they come alive.
The Buddhist paraphernalia shop run by Master A-fa.
Master A-fa working seriously in the shop.
Figure 3-2c: The exquisite painting makes the statue seem to come alive. |
Figure 3-2d: The intricate painting is truly breathtaking. |
Figure 3-2e: Master A-fa’s team is well-known for its technique of painting lifelike eyes.
A Childhood Immersed in Craftsmanship
Apprenticeship to Learn the Craft
Becoming a Master After Seven Years of Apprenticeship
Difficulties and Challenges in Starting a Business
The posture and facial expression of the statue
Master A-fa statue sprucing Video
Preparations before the Interview
Go to Nanyao Temple for on-site video shooting
A Visit to Master A-fa’s Buddhist paraphernalia shop
Lacquer thread carving experience
Sweetness and bitterness experienced in statue sprucing
Questionnaire statistical analysis