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Carving God
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 Chinese boxwood carving Japanese god hold tower with sword figure netsuke  US $.99
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 Chinese Longevity God & Wangcai Baby Lucky Statue Netsuke, Boxwood, Hand-carved, US $.98
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Here are some more information for Carving God:
Sandcast Native American Indian jewelry making was first introduced by Navajo silversmiths in the early days around 1840. The process begins by using a sandcast, or tufa stone mold, then carving the design into the stone. With this mold, a piece of silver jewelry is made and may become the master template from which all other sandcast jewelry pieces of the same design are produced.
Sandcast jewelry making is done by hand and is very labor intensive. The Sandcasting method takes the artisans about three days to make a fair sized medium bracelet.
Sandcast jewelry making was introduced by using sandstone or tufa stone. Tufa stone is created from crushed volcanic ash which is relatively soft and easier to work with than sandstone when making the carvings. However Sandstone will hold up much better, but the Tufa stone is is the choice among Silversmith because the soft stone is easier to carve.
There are many processes involved in Sandcast jewelry making before the jewelry piece is finished. The artisan starts by cutting a stone into two pieces and grinding both halves until they are smooth on one side. The tufa stone is sometimes drenched in water to keep the dust to a minimum while carving. Next, vents are carved into the stone outward towards the edges of the stone so that the extremely heated air from the molten silver will have an escape from being trapped in the mold, thus damaging the jewelry design. The next step involves heating the mold with a torch forming carbon on the inside of the halves preventing the silver from sticking to the mold when the halves are separated. Finally the mold is ready to start the silver casting.
The halves of the tufa stone are placed together with the pour channels aligned. The, artisans use a number of methods, such as wrapping with wire, plywood board and clamps, or rubber straps tightly around the halves to keep them secure while pouring the molten silver.
The silver is then heated in a crucible with a torch until it is at a high temperature of 1850 degrees. Traditionally, temperature was judged by the color of the molten silver. That is still the most common method used by many artisans today, but now use crucibles that where the heat is digitally controlled. This increases the chance for a successful pour. The temperature of the outside air must also be taken into consideration. If it is very cold, the silver can become too cool before it runs through the mold. When the silver is judged to be hot enough, it is poured into the mold through the carved channel.
The molten silver is then poured down through the channel and into the carved mold. Thus the piece is said to have been gravity cast. The tufa stone mold is allowed to cool and the silver piece is removed.
A tufa mold may allow several pours if the design is small and relatively simple. With larger, more complex designs, one or two pours is usually all that can be made from a tufa mold before the stone breaks or the design is ruined by the heat of the silver. The artisan at this point may determine that the jewelry piece obtained from the Tufa mold will be in demand and start the process of making molds of the more stronger Sandstone.
After the jewelry piece has cooled, polishing the finished jewelry is done in two phases. First the silver piece is polished wax and then washed to remove the excess wax. Next the jewelry piece is dry polished with buckskin or a dry cloth wheel, and finally, stones, if any, are set. Tufa and sandcasting processes are very labor intensive, taking many hours to make the mold, then carving the design into the two stones, depending on the detail. The finished piece have cost the artisan many hours which must be taken into account in setting the price of jewelry created by the sancast jewelry making method.
The author Chet Holcomb of Native American Indian Jewelry has done extensive research into American Indian background, in relationship to the making and religious beliefs behind their elegant jewelry pieces.
Who is God?
God is who He says He is, not who I say He is.
My original belief in a higher power was 100% backwards. I molded an image of a god in my own mind & this image stroked my ego and helped me feel good about my ways. My spiritual information was coming from things ‘I' wanted a god to be. This selfish belief conveniently justified my lifestyle. It made me feel good about the things I did and the person I was.
"God created this marijuana for a reason. It's all natural. I can smoke it!" – I justified my actions by creating a god to be who I wanted, so I felt good about smoking pot. "God just wants me to be happy! It's ok.. I'm not hurting anyone." – Again, justifying my actions so I can feel good about what I do. The list goes on and on… I continued to believe in a higher power, a god, but the god that I believed in was fully based out of selfish motives. This god of mine that I created so happened to fit perfectly into everything that I did in life. Worth repeating.. I created a god that so happened to fit perfectly into all that my life was. I fully justified myself. (Check this out: Justification of thought)
Then, I asked Him into my life and I wanted to know the real God. He started to show me who He was via His own words, and I see now that He was nothing like the god I had created out of selfish reasons, not even close! He was the opposite. Imagine that! lol. He showed me this self-talk, self-reasoning, self-understanding, self-justification, self…self…self. The god that I created looked like me and my life!!! And He said, "I am the Creator…I created you in My image. I mold you, not the other way around." I had it all backwards. Praise God for pulling me out of the pits of self.
If anyone is in the same boat, I urge you.. I beg you.. jump out of basing things on your own understanding & let Him tell you who He is, in His own words (the bible). Ask Him into your life, then watch the world as you know it turn upside down (right-side up).
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
8 It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones.
(Proverbs 3:5-8, New King James Version)
8 " For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.
9 " For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 " For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
(Isaiah 55:8-11, New King James Version)
17 "You shall make no molded gods for yourselves.
(Exodus 34:17, New King James Version)
Pertaining to the last passage, it is my opinion it can be read as a carved image as well as any other image we may form in our mind. If we believe in an invisible god, one that is nothing like the true God, is it not the same?
With nothing but pure truth (excluding emotions, selfishness, justifications, excuses, etc.), have you molded your own god at some point in life? Oh, you just gotta check this out. The true God of Israel answered this question for me, in a physical revelation of Himself – Check out this beautiful testimony of God: The golden calf.
God bless you and yours,
joseph
About the Author
Joseph - Author @ http://www.seriousthings.com
Man of God, Philosopher, Thinker, Barrier Breaker!
Copyright © 2000 - 2010 www.serious-things.com
The nation needs to trust God. We need to carve the president's names in the ridges. What do you think?
Who's god? Which god?
Is there a god?
I doubt it.
The boogie rolls on
If Tom Morey had his way, he'd toss out every sentence that began with "My idea." The inventor of the Boogie Board doesn't believe that anything he has created—his inventions range from surf-related doodads to a hat that Bob Hope liked to wear...
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