Donn Salt
Donn Salt has been carving jade for more than fifty years. He was one of the pioneers who developed many of the techniques that are used by jade artists in the west today. He is also highly thought of by master carvers in China. It is probably true to say they respect him more than any other craftsman outside China. He regularly wins gold medals for his work and also special commendations for creativity and technical excellence. This is praise indeed from the Chinese masters – while they acknowledge the well of creativity among western artists they are not so flattering about their technical excellence.
Georg Schmerholz
Georg is originally from Transylvania, but rose to prominence as a sculptor in the Pacific Northwest. After moving to California in 2001, jade became his new passion and in a few short years, he made it into the ranks of the top jade artists in the West. With jade, he has taken his approach to fine art sculpture to a whole new level .
This is one of my favourite carvings by Georg Schmerholz. He has taken a beautiful piece of emerald green Wyoming jade and carved an American buffalo from it. Like any great jade artist he has seen the design inside the stone and brought it out by carving as little material away as possible. He has even used the coarse brown rind of the jade to mimic the animal's fur.
Deborah Wilson
Deborah is a Canadian who began working with jade after leaving art college forty years ago. She has a workshop in Mount Vernon and has exhibited all over the world. National Geographic consider her to be “one of the best jade carvers in the world”.
Lewis Gardiner
Lewis is considered to be head and shoulders above all other Maori jade carvers. He is carrying the torch for a tradition which is hundreds of years old. His work is heavily influenced by Maori myth and legend and the natural world. He lives in Rotorua where he also has his workshop and studio.
Joe Sheehan
Joe began carving in his father’s workshop at the age of ten and has gone from strength to strength since then. He established his own studio in 2002 and has held a series of highly acclaimed solo exhibitions. His unique work is defined by form and function. He says “I want my pieces to reflect the time I am living in. I am not interested in recreating objects from the distant past”. His work is widely collected and his pieces are on display in every major museum and gallery in New Zealand.
Working light bulb carved from green jade
Andrew Shaw
I include myself in this section because its my website. I am the only westerner working as a jade carver in China. My work sells all over the world and has won medals in national and international competitions I encourage cultural and artistic exchange by inviting jade artists from all over the world to come to China to exhibit their work. More than forty artists have visited the Middle Kingdom as a result.
This is my version of The Scream by Edvard Munch. I used the rind of the stone to paint a picture in jade. The vivid green of the jade itself peeks through in many places but the aim was to cut away as little material as possible so the design I saw hidden inside the stone would show through.