Dear friends!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I'm grateful to the organizers for the opportunity to share my thoughts and work with you. Let me say a few words about the small collection that was exhibited last year at the TGMS Show and then donated to the Smithsonian. But first, let me tell you the backstory\u2014what influenced the birth of this collection. Then you'll understand how dear it is to me and what I invested in its creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I first came to America in August 2006, after competing in my first SSC competition in the Pre-Master category. I was flying from Colombia to Moscow and decided to stop in the US en route to meet with USFG members I knew only through correspondence. I first stopped in the small town of Kalamazoo, Michigan, to visit Jeff Ford, who handled USFG membership, competition organization, and maintained the US Faceters list online. Almost all of the guild members knew Jeff, but few had met him in person, as I know he rarely traveled in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They say your impression of a country depends heavily on your first encounter with a local\u2014and I'm not talking about a fleeting encounter, but a more or less serious conversation. I can say that Jeff was a true patriot of his country, because after our meeting, America seemed like paradise to me. Looking ahead, I'll say that my second meeting\u2014with Art Kavan\u2014only reinforced this impression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, Jeff met me at the airport that evening and took me to the hotel. After making sure I was settled in, he left me to rest, saying he'd be there in the morning. The next day, he took the day off and dedicated the entire time to spending time with me. He showed me the city and gave me a tour of Michigan State University, which is comparable in size to Arizona State University. Then he invited me to his home, showed me his workspace, shared some of his cutting secrets, and gave me some accessories. Then we went to the school, and he proudly showed me how his children played in the school orchestra. Finally, after dinner, he drove me to the hotel, promising to take me to the airport in the morning. I tried to refuse, citing my early flight, but he didn't listen, arriving at 5 a.m. to pick me up. What finally won me over was that he categorically refused to let me pay for the hotel, saying I was his guest and he was happy to meet me. I left filled with admiration and immense gratitude, which I will forever hold dear. We never met again in this life, but our warm relationship remained, and I never missed an opportunity to express my gratitude to him\u2014not only for his hospitality, but also for his astonishing work ethic. After all, Jeff managed not only membership matters, but also competitions, the development of new designs, the guild's finances, and the online forum, where we still exchange information and experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2026From the Great Lakes, my route led me straight to Tucson, where a meeting was scheduled with Art Kavan, then president of the USFG. Once again, I was delighted by the kindness, attentiveness, and simplicity of this master, a prize-winning Australian IFC diamond cutter, interacting with me, a budding cutter. Art also invited me into his beautifully equipped and well-organized workshop and introduced me to his work, which still lives in my mind as a model of cutting perfection. Back then, this benchmark was still unattainable for me, with my modest 93 points and third place in the Pre-Master category. But I was able to discern the finest details of the cut and understood what perfection really is. And this allowed me, just two years later, to win the Grand Master category with an absolute score of 100 points\u2014the first time in the history of this competition\u2014and then the Individual Championship of the International Faceting Challenge in Australia, surpassing the 299-point mark for the first time and setting a competition record that remains unbroken to this day. Art didn't teach me faceting, but he was, in fact, my main teacher, simply showing me the path to Perfection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I'll say it again: my first impression of America was the brightest, thanks to these people\u2014my mentors from the Gem Cutters' Guild. Of course, I've met a variety of people here since then, but I've retained that impression forever, and now no politics or propaganda can dissuade me: I know that when people speak the language of the heart, it doesn't matter what country they live in, what God they pray to, or what currency they use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I got to know America and Americans. Six months later, I returned to Tucson, this time for the exhibition\u2014for the first time in my life\u2014and was amazed by its scope. I was spoiled for choice; in two weeks, I barely had time to see everything, or rather, I tried to see everything. HobNob at OPLC was a great joy for me, where I met Art Kavan again and made new friends. One of them was Bob Keller\u2014the legendary Bob Keller, creator of designs that have become cutting classics, such as Cleopatra's Eye and Bola Spyder. Not yet knowing that I would meet him, I brought with me several copies of the first booklet with photographs of stones I had cut\u2014back then using other people's diagrams, among which, of course, were the two I just mentioned. When I met Bob, I respectfully presented him with the booklet\u2014and he was so pleased to see his name beneath the photographs as the designer. I didn't know then that few people who use his ideas give attribution. And while this is usually a sensitive issue for creators, I never heard Bob express any dissatisfaction. Of course, I didn't spend much time with him, but he became for me an example of the modesty of a true Master, one who creates not for money or fame, but purely from the heart\u2014because he simply cannot NOT CREATE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was delighted with another encounter at HobNob in 2007. I'm talking about one of the oldest gem cutters, Paul Head. At our first meeting, I didn't pay him much attention, as there were so many people there, and each of them was remarkable in their own way. But when I learned that Paul cut his first stone in 1946\u201460 years ago!\u2014I bowed before this patriarch. Later, in 2009 or even 2010, meeting me here at HobNob, Paul came up to me, pulled out a box, and said with boyish enthusiasm, \"Look! I cut this myself!\" The box contained a tourmaline measuring 3.5 x 1.5 mm... I'm not afraid to say that Paul was another teacher who taught me loyalty to my craft and such dedication that even time recedes, making way for new opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I'd like to especially mention one other person. I first saw him in 2007, but I was too shy to approach him because of his age and the respect with which he was treated. Only later, when I read about him online and learned that he was one of the organizers of the Australian competitions and one of the most respected members of the USFG, did I realize my shyness was well-founded. Charlie Moon is a professional musician, a man with a subtle artistic nature and a terrific sense of humor. The name of the company on his business card is worth a lot: Moon Stones! He taught me to listen to the music of stone, to sense its harmony. Just as a false note ruins a melody, so a poor meeting point, an asymmetrical or underpolished facet, ruins the perfection of a stone as we perceive it. Not everyone has perfect pitch, but false notes in a melody are jarring to almost everyone. Likewise, when looking at a stone, even without a magnifying glass, a person feels its imperfections \u2013 Charlie Moon revealed this to me, perhaps even without knowing it himself\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And finally, my story would be incomplete without one more name. This man, in my mind, wasn't associated with USFG, but he was known to everyone. He forged his own path, working without printed diagrams, cutting stones on the fly, based on the shape of the raw material. And he did it so masterfully that to this day he remains an example for me, one I can only aspire to. You've already figured out, I'm talking about Stephen Kotlowski. As with Jeff Ford, life brought us together only once, although we frequently corresponded online. Stephen taught me two things: first, to be attentive to the stone, to try to understand what the stone itself wants, and to work without resisting its will, but in harmony with it. And second, and this is perhaps the most important thing I received from my American teachers, to share my knowledge, skill, and experience with others, with those who walk with you and behind you. \"Be great and help others become great!\" \"- said Everest Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Stephen said this his entire life. He was asked many questions about cutting technology, and he never turned anyone down, giving detailed and clear advice. This man loved the cutting itself, not himself in the cutting, remaining humble and kind. During our only meeting here in Tucson, Stephen looked at one of my stones and said, \"You're crazy. I could never do that!\" I think it was just modesty, because he did things that I still have a long way to go\u2014even now...<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honestly, Stephen and I had a special connection. I'll tell you a story. In October 2015, I received a reminder from Facebook that a year earlier I'd wished my Indian friends a Happy Diwali with this image: open palms holding a small candle with a tall flame. Just then\u2014literally minutes before\u2014I'd finished one of the stones from my \"Philosopher's Stone\" collection. It was a golden beryl called \"Drop of Life.\" I immediately took a few photos and posted them on Facebook, mechanically noting that it almost coincided with the reminder of last year's Happy Diwali greeting... Then I felt a strange uneasiness, seeing a photo of a candle flame in open palms next to my stone. Then it struck me like a bolt of lightning: the reflections in the stone's facets practically echoed the contours of those palms and the flame\u2014not just in shape, but in proportions. Two hours later, news of Stephen's death arrived... It shocked me so much that I immediately sat down and translated a poem by the Russian poet and singer Vadim Egorov, making only slight changes. I later used this verse as an epigraph for an exhibition at last year's TGMS show:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPassing by half a life in theory,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Never worrying this context \u2013<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We cut stones in other's memory<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And don't know who will be next...\"<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Art Kavan was the first to pass away, in 2011. It was incredibly painful, as if a spark in my heart had died. And soon came 2015 \u2013 the terrible year 2015, when, one after another, Jeff Ford, Paul Head, and Stephen Kotlowski passed away. And when I learned of Bob and Charlie's passing in 2017, I already knew I had to create a monument to them. A monument to my dear teachers who made me who I am today, who built me \u200b\u200blike a wall of bricks. Let's remember again: hard work \u2013 excellence \u2013 modesty \u2013 dedication \u2013 harmony \u2013 selflessness. These are the lessons I learned and which I strive to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what kind of monument can a gem cutter create? That's how the idea for this collection was born. I chose one design from each of them. Jeff, Bob, Paul, and Charlie were easy to find\u2014their designs were easy to find. There was a hitch with Art\u2014I couldn't find a single diagram under his name online. So, I took the enormous quartz, nearly three kilograms in weight, that Art cut and presented at HobNob in 2007. A diagram was created from the photograph\u2014it turned out to be fairly straightforward. Stephen was more challenging\u2014I wanted to showcase one of his significant creations, and creating a diagram of a multifaceted stone from his photograph was a real challenge. But the goal had been set, and all that remained was to realize it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of you may have seen this collection last year. Let's revisit it, stone by stone, and along with the stones, let's remember those whose ideas and in whose memory they were created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Charlie Moon \u2013 \u201cChevron Hexagonal #6\u201d, CZ, 98.98 carats<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul Head \u2013 \u201cBright Angel\u201d, CZ, 78.46 carats<\/p>\n\n\n\n Art Kavan \u2013 Checkerboard cushion, CZ, 73.99 carats<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeff Ford \u2013 \u201cCheck It\u201d, CZ, 110.60 carats<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bob Keller \u2013 \u201cCleopatra's Eye\u201d, CZ, 96.50 carats<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stephen Kotlowsky \u2013 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSweetheart\u201d, CZ, 154.61 carat<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only synthetic materials were used for the cutting\u2014all the stones were made of cubic zirconia, to fully realize the stone's potential as an optical instrument. The name of the collection came naturally: \"Constellation.\" Each of them was a star, and it couldn't have been better described. I won't go into how the information about these people was collected\u2014their dates, stories, photographs\u2014it's unimportant now. Not everything made it into the exhibition. But it did take place, and the collection was later donated to the Smithsonian\u2014now the country will know about its heroes. And that means at least a small share of my gratitude will remain another thread connecting our nations in these difficult times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would also like to express my gratitude for the assistance provided by those without whom this project would not have been possible as it was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rob Kulakofsky<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keith Wyman<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jim Clark<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ed Perry<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, of course, thank you all \u2013 for being here, for coming today, for finding the strength to listen to me. I wish you all joy and new achievements in cutting and in life!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tucson, USA, 2019<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3559,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n