Vietnam Archives -

Vietnam Buying Trip 2023

January 11th, 2023

I finally made it back!

Vietnam is great! Everyone just lives their lives and enjoys it. There isn’t any pretense or anger between individuals. Driving, everyone is cutting people off and doing 3-point turns in the middle of busy roads. No one cares. It’s refreshing. Some people dance in the park at 7 am while others line up for group massages. I love it. It is the way life should be.

I always have such an incredible time here visiting the country’s local artisans in search of new, unique, and simply stunning wooden Buddhist sculptures.

As I make my way throughout Vietnam’s quaint coastal towns, jungles, and bustling cities – prepare yourself to be amazed by our artisans showcasing their incredible craftsmanship.

I’ve already discovered an abundance of new, one-of-a-kind, hand-carved wooden figures that radiated love, peace, and harmony. From wooden Buddha statues to Guanyin, Bodhidharma, and Hotei Buddhas, there are so many fantastic sculptures to admire here in this wonderful country.

Follow along as I share my encounters with the talented artists of Lotus Sculpture and give you a sneak peek into which statues may be coming with me!

I took a half day and went to Tam Doa which is a mountain town outside of Hanoi. It is perched up on the side of a mountain surrounded by pristine untouched forest with clouds swirling through the trees. I went to a temple near the top of the mountain. Above the main temple was another smaller temple that I had to climb a ton of steps to get to. When I reached the top, no one was there. I went into the small temple and walked around the main shrine of Lord Buddha. There was a nun reading out loud in a chanting cadence, I assume a prayer. The Buddha had an electric chakra behind his head that was flashing different colors. I sat down in front of the psychedelic Buddha to just absorb the scene.

I have rarely felt the true meaning of a word like I did in those 10 minutes in that temple. I felt the true essence of the word, PEACE. Listening to the nun chanting while looking at the lights moving behind the mesmerizing Buddha, I felt like I was whole and happy like I could feel the earth spinning beneath me while sitting. That one moment was worth the 24 hours stuck on a plane to get there.
It was wonderful!

Kyle with female wood artistsan in Vietnam — 3 years ago I met the artist Houng and his wife. When I saw her again her face lit up! She was so happy that I came back to their village. Her joy was infectious! The whole time I was laughing and playing with her and thinking to myself, “is this really my job? I am a lucky man!”

Kyle with wood artisan in Vietnam — I met this 24-year-old artist for the first time. His name is Mike. He had great energy. He brought me in to sit for tea. He first poured Vietnamese tea, then immediately poured it out and changed it to Chinese tea. I am not a tea drinker at all but this tea was delicious! We mimed simple questions and answers for a while, all the time with a huge smile on his face. When I was leaving he gave me a bag of the Chinese tea because he saw how much I loved it. He carves statues of Rams and frogs which is not exactly what I buy. He knew I had no interest in his statues but could not have cared less. He is a precious soul. I look forward to seeing him on my next trip.

I took half a day to visit the limestone cliffs of Ninh Binh. OMG, what a beautiful surprise this was! I felt like I was in one of those Old Chinese rice paper paintings, surrounded by huge, lush limestone cliffs jutting out of the water as we paddled around in our canoe. What a beautiful surprise!

Below are the faces of the artists Lotus Sculpture buys our wood statues from. I visited in the week before their Lunar New Year; Tet. It could not have been a better time for them to sell some of their statues. They were overjoyed to have some extra money right before they go on a month’s vacation for the New Year. On behalf of the artists, I will also say thank you to our wonderful customers. None of this would be possible without you!

Da Nang, Vietnam – The Marble Mountains

Article written January 25th, 2020 by Kyle Tortora

My first trip to Vietnam was in 1998. I was a 22 year old backpacker just out of college, exploring the country without a care or worry in my mind. Vietnam had the distinct smell of salt water and the aroma of food. It’s as if their unmistakable flavor of fish sauce had permeated the air and surrounded you at every turn. Twenty three years later it still has that same smell I remember which immediately took me back with nostalgia to my backpacking days.

White Marble Buddha statues — A collection of stunning Buddha statues hand carved in white marble.

I came to Da Nang to visit my white marble statue maker, Lan, and her family. Da Nang is situated at the base of what is known as the marble mountains, a place famous for its abundance of quality, pure white marbles. Lan and I have worked together for 15 years. She was the first artisan I worked with in Vietnam. Her entire family is involved in the business. Her brother operates the workshop, where all the statues are produced and her cousin, who is the master carver, is responsible for the faces and all the intricate details of the statues.

All these years later I was still impressed with the quality of the Lan’s sculptures compared to that of other workshops in the area. Seeing her 22 foot Kwan Yin statue with my own eyes for the first time, I was completely blown away! She has this gossamer, realistic quality where it looks as if her robes are made of pure silk gently swaying in the breeze. The statue is so lifelike I found myself forgetting it was a 10,000 pound solid block of white marble. Later that day I visited another workshop where I saw a large Kwan Yin statue carved by a different artist. It completely lacked the life and beauty inherent in Lan’s Kwan Yin sculpture. The Kwan Yin at Lan’s workshop is stunning and has that special untouchable something that makes a masterpiece a true masterpiece.

“She has this gossamer, realistic quality where it looks as if her robes are made of pure silk gently swaying in the breeze. The statue is so lifelike I found myself forgetting it was a 10,000-pound solid block of white marble.”

By standing next to Kwan Yin and gazing up at her one can truly appreciate her immense beauty.

Sadly, I arrived the week before Tet or Chinese New Year and all the artists were on break. In planning my trip I knew about Tet and figured being there a week before would give me time to see the artists before the shops would close. I was very wrong, no one was working. I found the workers take off 2 weeks prior to Tet and then a month following. Instead of hearing the incessant clinking sound of chisel on stone all I heard were birds chirping and wind blowing through the palm trees. All the carvers had gone home to their villages to visit with family and friends. It is the equivalent of going to Europe in August when everyone flocks to Mediterranean beaches.

Standing on top of a block of white marble where a God waits to be born.

One thing that I am always impressed, when I visit any stone worker, is seeing the raw block of stone they have yet to begin carving. Climbing over them you can appreciate their pure size and mass. The raw white marble blocks are massive, larger than any I have seen in India or Indonesia. It is an amazing talent a stone artist has to visualize the god or goddess that is sleeping within the stone, waiting to be rendered by the hammer and chisel. But that is exactly what these artists do and I am amazed by it every time I see it.

Later in the day Lan and her brother took me to a beautiful seafood lunch on the beach and a leisurely stroll through the historic town of Hoi An for Vietnamese coffee. For anyone visiting Vietnam, Hoi An is a must see. Even though you are navigating your way through a maze of tourists it still has an old world charm visible through its tiny avenues and beautiful colonial architecture. Walking around the old streets I appreciate knowing that I will be returning to this part of the world for the rest of my life. I often think of how fortunate I am to be doing the work that I am doing…..today was one of those days.