Flat stones found on beaches have traveled thousands of miles over millions of years. Glass beads do not have a history quite that long, but they have been uncovered from ancient burial and archeological sites in Africa, the Middle East, Scandinavia, the Americas, Asia, and many other places around the world. Both stones and glass beads reveal their history in different ways, and when used in jewelry, they can tell the story of the maker’s journey. And in this case, it’s also the story of Kung Fu and its influence and inspiration on art.

Born in Hong Kong, Master Tak Wah Eng began training in martials arts on his rooftop when he was just a four-year-old child. He moved to New York Cityin the early 1960s, and his high school art teacher encouraged him to perfect his drawing and painting skills; he eventually went on to have a career as a graphic designer. Although he could have been lured into the prevailing gang violence of Chinatown in the 1970s and ’80s, Eng credits his dedication to Kung Fu and his art to keeping him from falling into this lifestyle.

Master Eng was fortunate to meet Grandmaster Wai Hong in 1970 and dedicated himself to studying the Fu Jow Pai system. Even after many years of practice and teaching, he never lost his love of artistic expression. It would be easy to imagine that Eng’s artistic style might mirror that of classical Chinese painting or brushwork. And yet he has developed a style that is closer to Abstract Expressionism from the 1940s and ’50s, with all the emotion and movement of Franz Kline or Jackson Pollock.In Eng’s paintings, his calligraphy skills come through, and his vibrant swathes of color show the movement and emotion of his Kung Fu. Developing this style in 1991, the combination of heavy brushstrokes with splashes and drips of contrasting color carry forward his concept of light and dark, hard and soft, Yin and Yang. Like Kung Fu and Tai Chi, there are many soft and graceful movements, but also the strong stance and power.

One day, Eng was captivated by some stones and rocks that he found and began to use them as his canvas. He would start by painting them white and then begin to layer various colors and add Chinese characters according the emotions he was feeling as he worked. The larger rocks carried a sense of protection and grounding, and the smaller stones gave Eng an idea that they could be worn, a type of portable blessing for the wearer. He showed these painted stones to me, a glass beadmaker and a student of Sifu Paul Koh at Bo Law Kung Fu, and together we created a line of jewelry that combines stone, beads, charms, and jade pieces that both Eng and Ihave collected over many years.

I began making glass beads in 1995, studying with several top glass artists at UrbanGlass in Brooklyn and on the island of Murano in Venice, Italy. While working at UrbanGlass as the managing editor of GLASS Quarterly, I founded at The Bead Project in 1997, a program for economically challenged women to learn the skill of beadmaking and jewelry making as a means of earning income. My practice as a glass beadmaker continues a tradition of torch work that originated in 13th century Venice. Although the torch is much different than the one used back then, the tools and the glass haven’t changed. A colored glass rod is melted at the torch, and the molten glass is wound around a stainless-steel mandrel. Using additional colors, delicate patterns of stripes and dots can be added, and beads can be manipulated into different shapes. I also use a technique called latticino—a method of twisting colors together to form a thin rod—to create a tiger’s stripes.

This method of glass beadmaking, like Kung Fu, requires a steady focus, concentration, and dedication to technique. The glass beadmaker must be aware at all times of the intense heat of the torch’s flame, which can get as high as 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, the sharpness of the glass, and how to correctly employ the tools. While many different designs, patterns, and colors can be used, nothing is more important than mastering the bead’s basic form—and mastering that form leads to freedom in creativity. I credit my Kung Fu practice with Sifu Koh in helping me maintain that level of concentration as I work, and it greatly influences my creative process.

Master Eng considers our collaboration to be an artistic blend of East and West. His paintings utilize both the Chinese and Western way of the brush, but his ideas begin with his practice of meditation and his Kung Fu. When we meet to discuss our work, there is a certain energy that develops as we look at the stones and beads, which have certain attributes depending on where they come from. Certain stones have certain vibrations, as they come from the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, lakes in the Midwest, and mountains in China and Italy. The beads, made of glass that originates in Venice and still made by a company that has been in business since the 15th century, have different colors and patterns. There is an awareness of the properties of the stones and the beads, and how they can be combined with other objects, such as jade and enameled charms.

The theme running through all our work is distinctly Chinese and related to Kung Fu. Master Eng feels strongly about meditating over the finished pieces and blessing them before they are sent out into the world. Earlier this year, ENG+SHAPIRO donated a piece of jewelry to the Chinatown Fire Relief fundraiser after a five-alarm fire displaced several nonprofit organizations housed at 70 Bayard Street. Each piece of jewelry can be hung in a place of honor in the home as well as worn. In Eng’s own poetry, “Blessed by Zen masters / With Zen and martial art / Water and color.”