Having a fate with the profession of plaster statue casting

Chau Quang Tien (30 years old) successfully started a business casting plaster statues, providing a variety of products for children and adults. The statue workshop has developed strongly in Dak Lak, creating jobs for the local community.

Chau Quang Tien with the finished plaster statue made by his family's workshop to serve customers painting statues - Photo: MVT

Chau Quang Tien from Krong Bong district has skillfully developed the profession of casting plaster statues in Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak, bringing a stable income for his family. After learning the profession in Ho Chi Minh City, he opened a workshop, providing hundreds of diverse products every day.

Learn a trade from scratch

After getting married, Tien and his wife left the poor countryside of Krong Bong district to Buon Ma Thuot city (Dak Lak province) to rent a space to do food business. The business was going well until the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. Everything returned to the starting point, the couple returned to their hometown to find a way to make a living.

Listening around, he knew that many children and adults enjoyed the entertainment of painting plaster statues. After careful research, Tien knew that entertainment spots that had statue painting games often had to import statues from other places at a high cost, while in the district there was no one who made plaster statues.

The idea flashed, Tien went to Ho Chi Minh City to learn the craft of casting plaster statues. That was at the end of 2023. After studying for a while, when his skills were solid, he returned to his hometown to open a workshop. The secrets to making white, smooth, high-quality plaster statues require many stages, and the step of mixing the powder with the right ratio of powder and water will largely determine the success.

Another seemingly small detail is that when pouring plaster powder into the mold, the craftsman must shake it evenly so that the material flows to the smallest details of the statue. Otherwise, the product when it comes out of the oven may be bumpy, uneven, and have air bubbles.

Not to mention the step of removing the mold after waiting for the statue to harden also requires meticulousness from the sculptor. Because if not done carefully, the statue can crack or break small details, which is considered a waste of effort.

Making plaster statues, exporting from Buon Ma Thuot to many provinces and cities

Mr. Tien said that because most of the customers who paint statues are children, there is a constant need for new statue models. So he started to learn how to make silicon statue molds and find unique models. Up to now, his plaster statue workshop has a variety of models with different sizes and shapes, meeting the needs of many ages.

Currently, the workshop produces 300 products every day, including animal statues, cartoon characters, and landscape paintings... Depending on the design and size, prices range from 10,000 - 15,000 VND for small ones, 20,000 - 35,000 VND for medium ones, and 100,000 VND or more for large ones.

After only two years of production, his plaster statues are now available at most entertainment venues and cultural product stalls in many places in the province. The products are also sold in Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong, Ba Ria - Vung Tau... Tien also set up a Facebook page to sell online.

"I am still researching with the hope of creating many statues bearing the mark of my hometown Dak Lak so that tourists can buy them as gifts," Mr. Tien shared.

On average, the factory earns about 50 million VND per month. After deducting all costs for materials and labor, the profit is still about 20 million VND. Compared to the average in poor rural areas, this is considered a good income.

What is valuable is that from his family's workshop, Mr. Tien has helped train five people living nearby and hired them to work at the workshop with an average salary of 5 million VND/month each.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ben-duyen-voi-nghe-duc-tuong-thach-cao-20250329094648488.htm