Having been attached to the alum-laden marshland of Tam Nong since his childhood, the image of vast cajuput forests and flocks of red-crowned cranes calling each other back to their nests after sunset has lived forever in the mind of Mr. Nguyen Van Canh (born in 1969) - an Art teacher at Phu Duc Primary School (Phu Duc Commune, Tam Nong District, Dong Thap Province).
From his love for nature and his devotion to red-crowned cranes, Mr. Nguyen Van Canh has been inspired to diligently research and recreate the lively activities of cranes through paintings made from dried cajuput bark of Tram Chim National Park.
Mr. Nguyen Van Canh, an art teacher at Phu Duc Primary School (Phu Duc Commune, Tam Nong District, Dong Thap Province) vividly depicts the image of a red-crowned crane on cajuput tree bark through each work.
Having a talent for art since childhood, however, Mr. Nguyen Van Canh's artistic path only truly "flourished" when he officially started making cajuput bark paintings.
Around 2012, after teaching hours in class, Mr. Canh began to spend time on his second passion, which is making collages with landscape paintings, depicting the beauty of nature and daily life in his hometown of Tam Nong.
Initially, Mr. Canh chose many materials to create such as: scraps of fabric, sawdust, tree bark, cajuput bark, water hyacinth, dried water chestnut...
However, after a period of observation, Mr. Canh realized that cajuput bark and water fern stalks in Tram Chim National Park are two very special materials that can help Mr. Canh truly depict the wild beauty of Tram Chim National Park and the beauty of the rare red-crowned crane (the red-crowned crane is a wild animal listed in the Vietnam Red Book and the World Red Book).
Teacher Nguyen Van Canh went through many steps of selecting cajuput bark to create a work about a red-crowned crane - a rare wild bird - with realistic colors.
At first, Mr. Canh only created paintings out of passion, but after receiving encouragement from many people, he boldly "fell in love" and stuck with the profession of making paintings from cajuput bark.
Mr. Canh's cajuput bark paintings are rich in many genres such as: landscape paintings, successful horses, heroic encounters... but the genre that Mr. Canh favors and puts the most effort into is the painting depicting red-crowned cranes at Tram Chim National Park.
Teacher Nguyen Van Canh shared: “The image of my homeland is a part of my flesh and blood, so I want to bring the “breath” of my homeland’s life into my paintings.
Besides depicting the simple village life, I also want to introduce to my friends from afar about the red-crowned crane, a rare bird species in Tram Chim National Park.
Through these paintings, I hope that friends from far away will understand more about red-crowned cranes, about the affectionate homeland of Tam Nong, where birds nest in good land.
Having been involved in the profession of making paintings from cajuput bark since 2012, Mr. Canh has created over 3,000 paintings of various genres and sizes.
Among them, the two most outstanding works are: “Crane calling spring” and “Dance in the new sunshine”. These are the two paintings recognized as 3-star OCOP products in 2022 of Dong Thap province.
Teacher Nguyen Van Canh with the work "Crane calling spring" which achieved 3-star OCOP standard in 2022.
The main material for Mr. Canh's paintings is cajuput bark, this material is easy to find and available locally.
Old cajuput bark has a structure of hundreds of layers stacked on top of each other, each layer, each side depending on the impact of nature, the tree's lifespan will have a very beautiful color.
This is the element that makes the work both vivid and natural. Each crane painting has to go through many stages such as: classifying cajuput bark, processing the painting background, creating the crane shape, completing the layout... Through the painstaking process of creation, the painting helps viewers have many emotions.
The work “Dance in the New Sunlight” depicts a rare wild bird species in Tram Chim National Park (Tam Nong district, Dong Thap province) that achieved 3-star OCOP standards in 2022.
Currently, Mr. Canh's cajuput bark paintings are not only loved by domestic art lovers, but many of his works have won the hearts of foreign tourists when they have the opportunity to visit.
Mr. Canh's crane paintings made from cajuput bark have been "exported" to many countries and territories around the world.
Besides his artistic activities, Mr. Canh also coordinates with some tourist attractions in Tam Nong to welcome tourists to the painting workshop to visit and experience the stages of making a cajuput bark painting.
Mr. Nguyen Van Canh confided: “I am working as a “satellite” for some tourist spots in Tam Nong to welcome tourists and guide them to experience some painting activities at my facility.
Coming to my painting workshop, in addition to visiting and learning about the process of making cajuput bark paintings, tourists can also share stories related to the red-crowned cranes at Tram Chim National Park.
Through my stories and paintings, I hope visitors will have a better understanding of the meaning of joining hands to protect the environment and protect red-crowned cranes...
Source: https://danviet.vn/mot-nguoi-dong-thap-ve-seu-dau-do-mot-con-dong-vat-hoang-da-co-trong-sach-do-len-vo-tram-20240717234626948.htm
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