The village chief loves painting.

Portraying the beauty of the homeland

Born and raised in a poor countryside, Cao Thanh Nam had a love for painting since he was young. In secondary school, outside of class, Nam also went to his art teacher's house to ask for drawing lessons. From there, colorful paintings of his hometown and the people where he lived were born one after another.

Mr. Nam's paintings are very rustic, expressing love for his homeland and country.

In 2009, Nam passed the entrance exam to Quang Binh University, majoring in fine arts. After receiving formal training, his drawings became more and more delicate and vivid. After graduating, he became an art teacher at several schools. However, his passion only lasted for 3 years before he had to stop because his teaching contract expired.

“At that time, I was very sad because I had to quit the job I loved. Even sadder was that I had not yet fully conveyed my passion to my students. I wanted to work and contribute to the education sector for a long time,” Nam confided.

After a period of struggling to make a living, in 2015, Nam returned to his hometown to get married and participate in local work. In 2022, he was elected Deputy Secretary of the Party Cell and Head of Liem Hoa Village. Although he was quite busy with housework and village work, his love for fine arts still burned brightly in the young village chief. In front of the charming scenery of his hometown, the images of labor and production of the simple villagers evoked emotions in him and he decided to paint again.

As a young and dynamic village chief, Cao Thanh Nam also has a passion for painting.

The first painting he drew was called “Hung Trau”, a very beautiful place in Thuong Hoa commune (Minh Hoa). Nam shared: “When I went to Ruc through Hung Trau during the flood season. The road to three villages of the Ruc people and the whole forest were submerged in water. In the twilight, the trees, water, mountains, clouds and sky seemed to blend together, making the scenery here look like a fairyland. In front of that beauty, I took out my tools and started painting at night...”.

In the painting “Countryside”, Nam depicts the warm and prosperous beauty of his hometown. He said: “Once, I went to herd buffaloes by Yen Phu Lake. This place used to be the filming location of the blockbuster movie “Kong: Skull Island”. In the spring weather, the grass by the lake grew lushly, the clear water under the lake reflected the majestic limestone mountains. Then the image of the mother buffalo and her calf leisurely grazing... I found that scene extremely beautiful and I completed this painting. After that, I brought the painting to an exhibition at the 150th anniversary of the founding of Minh Hoa district (1875-2025) and someone bought it at a high price”.

Over the past 2 years, Mr. Nam has painted over 30 paintings with different content and sizes, but all express the village chief's love for the beauty of his homeland and country.

A picture of the countryside landscape just finished by village chief Cao Thanh Nam.

Nam confided: “Each painting is the voice of one’s heart towards the surrounding scenery and people. There are even thoughts and concerns that cannot be expressed in words but can be expressed through paintings. To do that, the painter needs to have real emotions and cannot force them. Without emotions, the painting will be “soulless” and have no artistic value.”

In addition to painting, Nam also accepts decorative painting jobs at coffee shops, schools, advertisements, etc. Teacher Cao Thanh Nhac, who teaches Fine Arts at Thuong Hoa Primary School, who guided Nam through his first strokes, commented: “Nam’s paintings express simplicity and simplicity but contain love for his homeland and country. The paintings also express unique ideas and creative thinking, and harmoniously combine color materials, making them soulful and lively...”.

Passionate about work

Liem Hoa village has 417 households and 1,660 people. With a large population and vast terrain, the lives of local people are still difficult. As the village chief, Mr. Nam has actively promoted and mobilized people to develop the economy and culture, join hands in building new rural areas, and properly implement the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's laws.

Thanks to the propaganda and mobilization of Mr. Cao Thanh Nam, many households in Liem Hoa have become rich from raising pigs.

Up to now, the whole village has over 100 hectares of agricultural land. Taking advantage of this, Mr. Nam has encouraged people to grow corn, peanuts, beans, cassava... combined with the use of new high-yield varieties in production to ensure food and increase income. Regarding livestock, the village has over 1,000 cattle, more than 1,400 poultry, 41 honey bee colonies...

Mr. Cao Xuan Vinh in Liem Hoa village said: “The village chief is an enthusiastic and responsible person. He visits, encourages and helps anyone who has difficulties. In addition, Mr. Nam also enthusiastically mobilizes and provides documents for households to develop livestock and crop models. Thanks to that, the family economy in the village has improved significantly.”

Activities of afforestation, forest protection, development of small-scale industry, trade, services, environmental sanitation, culture-society... in Liem Hoa village have also achieved many positive results. In 2024, villagers joined hands with local authorities, organizations to eliminate temporary houses for 4 households in especially difficult circumstances. The number of poor and near-poor households in the area has decreased significantly over the years. Currently, Liem Hoa village has only 21 poor households, accounting for 5.29%, and 6 near-poor households...

Chairman of Trung Hoa Commune People's Committee Cao Xuan Duong: "Village Chief Cao Thanh Nam always "talks and acts", especially when mobilizing people to implement the policy of converting crop and livestock structure. Not only is he active and enthusiastic in village work, Nam is also very passionate about painting. His paintings help preserve and promote the beautiful image of his hometown as well as display and exhibit at important local holidays and events...".

Spring King

Source: https://baoquangbinh.vn/xa-hoi/202503/nguoi-truong-thon-me-ve-tranh-2225094/