"Super products" from snail shells

From the shells of snails and clams washed up on the shore, through his skillful hands, Mr. Vo Cao Dinh (40 years old, residing in Tam Tien commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province) has created unique, highly artistic paintings. His works not only help him decorate his shop in Loc Ha village, but can also earn tens of millions of dong from this creative idea. "My wife and I are old, poor, and unable to build or repair a house. The Party and the State have helped my family build a spacious house like this. My family is very grateful. From now on, my wife and I do not have to worry every time it rains or storms." That was the sharing on the day of receiving a new house of Mrs. Ly Thi Ba, Ban Chang village, Quang Trung commune, Binh Gia district, Lang Son province. Son My village, Tinh Khe commune, Quang Ngai city once marked the pain of war in the massacre on March 16, 1968, taking the lives of 504 innocent civilians. More than half a century has passed, Son My has strongly revived, taking on a new look. Today, this land is changing, developing tourism services, attracting tourists from all over to visit My Khe beach, explore Kinh river and learn about the cultural and historical values ​​of the heroic village. In the remote border area, there are children going to school with bare feet and hungry stomachs. There are recess hours without slides or swings. There are classrooms without enough desks and chairs, kitchens without rice cookers, and no clean water filters. Yet, bright smiles still bloom on the lips of children who lack many things in terms of living conditions. In the past, Bac Giang ancient Cheo was famous in the "Northern Cheo region" with traditional Cheo regions such as Hoang Mai (Viet Yen), Tu Mai (Yen Dung), Dong Quan (Bac Giang City). Few people expect that in the highlands of Bac Giang province, there is also an old Cheo stage in Thanh Tra village, Le Vien commune, Son Dong district. The Department of Fine Arts, Photography and Exhibition (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in collaboration with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Nghe An organized the photo exhibition "ASEAN Country and People 2025". In the mountainous district of Ba Che (Quang Ninh), the Dao Thanh Y people are still preserving a very unique custom, imbued with the cultural identity of the nation - the custom of drying traditional costumes of women and shamans. From the snail shells and clam shells washed up on the shore, through his skillful hands, Mr. Vo Cao Dinh (40 years old, residing in Tam Tien commune, Nui Thanh district, Quang Nam province) has created unique paintings with high artistic value. His works not only help him decorate his shop in Loc Ha village, but can also earn tens of millions of dong from this creative idea. General news of the Ethnic and Development Newspaper development. The morning news on March 22 has the following notable information: Brilliant colors of Na Hang brocade. Masterpiece of a wooden church over 100 years old in Kon Tum. Female cadre devoted to the village. Along with other current news in ethnic minority and mountainous areas. At 7:30 p.m. on March 25, the Vietnamese team will host the Lao team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, at Go Dau Stadium (Binh Duong). The match promises to be an opportunity for coach Kim Sang-sik and his team to win all three points, thereby consolidating their position in the group. After nearly four years of implementation, the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas for the 2021-2030 period; Phase I: from 2021 to 2025 (National Target Program 1719) has made an important contribution to improving the quality of life for ethnic minorities in Ha Giang province. Electricity, roads, schools, and stations have been invested in and newly built; the economic and social life of ethnic minorities has had many significant changes. The U22 Vietnam team has just surprisingly held U22 Uzbekistan to a draw (0-0) in the second match of the CFA Team China 2025 international friendly tournament, taking place in Jiangsu, China. This is an encouraging achievement, affirming the progress of Vietnamese youth football in the international arena. Over the years, the Party and the State have always paid attention to and valued the team of prestigious people among ethnic minorities. In order to encourage, motivate and facilitate Prestigious People to promote their role, the Prime Minister has issued Decision No. 28/2023/QD-TTg amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decision No. 12/2018/QD-TTg dated March 6, 2018 of the Prime Minister on criteria for selecting and recognizing Prestigious People and policies for Prestigious People among ethnic minorities. Including the policy of providing information for Prestigious People. The Ministry of Home Affairs has just sent a document to the People's Committees of provinces and cities on the temporary suspension of some tasks related to administrative units at all levels.

These days, whenever he has free time at the coffee shop, Mr. Dinh tinkers with his paintings made from scallop shells. In the space of the shop, he displays hundreds of unique works, mainly made from snail shells, seashells and some old bottles. This is the result of his passion for this job for more than 5 years, making paintings from snail shells.

Mr. Vo Cao Dinh is meticulous with each step of creating paintings from snail shells.

Having never studied painting or architecture, Mr. Dinh came to this job by chance. More than 5 years ago, while he and his daughter were walking on the beach near their house, they discovered many shells with beautiful shapes and colors, so they picked them up and brought them home. After that, he tried gluing them together to create funny toys for his daughter.

Snail and clam shells are carefully processed before being used to make mosaics.

“One dish, then two dishes… I indulged my daughter and accidentally created many objects from seashells and clams. Gradually, I came up with the idea of ​​making larger paintings to decorate the coffee shop. Thinking is doing, I came up with the idea and started tinkering with piles of seashells and clams of all kinds. The paintings were hung in the shop, many customers saw the beauty and started asking to buy them,” said Mr. Dinh.

Hundreds of works are displayed at Thien Dinh cafe.

After collecting the shells from the beach, he washed them and dried them. During the cleaning process, he was meticulous so as not to lose the natural colors and patterns. After the materials were carefully processed, he started to assemble them into a complete work.

The vase made of snails and shells was made by Mr. Dinh in nearly a week.

He said that completing a product from a shell is not difficult, but requires meticulousness, time and patience. Once you have visualized the shape of the animal or object in your mind, and have the right materials, it will be done very quickly. Particularly for paintings that are large in size and have more lines, completion can sometimes take a lot of time.

A vivid natural picture from snail shells, clams, and corals.

“For simple animals like chickens, elephants, buffaloes, etc., it is very quick, about 30 minutes to complete a product. As for paintings with more complex lines, like people or landscapes, it is very elaborate, sometimes taking more than a week to complete. The most difficult part of this is choosing shells that are suitable in color and size, to highlight the lines in the painting,” Dinh shared.

Colorful bouquet of snails.

To have a beautiful product, according to Mr. Dinh, it is necessary to be meticulous in every step.

Introducing the dragon on the shelf to us, he said the length of this mascot is about 40cm, made last year with hundreds of shells and snails of all kinds. Among them, many types of shells were bought by his friends in Nha Trang and sent back. Creating this mascot took many days, requiring great meticulousness.

The dragon is made from hundreds of snail and clam shells.

This is one of the largest animal sculptures in the collection, taking more than a week to complete. The shells are all the same size and are carefully processed, so the scales are quite uniform. In the near future, I plan to make all 12 zodiac animals and display them at my coffee shop," he said excitedly.

Seahorse painting.

Or with the vivid bouquet of snails on the other side of the wall, it took him nearly half a month to complete. Most of the time spent on this product was spent choosing the right materials in terms of color and size. According to Dinh, the difficulty is how to make each flower have its own beauty, but when combined, it creates a vivid bouquet.

The painting of the girl is decorated with shells.

Talking about his plans in the near future, Mr. Dinh hopes to open a mini museum to serve tourists to check in and sell the products he makes. Currently, his paintings made from snail shells have been known by many people and are ordered, from 4 to 10 paintings per month, depending on the size and difficulty, the price can range from a few hundred to more than 1 million VND per product.

Mr. Dinh wants to open a mini museum to display and serve tourists.

“Thanks to the development of tourism, recently many visitors have come to the coastal area of ​​Nui Thanh, and I want to bring them a new experience. The paintings and funny animals are not only of aesthetic value, but they are also a gift, a memory when coming to my hometown coastal area. Moreover, through my work, I want to convey to everyone the message of joining hands to protect the environment from the smallest things,” Mr. Dinh shared more.

Interesting things in the village of Firewood Village

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/nhung-sieu-pham-tu-vo-oc-1742784631275.htm