Man turns discarded coconut branches into unique paper paintings

04/06/2022 06:14 GMT+7

The owner of the coconut paper painting workshop on Nguyen Dang Tuyen street (Son Tra district, Da Nang), Mr. Le Thanh Ha (born in 1978, from Nghe An, graduated from Hue University of Fine Arts) shared, when he saw the vertical coconut branches. Da Nang beach was trimmed and turned into garbage, he felt very sorry. About 6 years ago, in the process of researching and researching, he discovered that all the plants for making paper in the world are derived from long fibers such as mulberry trees, sycamore trees… Periwinkles are also had similar characteristics and he embarked on an experiment.

Mr. Le Thanh Ha – who turned the discarded periwinkle branches on the beach of Da Nang into a unique paper painting.

To make paper paintings from coconut branches, the coconut sheath is cut into short pieces by Mr. Ha, peeled off the outer green shell to get the inner core, and then cooked with lime within 24 hours. Next, the cooked coconut core is crushed into a powder and then soaked in water for 17 days to bleach the coconut pulp.

In the next stage, he put coconut pulp on the mold, sprayed it with water to spread the pulp evenly and dried it in the sun until it dried.

In particular, the painting stages are all handmade and do not use any chemicals.

Coconut shells peel off the outer green shell to get the inner core. Through the process of cooking, grinding, soaking, it becomes a pulp.

“If you want to remove impurities and bleach the pulp, you can soak it with chemicals for only one day, but here I don’t use chemicals but use the natural soaking method for 17 days. Coconut paper is made entirely from materials of periwinkle sheath, natural ivory white paper color, “said Mr. Ha.

Mr. Ha poured pulp on the frame to make pictures.

This way of making coconut paper paintings was learned by him from the traditional papermaking method of the H’Mong people combined with the Japanese technique of printing patterns using water pressure.

According to Mr. Ha, to make a coconut paper picture needs to go through many stages, taking at least 7 days to complete, depending on the difficulty of the painting. In particular, the process of creating molds and printing with water pressure requires workers to be really skillful.

The craftsman uses the faucet as a carving knife to create textures and patterns on the picture.

You must first draw the patterns by hand, then draw the graphics on the machine, and print the decal paper. The craftsman will use a knife to cut and paste the details on the decal onto the mold to create a complete printing mold. Next, spread the coconut pulp on the frame, press down the printing plate and adjust the coconut pulp with water pressure. Under the pressure of water like a carving knife, the craftsman continues to shape and contour the picture onto the coconut paper.

“This art is like sculpting with water. Different strong and light water pressure will adjust the coir differently, forming different thicknesses. The worker uses a faucet to align the light on the coconut paper material. After finishing the textures, the paintings are left to dry in the sun until it dries,” Ha said.

The coconut paper paintings in Ha’s workshop are mainly images of Buddha, lotus, landscape, nature…. Currently, Mr. Ha is doing more painting applications in interior decoration.

Paper paintings have very good light penetration characteristics, if illuminated under the sun or lights, they will create a vivid artistic picture that many people like. Not only selling domestically, Ha’s coconut paper paintings have been exported to many countries around the world such as the US, Germany, Korea…

Ha’s completely handmade paintings made this foreign visitor very curious.

Although the same printing mold, but depending on the ingenuity and different perception, it will make the picture different beauty.

The finished painting is dried in the sun.

Ha’s paintings often have themes about Buddha, nature or portraits of artists, great people…

A painting usually takes at least 7 days to complete.

Currently, Mr. Ha is doing more painting applications in interior decoration.

Thanks to this unique way of painting, Mr. Ha has taken advantage of the available materials of nature, both limiting waste to the environment, and can help local people have more income.

Sharing about future plans, Mr. Ha said that he very much wishes that coconut paper painting will become a traditional profession, replicate this profession and develop it in a sustainable way. He is always ready to teach the profession to those who have a desire and passion for this coconut paper painting profession.

Dieu Thuy