Creating on the new material
The creator of those unique conical hats made of leaf venation is Mrs. Le Thi Ky Ngo, the wife of Mr. Vo Ngoc Hung (36/13 Kim Long Street, Kim Long Ward, Hue City).
Born into a family with a tradition of playing with brushes, Ms. Ngo shared: “We are all drawing artists. The six siblings in our family are either stenographers, or wall painters and art teachers. Some even draw on paper fans and nails”. Moreover, her two daughters graduated from art school and are pursuing their passion for painting.
Two years ago, with the desire to create a unique product for everyone to remember Hue, Mr. Vo Ngoc Hung came up with the idea of crafting leaf venation conical hats. Five months ago, after more than a year and a half of experimentation, the very first product was born.
Since its inception, the hats have brought in a new breeze. Presently, the transparent conical hats made of leaf venation with its beauty, fragility, and secrecy has been considered as the new "muse" in Hue’s world of conical hats. Orders have flushed in from the south, the north, and even from abroad.
Mr. Hung himself has also shown up in some television programs such as Mai mai thanh xuan (Forever Young) or Tu nhung mien que (From the Countryside) of VTV4 channel, where this exceptional and poetic product of Hue was introduced to a wider public.
Not being satisfied with what they have got, Mr. Hung and his wife went extra miles to better this unique product. Silently, these artisans of Hue find ways to elaborate on each stage of the crafting until the hats eventually reach perfection.
This elegant beauty comes from the creativity and exploit
"Before, the hats had some flaws. For example, they could not be fully stretched, thus there was still some slack due to uneven distribution of force,” said Mr. Hung. Now, not only the leaf venation is treated more professionally but the hats’ stretchiness has been considerably improved. Moreover, thanks to the talent of Mrs. Ky Ngo, these conical hats become even more exquisite and charming when being put on shimmering pictures.
Apparently, painting on conical hats is not an easy job. The art of painting on leaf venation has a history of existence. However, due to the distinctiveness of this type of conical hats (where an extremely thin layer of mesh fabric is used as reinforcement), this method of painting is completely new and different, given the innovative type of material that has never been seen before. Yet, Mrs. Ngo was able to do so successfully and even went beyond that.
Ms. Le Thi Ky Ngo shared: “The difficulty of painting on leaf venation conical hats is to avoid staining. A speck of color will sometimes wipe out what you’ve done before”. Because of such difficulty and meticulousness, she can only do a maximum of three products a day but only when she is in her highest efficiency. Some paintings even take more time to be completed. It is simply a work of wonder.
Although fresh, the artworks from leaf venation conical hats have driven great attention. Pictures of daisies, lotuses, bright red flamboyant, Hue girls, and elegant ao dai appear even more vivid and glowing on this extraordinary material.
Pictures with gorgeous abstract colors, on the other hand, help to enhance the rustic beauty of the natural material. They come in a brilliantly harmonious combination and exhibit a unique charm and elegance that cannot be seen in any other materials.
A big leaf venation conical hat costs VND 450 thousand. To get it painted, you will pay VND 600 thousand in total. Similarly, you can buy a small hat with VND 350 thousand, and pay an extra of VND 150 thousand to get them artistically decorated.
With the innovation in the making and the special stage of adding artistic beauty, the leaf venation conical hats being painted meticulously by this couple of Hue artisans are increasingly appealing. From now on, apart from poem conical hats and lotus leaf conical hats, visitors to Hue will enjoy another choice for a souvenir: painted leaf venation conical hats.
Story and photos: Mai Hue