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| Ms. Vo Thi Quynh by her work |
Conveying love
In the exhibitions of Hue City Fine Arts Association, the pressed flower and leaf paintings by the retired teacher Vo Thi Quynh always make an appearance in a modest corner but with a strong allure. Gentle, graceful, and peaceful, these are the emotions that many people can feel when viewing her pressed flower and leaf paintings. Each painting tells a daily story, expressing joys and sorrows through the colors of flowers and leaves. Every piece is a harmonious blend among poetry, painting, and shaping.
With each piece of work, the artist always conveys her love for her hometown, family, and friends. Furthermore, she also expresses a spirit that remains youthful with abundant emotions about the surrounding life, dreams, and memories. Many of her works depict themes that are quite familiar, such as: “Hue Garden”, “Hometown”, “Spring Comes”, “The Shadow of Dreams”, etc.
In the artwork “The Desert and Dreams of Love”, Vo Thi Quynh conveys her dream of stepping foot on new lands, where beautiful leaves and flower petals can be found. This dream is expressed by the leaves from Japan and Canada that were brought back and gifted to her by friends and students.
The painting “The Shadow of Dreams” depicts the silhouette of the father sitting before a mandolin, with the hope that his children would become musicians. The painting evokes memories of the artist's father, even though he has passed away. “When he was alive, my father often spoke about his dream that his children would become musicians. As the years passed, none of us followed his dream, but I still remember it,” Ms. Quynh shared.
The pioneer of the pressed flower painting style
As a former literature teacher at Quoc Hoc Hue High school for the Gifted, the artistic journey of teacher Vo Thi Quynh seemed like fate. Starting with the simple idea of making pressed flower cards as gifts for teachers and friends, in 1992, after a severe illness, Quynh felt the need to do something more meaningful to leave for her descendants. That year, the pressed flowers and leaves she had kept for a long time were used to create a painting of a rooster welcoming the Lunar New Year of the Rooster. The beautiful painting garnered praise from family and friends, who encouraged her to continue her creative endeavors.
In 1993, Quynh held her first pressed flower painting exhibition in Da Nang. Since then, she has organized numerous exhibitions in Hue, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Quang Tri. Up to day, Ms. Quynh has created over 300 works using this material and was honored by Hue City Fine Arts Association as the pioneer of pressed flower painting in Vietnam.
Walking on the streets of Hue or anywhere else, Ms. Quynh is always attentive, looking for flowers and picking leaves. She does not only collect petals and leaves from all over to press and preserve them, but whenever inspiration strikes, regardless of time or place, Quynh grabs a pencil to sketch her ideas on paper and then carefully selects the right flowers and leaves. To ensure durability, each flower and leaf takes 100 days to be pressed dry, and the colors in her paintings are entirely natural. Quynh has taught herself the techniques and accumulated experience to preserve and maintain the color of her works.
Creating pressed flower paintings requires not only creativity and inspiration but also a deep passion. The artist must have immense patience and meticulousness to assemble each petal and leaf. Unlike other materials, pressed flower paintings require painstaking attention to detail and cannot be done quickly. Even a small mistake can ruin the painting, and once damaged, it cannot be fixed. Inspiration can strike unexpectedly, but turning that inspiration into a completed artwork is not a simple task. Sometimes, even with an idea and a sketch, the right flowers and leaves are not found, and the painting must wait for months or even years. In return, pressed flower paintings bring Quynh moments of artistic fulfillment, helping her maintain a youthful spirit.