From WIRE
REPORTS
A small school that teaches lacquering in a lane off Ha Noi’s
Dang Thai Mai Street has become a favorite place for Fabiana Mesquita and her
friend Cassia Lopes.
“It is just an amazing art,” Fabiana says to explain why
she attends the classes.
“I’ve been to some Asian countries but I only knew about it
when I came to Viet Nam. So for me the art is uniquely Vietnamese and studying
it is one of the best ways I can learn about Viet Nam.”
The Brazilian came to Ha Noi in 2007 with her husband. Now
she stays at home to take care of her baby and goes three times a week to the
class.
“I’ve been learning for three weeks and I am completing my
first work, an abstract painting.”
Fabiana and Cassia are among the first students at the
school opened recently by artist Tran Anh Tuan and a German friend, Elke Riter,
who was one of his students.
“I thought of [starting] a lacquer painting school long
ago, and Elke Riter helped me do it,” Tuan said.
“[She] was in a lacquer class at the Ha Noi University of
Industrial Fine Arts where I was teaching. She told me that she loved my
teaching methods and many of her foreign friends would also be very interested
in the art. So we decided to give it a go.”
To prepare for the school opening on April 14, Tuan and
Elke worked hard to complete dozens of works to serve as reference materials
for students.
They were both surprised by the large number of foreigners
registering. The two divided the students in different classes based on their
skills: those who knew the basic techniques were placed in intermediate classes
and beginners in elementary classes.
Tuan also teaches children who can choose whatever material
they like – lacquer, oil paint, water colors, or synthetic colors.
“For children we want to offer a fun and relaxing space to
exercise their artistic side, and a place for playing and relaxing at the same
time,” he explains.
He adopts a similar method with the adults, acting more as
a guide, showing them the basic steps, and explaining the general rules of
sketching and applying colors.
“This is an art, so we need to let students freely show
their creativity,” he explains.
“My [aim] is to instill confidence in their skills, showing
them it is not a complicated art and they can surely master it if they have a
passion for it.”
Tuan has an interpreter to help him answer every query from
students who are of various nationalities and attend the classes for different
reasons.
Each class is held two or three times a week, on weekdays
or weekends, mornings or evenings, depending on the students’ and teachers’
schedules.
Besides giving lessons at the school, Tuan is also planning
to organize some extra activities for his students like trips to lacquer
villages and exchanges on lacquer painting.
STEPS IN LACQUER PAINTING
1. After forming an idea about the painting, the artist
sketches out the patterns on the surface of the wood.
2. The patterns are then bordered by red-brown or black
lacquer. For some patterns, the artist can attach eggshells, mother of pearl,
or other materials by using a graver. For some other patterns, the artist
paints lacquer of different colors before laminating or strewing gold or
silver (using gold/silver sheet or dust, depending on the artist’s
conception).
3. The painting is then covered with a wet woolen blanket
until it dries. Then it is polished with grindstone and/or sandpapered.
4. After that, the artist adds one or two more layers of
lacquer to obtain the desired effect. Hence, to complete the process of
painting, the artist uses three to 10 layers of lacquer.
5. Finally, to finish the painting, the artist uses
varnish to coat the surface of the painting and allows it to dry before
polishing with charcoal and ruffled hair.
