Multi-talented "artist" in Tan Hai fishing village

Having never received any art training, but with his innate talent and passion for creativity, Mr. Tran Cong Sinh (50 years old), in Tan Hai fishing village, Gio Hai commune, Gio Linh district, has created many impressive and artistic sculptures and reliefs. In the locality, he is considered a multi-talented "artist" when composing songs, folk songs, poems... that are loved by many people.

Mr. Tran Cong Sinh creates a new work - Photo: D.V

Working in an office during the day, sculpting at night

It is quite surprising that Mr. Sinh is currently the Deputy Secretary of the Gio Hai Commune Party Committee. Over a cup of hot tea on a weekend at his home, he recounted his childhood as a cow herder who often wandered with his friends on the sandy land of his hometown.

It was also there that he witnessed the skillful tomb masons creating “souls” of dragons, unicorns, turtles, and phoenixes, and reliefs, vivid fruit and leaf motifs... from cement and paint. Seeing that, his passion took over without him realizing it, and he began to draw similar animals and flowers on the ground. After that, he asked to learn the art of a mason from the tomb masons... and then became a craftsman for a while. In 2000, Sinh got married.

In 2003, he passed his second choice to study painting at Quang Tri Pedagogical College, but due to difficult family circumstances, his parents were old and he had just gotten married, he decided not to go to school. “In 2004, I became the Deputy Secretary of Gio Hai Commune Youth Union and took the opportunity to work as a carpenter to support my wife and children. After a while, I quit my job as a carpenter and focused on working in the commune. Later, I was elected to hold the position of Deputy Secretary of the Commune Party Committee, and have served more than two terms so far,” Sinh said.

Although he is busy with many tasks, from office work to social work, it seems that in his blood, Mr. Sinh still has a burning love for fine arts. So he takes the opportunity to return to his passion for sculpture, painting... on weekends and every night, after finishing his office work.

“Working at night is cool and quiet. In the murmuring sound of the waves, with the gentle folk songs of Binh Tri Thien and the help of my wife, I am absorbed in creating my favorite works and according to customers' orders. In the past 3 years, I often make statues of deer, elephants, buffalos, antelopes, giraffes, turtles, mushrooms... for fairy gardens of kindergartens, playgrounds of garden cafes, tourist areas. In general, I make whatever people order.

Up to now, I can hardly keep up with the work because the number of customers is increasing, from Gio Linh, Vinh Linh to provinces such as Quang Binh , Hue", Mr. Sinh said. To create the works, Mr. Sinh saved up to buy all the necessary machines and tools. A corner behind his house is now cluttered with all kinds of materials, tools, and products like a real "art workshop".

In addition to fine arts, Mr. Tran Cong Sinh is also a talented person in composing poetry and music. He is working with Thuan Hoa Publishing House to complete the final stages to prepare for publishing the poetry collection Huong Doi, consisting of 146 poems, mainly about human love, life, and love for the homeland and country. He is a folk song addict and has composed over 20 folk songs, and a number of plays for performing local cultural and artistic activities that have been highly appreciated. In particular, some of his songs have left a good impression, including the song "Gio Hai vang khuc ca tu huong" (Proud Song) composed and performed on the occasion of the commune receiving the new rural standards. This song is loved by local people and is often chosen to be sung at weddings, parties, and karaoke. One special thing is that, in addition to the rough construction part done by the workers, the remaining parts of his two-story house such as: design, tile casting, wooden ceiling, wooden cabinets, decorations... are all done by him and his wife themselves.

Impressive works

For many years now, when the village has fallen into a deep sleep, under the flickering light in the corner of his house and garden, the talented hands of Mr. Sinh - a cadre, an amateur artist - have been diligently working on each line, each stroke, each brush stroke to create impressive works. Among the hundreds of works he has created, Mr. Sinh said that recently there have been some very outstanding works, which have attracted a lot of attention, have been photographed, recorded videos and posted on social media platforms.

That is the work “Queen Crab Gate” with a height of 4.2 m, a width of 3.5 m and a weight of 2.5 tons, just completed in February 2025 for a homestay in Mui Si, Vinh Linh district. Also in April 2025, he completed and handed over the work “Romantic Lobster” with a length of 3.6 m, weighing about 1 ton to Eo Bien Xanh restaurant in Cua Tung town, Vinh Linh district.

“It took me 20 days and nights for the work “Queen Crab Gate”; 30 days and 20 nights for the work “The Romantic Lobster”. These are quite complex works with many difficult details, so when creating, I both looked at the drawing and visualized it in my head.

As for the lobster work, I had to buy a real lobster and observe it carefully, especially the two antennae... Works like this have to be made very similar to be impressive and for people to enjoy it. After the handover, the customer was very satisfied and said that many people came to visit and check-in," Sinh happily said.

Anh Sinh created the work "Queen Crab Gate" - Photo: NVCC

Previously, Mr. Sinh was also pleased when completing a screen for a local family temple. This screen is stylized as a sailboat heading straight to the sea, to commemorate a local person - the Hoang Sa captain who was also in charge of Bac Hai. This was the mighty army of the Nguyen Dynasty, with the task of managing and protecting the sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos in the past.

Currently, Mr. Sinh is creating a rather grandiose relief for the memorial of a local village. “This relief is 3.7 m high and 13 m wide, depicting the fighting process of our army and people with many details and historical events. It is expected that it will take me about 2 months to complete this work,” Mr. Sinh said. After this work, Mr. Sinh plans to undertake a work consisting of 2 monsters, King Kong and Godzilla (from a blockbuster movie) fighting each other.

“I create works mainly because of my great passion for fine arts, in addition to having some extra income to support my children's education. Because compared to the market price, the works I make are much cheaper. I wish to create aesthetic, vivid works to beautify life. The works are also where I express my love for my homeland and my passion for fine arts,” Sinh confided.

German Vietnamese

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/nghe-nhan-da-tai-o-lang-bien-tan-hai-194484.htm