Lotus color on silk

Initial lotus brush strokes.

Touch the silk - touch the soul

Tran Thao - a girl from Linh Son ward, started her relationship with silk in 2018. When she was a student at the Central University of Art Education, in an academic environment where modern materials such as oil paint and acrylic were chosen by most of her friends, Thao quietly chose silk.

For Thao, silk is not only a traditional material, but when held in the hand it is soft, supple and enchanting.

This fragility poses many challenges in controlling colors, requiring those who want to paint on silk to be patient, meticulous and delicate in each brushstroke. Through the initial days of confusion, Thao has kindled a special love for silk and nurtured that love in her later artistic journey.

To conquer silk, Thao understands that the most important and necessary thing is to understand it. Painting on silk therefore requires high concentration because each brush stroke must be absolutely precise, otherwise the color will spread, sink and there is no chance to correct the mistake. That is what makes Thao even more passionate, listening, understanding, cherishing each silk thread, each color tone.

It is that fragility and challenge that makes Thao love and want to conquer that unique soul and temperament.

Tran Thao is meticulous in every stroke.

Through many initial clumsy experiments with many failed products, Thao gradually expressed her own unique style in her silk paintings.

Silk gradually became like a soulmate, gentle but profound, challenging but inspiring to Thao. It was not just a material, but an artistic path she had chosen with all her heart, a path that was not easy to walk, but always led to subtle and profound emotions.

Lotus blooms on silk

Once she had mastered the technique of painting on silk, Thao suddenly found a symbol that really moved her, the lotus flower.

It is no coincidence that this flower is associated with the Vietnamese soul, pure, proud and full of determination. The lotus rises from the mud, keeping its own beauty, gentle but not weak, noble but not distant. And silk, with its smoothness, becomes the ideal material for Thao to convey her feelings towards that beauty.

Each silk lotus painting by Tran Thao is not simply an image, but a mood, a memory, a feeling of a soul that loves painting.

Each lotus petal seems to breathe, each brush stroke seems to whisper, not noisy, but enough to make viewers stop, listen and feel. That is why the little girl Tran Thao painted the lotus color on silk not only with her eyes but also with her emotions, so that viewers can see the breath of the lotus, not just the shape or color of the flower.

For each lotus product on silk, Thao has to spend 1-2 days to complete, care for, shape and breathe life into the silk lotus.

Thao 's lotus on silk is not confined to the traditional frame because Thao has experimented with bold color combinations, bringing modern light into the classic layout. The silk paintings therefore have a classic yet fresh look, like a bridge between tradition and modernity.

Not only stopping at simple silk paintings , Tran Thao also boldly applies silk paintings to handicraft products such as silk scarves, fabric bags, silk-covered notebooks, handmade cards, and ao dai.

Each product is a small "piece" from larger works, skillfully processed to preserve the artistic spirit, while still being highly applicable.

The Journey of Lotus Silk

Lotus Ao Dai wins the hearts of many tourists.

From her hometown Thai Nguyen , through social networks, Tran Thao's lotus silk products are known and loved by many people.

A small shop selling Thao's products on Hanoi's Old Quarter attracts many tourists. Samsung Electronics Vietnam General Director Na Ki Hong was extremely excited when he touched lotus silk. Without hesitation, he chose lotus silk as a gift for his relatives after a business trip and tour in Vietnam.

Mr. Na Ki Hong shared: The softness of silk combined with the pink lotus color fascinated me, and my relatives will surely love this gift. Silk is soft, fragile, but durable over the years, while lotus grows from the mud, still giving off a pure fragrance. Just like the Vietnamese people, simple but resilient, hard-working but still maintaining their own unique beauty, not ostentatious but profound .

Ms. Phuong Linh, the owner of a shop in Van Phuc, Ha Dong, Hanoi - where a small corner is dedicated to displaying Thao's lotus silk products, said: Many people visit the shop to admire the beauty of the lotus silk of the little girl from Thai Nguyen. Most people really like it and share the feeling that Thao's lotus silk is very soulful, as if it contains many of Thao's stories. People say that the silk is telling the dreams of the person who makes the lotus silk products.

Each lotus silk product costs from 1.5 million to 3 million VND, depending on the difficulty, meticulousness and sophistication. Therefore, for Tran Thao, the fact that foreigners love Vietnamese silk products is not only an economic opportunity, but also a source of pride in contributing a small part to spreading Vietnamese culture. That is the motivation that makes Thao always try to maintain the traditional techniques in every step - from choosing silk, processing the background, mixing natural colors to each brush stroke - so as not to "dilute" the spirit of art.

Between the fragile silk threads, Tran Thao and silk lovers are weaving a new future for Vietnamese silk paintings with all their passion, talent and belief in the lasting value of national culture.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/dat-va-nguoi-thai-nguyen/202509/sac-sen-tren-lua-40c34f5/