The colours of wool embroidered paintings

Only a few people know about the genre of wool embroidered painting because it is not as fashionable and smooth as traditional thread embroidery.

Only a few people know about the genre of wool embroidered painting because it is not as fashionable and smooth as traditional thread embroidery.

However, Nguyen Thi Hong Van who graduated with a carpet design degree from the Graphics Department of the Hanoi University of Industrial Fine Arts, has become skilled in the art. She shows her great passion for bright colourful wool through each embroidered painting.

Like thread embroidery, this type of art requires the artisan’s meticulousness and patience. However, it has features, such as thick wool and longer stitches that help the embroidery lines look more clear and stronger.

This is the major difference between wool and thread embroidery. A special feature of wool embroidery is the technique used in the colour scheme.

In each painting, colour pieces are organized individually but they are still skillfully and smoothly combined together. Although the colours in a painting are diversified, they do not contrast and they make the paintings brilliant and elegant.

Recently, Van displayed her unique wool embroidered paintings at Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam (the Temple of Literature - The First National University) in Hanoi.

These embroidered paintings with their bright colours and simple and modern layouts imbued with national cultural features gave viewers interesting and new feelings.

It takes the artisan much time to complete a wool embroidered painting. The small paintings that have many details and patterns require great effort and carefulness while the large ones need creativeness.

The most difficult step in the process of making wool embroidered paintings is the stretching of the painting on the frame. Unless this step is implemented well, the painting will be deformed.

Van said that she combines traditional art with modern techniques to blend colors and graphic depictions to create paintings on familiar themes, such as Dong Ho folk painting, ethnic girls, the old streets, the countryside, flowers and plants.

Therefore, when looking at her embroideries, people often see them as both familiar and strange. She has also stylized embroidered paintings with birds, fish, flowers and leaves, which suitably decorate the interiors of hotels, restaurants or living rooms.

It is quite interesting when using a new method - the art of wool embroidered painting - to express the themes of traditional folk painting because it both preserves traditional features and shows new artistic ideas.