The whole family goes sketching: Put aside the busyness, 'draw' joy

Nguyen Thi Xuan Sao's family paints in the ancient capital of Hue - Photo: NVCC

“It was a beautiful day in 2017, the drawing group sat in front of my flower shop, drawing the corner of the ancient Hang Vai street. I saw the familiar street suddenly become strangely beautiful and became more curious about the street drawing group so I wanted my daughter to join”, Ms. Nguyen Thi Xuan Sao, Hang Vai street, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi , recalled the chance encounter with the Urban Sketchers HaNoi street sketching group.

A family of 6 members goes to art school.

Sao’s family runs a fresh flower shop at home. Every day, she sits in front of the shop trimming and arranging flowers. That day, the sketching group came and chose to sit right on the sidewalk of her shop. Seeing that everyone was passionate about drawing and drawing very well, she immediately brought the flower baskets inside, brought chairs and invited everyone to sit and draw.

People who are passionate about painting, regardless of age or profession, whether they know how to draw or not, can participate in street sketching. Group leaders are architects and professional artists. They will lead the group, choose the location and then announce it on the group for everyone to participate.

Xuan Sao and her husband had only one daughter named Minh Anh, who was 9 years old at that time.

“Minh Anh was the first member of the children’s team at that time. She was the driving force for our whole family,” Ms. Xuan Sao excitedly recalled. The drawing group was organized once a week, on Sunday afternoons, at different locations.

Maybe this week it’s the corner of Hang Vai ancient street, tomorrow it’s the One Pillar Pagoda relic, the day after that it’s the old apartment complex… Every time she takes her daughter to draw, accompanying her on every journey. While waiting for her child, she also starts practicing drawing, and without realizing it, she falls in love with drawing.

When she got home, she invited her sister, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Xuan Hien, to join. Mrs. Hien is almost 70 years old this year. She was hesitant at first, but is now an active member of the drawing group.

Xuan Sao's husband sometimes takes his son to paint on his wife's behalf, and now he is also familiar with brushes and palettes. Thus, the group's first family member completes the painting process.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Xuan Sao’s family added her sister-in-law’s and her own children to the drawing group. “Both of them live far away but they take the bus. The whole family has a lot of fun drawing, my family is probably the biggest,” she said with a laugh.

Break free from busyness to nurture family happiness

Ms. Xuan Sao's family's long-standing flower shop is so crowded that she doesn't dare sit in a coffee shop on normal days. But she always wants to be close to her children and accompany them as they grow up, so she always wants to spend time with them, no matter how little.

“At first, I wanted to be close to my children, but when I joined the drawing group, I realized it was for myself. My husband and I thought that if the wife went, the husband would have to stay home and vice versa. We didn’t think we could arrange to join together,” said Ms. Xuan Sao.

In addition to arranging flowers for customers at the shop every day, she is also invited to decorate homes on holidays and festivals. She is currently taking care of her nearly 90-year-old mother and occasionally teaches flower arrangement to her Japanese friends.

Despite being so busy, after asking someone to look after her elderly mother and the flower shop every Sunday afternoon, her family would go to the painting place together with their tools. Only when there was a big event or appointment that they could not take a day off would her family stay home.

“We went to the drawing spot, sat quietly for 3 hours to admire and sketch a street corner, an old house, a heritage… and it looked so beautiful. The beauty can be because we are too busy to notice it, or because we don’t pay attention, we don’t think it is so beautiful” – looking outside, she bragged about how many times guests have come to film on her Hang Vai street.

Or the old house at 36 Chau Long, she said it was quiet outside as if no one was there, but inside there was a large family of many generations living together normally.

The finished product is my own sketch. At night, the whole family brings it out to comment on, and if anyone is not satisfied, they add more embellishments to the finished drawing. Some days, I'm busy all day, and at night I can't sleep so I get up and draw.

“Spending time with family and yourself is precious, no amount of money can buy a moment like that” – Ms. Xuan Sao said.

Joining the painting group, Ms. Xuan Sao’s family also “traveled the world together” with their brushes. Because the painting locations were sometimes in the high mountains of the Northwest, sometimes in the ancient capital of Hue or the port city of Hai Phong. Those special trips, different from other tours , helped her family bond more and love their homeland more.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ca-nha-ru-nhau-di-ky-hoa-gac-ban-ron-ve-niem-vui-20241222094706741.htm