Unique paintings made from loofah fibers.

Nguyen Ngoc Tuong Vy at the closing ceremony and awards presentation of the Creative Competition for Youth, Teenagers and Children of Go Cong Dong District (fourth from the right).

Tuong Vy said that her family grows a large trellis of loofah gourds. The young gourds are usually used for daily meals or sold, while her father keeps the older ones to extract the seeds for the next season. After the seeds are removed, the remaining peel and fibers of the mature gourds are usually thrown away.

Through observation and research from real-world experience, Tuong Vy realized that the fibrous part of mature loofahs is very durable and tough, and can be used to create several products for daily life such as: bath sponges, dishwashing sponges, soap pouches, landscape paintings, etc.

After that, she decided to start creating a painting using loofah fibers. With the help of her teacher, after more than half a month of hard work, Tuong Vy created a complete painting and named it "Homeland House".

According to Tuong Vy, the process of creating the painting was done in two steps: preparing the materials and carrying out the steps to create the painting. First, she selected large (about 8) and evenly sized gourds to peel and remove the seeds.

Next, using a craft knife, cut the loofah gourd in a straight line from top to bottom, trimming the fibrous inner part, cutting off both ends, and only selecting the middle section to ensure that the cut fibrous pieces are of relatively uniform size. Then, I used a heavy, round iron rod to roll it out, helping to make the fibrous pieces of relatively uniform thickness.

Next, I used all-purpose glue to stick the loofah sponge pieces onto the aluminum composite panel (40x60 cm), sprayed white paint onto the loofah surface, and sketched out the basic lines and composition of the landscape painting I wanted to create…

The next important step is to use brushes and oil paints to draw the details of the painting according to the lines and composition that have been sketched. The final step is to spray a glossy varnish and frame the painting.

Paintings made from loofah fibers were created by Tuong Vy.

Ms. Doan Thi Phuong Linh, the teacher who guided Tuong Vy in creating the painting, said that paintings made from loofah fiber have a lightweight structure, high durability, and low cost, helping to effectively utilize by-products and waste from production and daily life, contributing to environmental protection and practicing a green, clean, and safe lifestyle. Using loofah fiber to make paintings requires meticulousness and skill from the initial processing to each step in completing the painting.

During the process, the instructor had to directly assist Tuong Vy in cutting and rolling the loofah fibers to ensure uniform size and thickness so that when they were assembled onto the aluminum sheet, they would create a relatively seamless surface (helping to ensure continuous and sharp lines in the drawings).

Tường Vy's difficulty in painting and drawing details was that the surface of the loofah sponges was not as smooth as some other materials, and the fibers tended to shift when the brush was moved. To overcome this, the teacher assisted by using multiple layers of white spray paint to create a smooth surface, making painting, drawing, and decorating easier.

The judging panel of the competition assessed that the artwork made from loofah fibers created by Tuong Vy not only ensured novelty, creativity, and applicability, but also contributed to promoting and educating the younger generation about practicing a green, environmentally friendly lifestyle.

Therefore, this work can be used to integrate some extracurricular lessons in schools on environmental education, science , quizzes, etc.

HUYNH VAN XI - TL

Source: https://baoapbac.vn/giao-duc/202504/doc-dao-tranh-lam-tu-xo-muop-1040945/