The artist spent his life playing with leaves.

Throughout his more than 60-year journey, artist Ta Hai has chosen a very unique path by reviving seemingly forgotten materials of nature, transforming dried leaves and flowers into masterpieces imbued with the simple beauty of nature.

Artist Ta Hai has dedicated over 60 years of his life to creating leaf paintings. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Before venturing into the art of leaf painting, artist Ta Hai was a journalist and a veteran. While his years as a writer gave him a refined perspective, teaching him to appreciate and find beauty in the smallest things in life, his time in the military provided a quiet pause, allowing him to understand that every peaceful branch and blade of grass around us was bought with the silent sacrifices of previous generations.

Gazing at the green leaves on the branches or the fresh flowers, he was always moved by the wondrous colors of nature. But that vibrant beauty would eventually wither and return to the earth; "falling leaves" must "return to their roots"—an unchangeable law of nature. And those things that seemed worthless were the things he cared about most.

"A quiet life"

In the eyes of artist Ta Hai, even when flowers wither and leaves fall, they still have "a quiet life," having fully fulfilled their mission of beautifying the world. Therefore, he decided to incorporate those colors into his paintings as a way to preserve their value over time.

The themes in his works are often simple and familiar, such as natural landscapes, villages, autumn forests, Hanoi streets like Phan Dinh Phung Street and Hang Be Market, as well as scenes of buffalo herding and farming...

Sharing his inspiration with the World and Vietnam Newspaper, he said: “I long to see the Vietnamese countryside, because having been born and raised in the city, I rarely have the opportunity to immerse myself in the true atmosphere of a rural village.” Seeking out such themes is his way of filling the void in his soul, because “people often seek out what they lack.”

Over six decades, Ta Hai has created more than 80 unique paintings using dried flowers and leaves, hoping to allow the public to fully appreciate the beauty and preciousness of Vietnamese nature. "Those more than 80 paintings are essentially just a pretext, an opportunity for me to express my feelings for beautiful nature," he confided.

In his latest exhibition , "Playing with Leaves," at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, he demonstrated a profound artistic vision behind his paintings of dried flowers and leaves. The artist believes that art is not something distant but exists in the most ordinary corners of life, "simply by slowing down and observing, we can transform seemingly worthless things into things that bring unexpected value, beautifying life."

Commenting on this enduring creativity, Associate Professor and art critic Nguyen Do Bao remarked: "Playing with leaves is truly a richness of nature in our country. If in the past forests sheltered soldiers and surrounded the enemy, today that green is the green of happiness, the green of a nation progressing."

The material of the earth and sky

In Ta Hai's world of painting, the materials don't come from chemical color palettes but are distilled from the purest elements of nature. He emphasizes: "I have the utmost respect for nature, so I will not use any chemical colors in my paintings."

Firmly adhering to that guiding principle, he devoted much time to experimenting and exploring color palettes for his works. In his paintings, red, yellow, and orange always dominate, creating a vibrant energy. However, in the early stages, finding a satisfactory shade of red was a problem that constantly troubled him.

After days of tireless searching, the answer came from his family's daily life. The origin of his color palette was his mother's betel quid. Remembering his mother with teeth "as black as custard apple seeds," he recounted the moment he went to Dong Xuan market to buy betel quid for her. Holding the betel quid, the artist was astonished to realize it was the material he had been searching for: "Here's the red! A thin, vibrant red!" He shared: "There are things you keep searching for but never find, and red, the most important color, appeared from such a simple circumstance."

The process of discovering other color shades was also quite accidental. For the ivory white, he obtained it from corn silks and corn husks from street vendors he encountered on scorching summer afternoons while working as a reporter. On another occasion, while helping his mother peel garlic, he noticed that the peels were thin and the color never faded, so he started asking for garlic peels from the market to use as his material. Or the shimmering yellow of silkworm cocoons – a material he chose after many failures with banyan or maple leaves, which are beautiful when fresh but turn gray when dried.

Besides that, there are also colors that he is still struggling to find in the world of dried leaves to incorporate into his paintings, namely blue and purple. The difficulties also stem from asking for garlic and onion peels at the market, or stopping his car in the middle of the road just to pick up a beautiful leaf. Despite the strange looks and whispers, he perseveres in pursuing his passion.

Most importantly, he received support from his family, with generations from his daughters to his grandchildren helping him find materials and giving him his own space to create. He also dedicated a specific area to painting portraits of his loved ones, even though he had never received any formal art training and always considered portrait painting a challenging task.

An artwork from the "Play of Leaves" exhibition at the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum. (Photo courtesy of the artist)

Continue the game.

Now, in his twilight years, his greatest wish is to pass on his secrets and passion for leaf painting to future generations. However, he also understands that leaf painting is an extremely selective art form. To pursue this profession, the artist must possess a calm and serene mind capable of observing and not missing any small detail of the world around them.

Artist Ta Hai shared that the most challenging aspect of the profession is that artists cannot simply buy a ready-made palette from anywhere; they must find, explore, and create their own unique language of color. From meticulously gathering each leaf and testing colorfastness to patiently cutting, assembling, and attaching leaves, everything requires a high degree of precision and finesse to create a harmonious and vibrant work of art.

Starting from his days as a young soldier roaming through the forests, his love for plants and flowers gradually blossomed and took deep root in his heart. Then, from the tattered, dried banana leaves he gathered from the corner of his garden, he painstakingly pieced together his first painting, the beginning of a vast artistic legacy.

Throughout his journey, it was his pure love and appreciation for nature that served as the brightest "torch," guiding him through challenging lulls on his creative path.

Through his works, the artist wants to convey a profound message to young people: "Youth often passes by quickly. Don't let yourself be swept away by the hectic pace of modern life or blindly chase after superficial values. Sometimes, allow yourself to slow down a bit, and you will realize that even in harsh circumstances, life always holds positive and magical values, even in the smallest and simplest things."

For artist Ta Hai, he continues his tireless work with leaves, reviving the souls of nature. For him, leaf paintings are not just art, but also the embodiment of an undying love for nature, as expressed in his own poem:

Why bother with extra leaves when you can draw on them?

If anyone asks me, I just smile.

I leisurely picked up each fallen leaf.

Drawing is a game for me!

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nghe-si-danh-mot-doi-dao-choi-voi-la-392357.html