"Breathing life" into sea shells

Born in 1988, but Mr. Tran Van Thang has more than 10 years of experience in making snail handicrafts. Sharing about the opportunity to come to this profession, Mr. Thang confided that because his house is near the sea, he often sees beautiful snail shells, it would be a pity to throw them away, how wonderful it would be to turn them into handicrafts, so more than 10 years ago he decided to go to Ba Ria - Vung Tau to learn the craft of making snail handicrafts. And since then, Mr. Thang has "breathed life" into countless seemingly lifeless sea snail shells to become extremely unique and "soulful" snail handicrafts.

Some snail art "works" completed by the skillful hands of Mr. Tran Van Thang

With flexibility, sensitivity and high aesthetic sense, Mr. Thang sees the beauty of each large and small shell, from color, angle, roughness... and how to combine them to "harmonize" together to create unique products. Sea shells seem to be discarded, but through his skillful hands, Mr. Thang has "breathed life" into them into unique handicraft products in the shape of sailboats, coconut trees, night lights... However, to create a complete snail handicraft product is not easy, because the maker has to go through many stages such as: cleaning, polishing, cutting, assembling according to the model, spraying glue on the finished product. Each stage requires meticulous care and attention from the craftsman.

Mr. Thang confided: "To make a handicraft product from snail shells, the important thing is to have unique and novel ideas and creativity. Only then will the product be accepted by customers. That's why I always strive to create new designs to attract customers."

Mr. Tran Van Thang at his family's souvenir stall

According to Mr. Thang, depending on preferences, imagination or emotions and based on the specific shape and natural color of the shell, the craftsman will make different products. Many customers choose and order models according to their requirements. But no matter what the work is, no matter what shape it is, the craftsman must be meticulous and creative to make strange and unique "works"... but still retain the natural color and grain of the shell.

It is known that every month, Mr. Thang can produce hundreds of snail handicrafts with the selling price for each product ranging from several tens to several hundred thousand VND. After deducting all expenses, Mr. Thang earns a profit of 15 to 20 million VND per month.

Mr. Thang collects more beautiful shells to sell such as: Kim Khoi snail, white Giai snail, Tho Va Bong snail.

Currently, snail handicraft products are selling quite well, especially for the tourism market. Another advantage is that Tran Van Thang's family owns a souvenir stall at Cam Binh community tourism area, so after completing the "works" of snail handicrafts, these products are displayed at his souvenir stall and are consumed quite quickly by tourists from all over the country who come to visit and relax. They are very interested in the unique products made from sea snails because of the strange, beautiful material, diverse designs, and various sizes... That is why many tourists have bought them as souvenirs or gifts for relatives and friends.

In addition to producing handicrafts, Mr. Thang also collects many beautiful and rare shells, processes them to color them for sale such as Tho Va Bong shells, Kim Khoi shells, and white Gai shells. According to Mr. Thang, these shells are worth from several hundred thousand to several million VND but are still very popular with customers.

Source