An Giang (VNA)  - A long time ago, monks in the South usedsugar palm leaves to maintain a written record of Buddhist prayers.

However, it was in the nineties that the leaveswere used to make stunning, meticulous, artistic and unique paintings.

The maker of the first sugar palm paintings isartisan Vo Van Tang, who lives in Nui Sap town, Thoai Son district, AnGiang province. He has made thousands of paintings on various topics and indifferent sizes, which have been appreciated and collected by many.

Many offices and hotels in the province areadorned with several sugar palm paintings, such as the portrait of President HoChi Minh, the landscape of Bay Nui, cedar trees and cranes, tigers and horses.

The artist behind these amazing works is Tang,director of the Social Policy Bank in the province’s Thoai Son district.

He is always looking for new ways to usematerials in fine arts, and is continuously searching and experimenting withtechniques.

Once, while travelling with his co-workers toappraise and help the ethnic Khmer people with funds for their project to makefans with sugar palm leaves at Vong The commune, Thoai Son district, Tang wasinspired by the idea of making palm leaf paintings.

Following the experience of local residents whouse sugar palm leaves to make fans, Tang meticulously selected young sugar palmleaves that were over eight years old, so that when he painted, the picture wasboth of high quality and the colour lasted longer.

The best time to cut a sugar palm leaf is earlysummer; it should then be left to dry for two weeks, soaked with alum, thenallowed to dry once again.

“The next step is to cut the leaf into smallslabs, depending on the size of each painting to make the pattern on theframe,” Tang said.

To draw the pattern of the painting, he saidthat a special kind of pen is needed, such as the electric pen that helps tometiculously and painstakingly create elements of darkness and light.

Most of the paintings he has created on sugarpalm leaves are copied from landscape pictures, portraits and famous ancientpaintings by Vietnamese and foreign artists. Many of his large-size paintingsare especially a labour of love and took months to complete.

“The artisan’s style of painting is unique. Notto forget, this style does not need paint or colour but is the combination ofpatterns with brown, black and yellow lines that are made by pressing andreleasing the electric pen to make dark and light lines, depending on thepainter’s desire to present vibrant details, in an impressive water colour-likestyle,” Tang said.

When the painting is finished, it is polishedwith a special oil that protects the palm leaves, and is then framed. Accordingto the artisan, this oil that helps the leaves retain their colour adds to theartistic value of the painting.

Since the day he made his firstpainting Tung Hac (Cedars and Cranes) on sugar palm leaves in 1996,up till now, Tang has made thousands of artworks of various sizes and ondifferent topics.

Nguyen Khac Truong, an art lover, said it wasreally a joy to look at these paintings every day. “I have been a fan of sugarpalm paintings for a long time. People who collect this kind of art love itbecause it is natural, unique and inspiring,” he said.

Following his retirement in 2003, Tang foundedhis own sugar palm producing foundation to pass on his skills to workers,implementing many different processes to create various kinds of artwork --from landscapes of the Vietnamese countryside and portraits to paintings ofworship.

His latest painting The Will of PresidentHo Chi Minh, 1.20m by 2.20m, got him the Guinness record for the best painteron sugar palm leaves in Vietnam. - VNA