Nguyen Thi Kim Hong, 35, in My Dinh, Nam Tu Liem is a Montessori kindergarten teacher. She has a habit of keeping discarded items to recycle them into new items and items. Especially for old newspapers and magazines, Hong often cuts the images, arranging them by subjects such as animals, flowers, etc. to make educational illustrations without spending money on printing.
“At the start of last year, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, I had a lot of free time, so I tried to use all available books and journals to tear and paste pictures. tear-and-stick paintings are not new, because since elementary school, we have all been exposed to this,” Kim Hong said.
Tear-stick paints have the particularity that it is not necessary to mix colors but to use colors available in newspapers, magazines, leaflets…
With the criterion of recycling, besides paper, Ms. Hong does not use other materials to make photos. She did not anticipate the idea of doing a painting on a particular subject. As such, she will have to spend a lot of time looking for photos in the right newspaper to make, and will have to request and buy a lot of materials.
With the books and journals available in the house, Ms. Hong spends hours tearing and sorting into colors and pictures. His painting ideas started from there.
“I don’t want to have to bring home a bunch of old books and newspapers because I’m doing a painting and then leaving them untouched,” Ms. Hong said.
As she was tearing up a piece of paper with white dots on a black background, Ms. Hong suddenly thought of the image of “chicken’s tail.” Thus, the photo begins with the ponytail.
To get a picture of the other parts of the hen and this picture of the chick, she rummaged through other color patches in her available paper. Seeing which pieces fit well, she tore and glued several times until she got the best shape.
Kim Hong makes paintings entirely by tearing and pasting by hand. If finer details are needed, she uses scissors. The paper is glued to the frame with plywood or cardboard with milk glue.
This simple painting tool she bought for less than 100,000 VND.
This painting was made by Ms. Hong for a week. Having never studied painting, creating a human face is the hardest thing for Ms. Hong.
According to her, color matching in tear-and-stick paintings is the most difficult and time-consuming thing.
“If it’s a regular paint job, you can mix and match whatever colors you want. For the torn and glued paintings, you have to choose the right color from the available paper, so it takes a lot of time,” Ms. Hong explained.
To make the tail and the neck feathers of the chicken in the photo, the kindergarten teacher had to try to put hundreds of pieces of paper of different colors.
Ms. Hong usually only applies a small amount of glue and tries many small patches. When she was satisfied with a large painting, she began to repair it, avoiding repeatedly sticking and damaging the image.
Currently, Ms. Hong considers ink and stick painting as her hobby. However, after sharing their products on social media, many people want to buy.
“Paintings just need to be framed and hung in a cool place away from sunlight and mold so they can last a long time,” she shared.
This painting, called Hope, was painted by Ms. Hong last October. The paintings were auctioned off to support the Flood Resistant Homes Project and flood-affected relatives in their hometown of Nghe An.
Since childhood, Ms. Hong has had a passion for painting but was never able to go to school and pursue this industry.
“So making this paper picture helps me unleash my creativity with my inherent passion. Whenever finishing the paintings is a moment to discover one’s limits, overcome the challenge of an outsider with art,” Ms. Hong said. .
Diep Phan – Vnexpress
Picture: Characters provided – Vnexpress
