American artist Heather McClellan feels a special connection to theolder Vietnamese women she met while travelling across in Vietnam.
Thatconnection is evident in the laquer paintings she included in herexhibition in Hanoi. McClellan said creating them helped her alleviatethe homesickness she felt living abroad.
"Sincemoving to Hanoi last year, I miss my mother and my grandmother verybadly," she said. "Although I'd never met those women before, I feltlike they were my grandmother or my mother," McClellan said.
She made 26 lacquer works for the exhibition Flex. Ten of the piecesdepict local women she met in Hanoi, Ninh Binh and Hoi An. Most of themwere street vendors or people she met while walking around.
To show her respect to those women, McClellan invited some of them to attend the exhibition's opening ceremony.
McClellan moved to Hanoi with her four small children last Junewhen her husband, a contractor, got a deal with Vietnam's Ministry ofPlanning and Investment.
McClellan was almostimmediately fascinated by the art of Vietnamese lacquer. She'd heard ofit before but didn't know much about it.
"I'mfamiliar with oil painting, but I was really excited to try lacquer,because there are many new art techniques involved that I could learn,"said McClellan, who received her formal training in graphics andillustration at the Cleveland Institute of Art in Ohio.
To introduce herself to the art form, McClellan took a private classwith lacquer artist Tran Anh Tuan, a lecturer of the Hanoi University ofIndustrial Fine Arts.
"Although I knew about colourand composition, I still needed to learn more about the use of thematerials and characters, how to mix the colours, how they blendtogether and how to sand the pieces," she said.
To prepare for Flex, McClellan worked very hard for three months, fromJanuary to March. She turned part of her backyard into an art studiowith a working table, sanding machine and colours, where she sometimesspent 15 hours a day painting.
"I was a little bitnervous that I couldn't be here any longer when my husband finished workin the summer, so I wanted to make sure I had enough paintings for theshow," she said. "I spent so much time and energy to create my lacquer.My family was very patient with me."
Every day the painter just had a break for lunch, during which she often ate bun cha – her favourite Vietnamese dish.
So many things impress McClellan about Vietnam, she said.
"Vietnam has many things that conquer my heart: the architecture, thecolour, the smell – both good and bad," she explained.
"I love the people here, as they are a great source of inspiration –old ladies, a man carrying a big load of bricks, a guy holding his babybehind him, or women selling food and flowers in the market. I alwaystake photos of what I see so I can use them for my art."
Vietnamese people's smiles also gave her inspiration for her futureoil painting collection, she said, which is about the beauty of womenfrom different countries she visited: Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Africa,Mozambique and Ethiopia.
Out of all the vast landscapes in Vietnam, Ninh Binh is her favourite.
"I am a rock climber, so I love the mountain and really appreciate seeing them. They are so big, powerful and beautiful."
She said she will definitely include the beautiful mountains and cliffs of Ninh Binh in her paintings.
The painter also voiced her intention to paint local monuments andpagodas, which, she said, "have beautiful architecture". She hopes willhave a chance to come back to Vietnam soon, because then she cancontinue devoting time to her paintings.-VNA