Female artist paints flowers in mindfulness

Nguyen Dieu Ha's paintings always vividly depict the forms of flowers: when they bloom, when they are just budding after they fade with the wind... But in any form, flowers are the most brilliant as if they are fully present in the present moment.

Flower painting

“With the cyclical fluctuations of things according to the four seasons, the new beginning is never lost, but only the turning of nature. This change can lead to changes in the mind and thinking of each person. There is a bit of anxiety when the sense of our remaining time becomes limited but the feelings about the value of truth - goodness - beauty, of moments will always be there. I want to save it all with my senses, through my drawings,” shared artist Dieu Ha.

Starting as a painter pursuing the school of landscape painting, more than 6 years ago, Dieu Ha turned to the art of flower painting, from her fascination with the noble and elegant beauty of the peony.

The more he draws, the more fascinated he becomes, since then most of the time this artist is devoted to flowers. 3 flowers commonly present in Nguyen Dieu Ha's paintings are peony, cherry, and iris. If the peony shines with elegance, the cherry blossoms in the moment of fading, the iris contains a source of hope, full of life.

The artist is so enamored with them that she can spend hours, regularly every day in the workshop, engrossed in painting. Sometimes, a collection of more than 20 paintings depicting only one flower has not been exhausted, the energy is still full.

Dieu Ha confided that she paints flowers not only because of their ontological beauty but because they offer endless design possibilities. Each flower contains nature, heaven, and earth, the movement of time.

“Every color of the flower can be recreated, imagined with many graceful complex shapes, not only that, but flowers also record the reflection of light, the signs of when the seasons change. The movement and the freshness of the flowers seem to reflect my feelings when I see the world come to life, not just in the first days of spring. Each season of the year has its own material. Just like colors have warm, cold, pungent, dark, and light. They cannot exist separately but rely on each other to create all things. Only by using colors to paint flowers can we feel the infinity that the Creator has given man. Trees with fragrant flowers and sweet fruit are truly living trees. Live intensely. Does it know from when it is tiny until it flowers, bears fruit... is something that has to come and will come”.

Also from the art of flower painting, Dieu Ha realized many things about human life, and the reason for living. “Life is inherently impermanent, money, fame, and this life. Only love will stay with you forever. The paintings are the place to keep the flowers blooming in many different ways. The flower of love will never fade," she confided.

Perhaps because of conveying this concept, Dieu Ha's paintings have always been warmly received by collectors. On average, each year, she organizes an exhibition, sometimes individually, sometimes in a group, and most of her paintings always find a "new home" to display her eternal beauty. “Watching Dieu Ha's flower paintings, I find comfort and comfort. The paintings, even though flowers are dying, still convey the hope and devotion of a flower's life. It is like a reminder for me before life,” said Mr. T.T.A, a collector of paintings.

Mindfulness painting

As a child, Dieu Ha was taught to draw by her aunt, Nguyen Thi Tam, a famous painter in the art of landscape painting. Because she was born in an artistic family, her father is the Director of Hue Music Academy and a musician, and her younger sister is designer Quynh Paris, so it is obvious that the 5 sisters Dieu Ha love and choose to study art. She said that painting is a joy, a consolation, and a comfort, so Dieu Ha never thought of pursuing a professional path. “Don't think about the result of the painting or the result of the artist. Love and indulge in beauty. For me, exploring and discovering the world around me is an endless joy,” said Dieu Ha. However, it was the encouragement and influence of her family, both materially and spiritually, that nurtured her artistic roots. The 5 Dieu Ha sisters later also pursued the fields of painting, fashion design, and music, respectively.

Drawing is literally a passion, pure.

Spring Gallery of painter Nguyen Dieu Ha's family has been operating since 1990, and is one of the first art galleries in Ho Chi Minh City. The gallery is not only a place to display and sell paintings, statues, and artworks, but also a place for her mother to compose photography and music.

“Located on the campus of the Fine Arts Museum in the heart of Saigon, the gallery gives me the opportunity to interact with many people active in many different cultural and artistic fields, as well as with professional and amateur collectors around the world. I have broadened my knowledge, perspective, communication style, and experience in developing and distributing artworks when interacting with elite figures. Since then, I have appreciated the spirit of hard work to create paintings that express my own personality, especially the masterpieces of paintings collected from veteran painters that have been preserved by my father and my family for a long time," she shared.

The Vietnam - Germany cultural exchange in Munich in 1995 changed Dieu Ha's thoughts on painting. This is her first exhibition abroad. Although it is a group exhibition, more than 20 silk paintings on display signed by this lovely artist have found collectors. During the days of her stay in Munich, Dieu Ha was also asked to buy the sketches she drew on the street while walking around. “I realized that I can nurture a love of painting in a long and long-term way.”

However, family life does not allow Dieu Ha to dream. After graduating from Foreign Trade University, she became an office worker at one of the leading multinational companies in Vietnam and persisted here until retirement, along with working as an artist. “Drawing is literally a passion, pure. A stable job helps me not to worry much about economic issues and also helps me have enough money to buy paintings or explore the world for creative ideas in painting, "she confided.

At first, artist Dieu Ha chose silk as practice material, but later, after experiencing many different materials, she turned to oil painting. She explains this: “The value of the oil painting method is that it allows the most diverse color variations to be achieved, ensuring the longevity of the work. Multi-layered oil painting, in addition to talent, requires a passion for discovery and experimentation, perseverance, and a sense of perfection."

After a while, Dieu Ha stopped drawing when her father passed away. That was also the time when this artist had a better idea of ​​death, from loss, and grief to calm acceptance, and her paintings in the later period seemed to be more mindful. “Numbers can calculate the future frame and fate, but there is no method to calculate the date of death of someone. So the closest thing in the world is death. So my job is not to watch life's peaks hang beautifully in the future and hope time slows down, but to actively live like today is the last day, to feel everything in a centered way, to do all the good things," she reflected.