Artist makes lasting works of wispy wings

by Hoang Nguyen

“Butterflies have very short life spans. I wanted to find a way to keep their colours forever,” said artist Vu Thi Nguyet Anh, who owns a painting workshop in Bao Loc City in Lam Dong Province.

Anh has been making butterfly paintings since 2000 and has sold thousands of her works at her small exhibition space, where local and foreign tourists often stop on their way to Da Lat, a popular tourist destination.

“It all started with my love for butterflies as a little girl,” she said.

Born and raised in B’Lao, the former name of Bao Loc, which is well-known for mulberry growing and silkworm breeding, Anh has been intimately familiar with butterflies her entire life.

She became interested in butterfly collection in the school’s lab, and during summer, she earned pocket money by making embroidery paintings.

“At first, I added butterfly wings to the paintings just for fun, but then a customer saw it and wanted to buy it. So I thought this was good as I loved doing it, and I could make money," Anh said.

Traditional: Many of Anh’s butterfly paintings are inspired by familiar Vietnamese images. VNS Photo Hoang Nguyen

After graduation, she decided to start her own butterfly painting business, which, she admitted, had little connection with her degree in animal husbandry.

Her mother’s house became her workshop and her family members became her employees.

“Fortunately, everyone in my family knows how to weave paintings,” she said.

Anh’s paintings are made of only Bao Loc butterflies. She has used dozens of butterfly species.

In the beginning, she used entire butterflies in her paintings and learned how to prevent their colours from fading.

Later, she began to use butterfly wings to make typical Vietnamese images of ancient towns, buffalos, bamboos, storks, boats and the sea.

Her butterfly works have been popular with foreigners and locals, who have also placed orders for portraits and images of architectural works.

“To make a butterfly painting, sometimes it takes only a few hours, sometimes months, depending on the size and the complexity of the picture in terms of structure and details,” she said.

Sometimes, structure is not the problem. As all the colours in her paintings are the natural colours of butterflies, she has to keep many butterflies at home.

“I usually choose the colours for the picture first. But sometimes, when I like a specific colour a lot and run out when the picture is not yet complete, I have to wait until I collect enough butterflies to continue,” Anh said.