Nguyen Phi Anh’s fire-pen portrait of President Ho Chi Minh

Some painters paint in oils, others prefer water colors, but a well-known artist in Da Lat Town in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong has his own unique style.

He masterfully employs a home-made bronze-tipped pen attached to a voltage stabilizer that transforms a 220V current into 12 volts, to imprint vivid images onto white bach tung (white pine) board.

The tip scorches the board wherever it is placed, creating dark brown singe marks if it is pressed hard against the pine and light brown markings if the tip is just briefly touched to the board.

Despite never receiving professional training, Anh has painted with great passion and skill for the past 26 years.

Anh said the works can only be made on bach tung wood boards which are white, have no marks or oil, and produce the best images.

The precious wood is expensive and hard to come by in Vietnam as it mainly grows in Lam Dong Province and has been widely exploited.

Though the images created by the fire-pen are limited to the wood’s natural shades of brown, Anh has masterfully crafted many awe-inspiring pieces which are rich in texture.

One of the few artists in Da Lat to practice the craft now, Anh has received high praise for his creativity and artistic values.

Anh’s house and studio, at 14/2 Tran Hung Dao Street, Da Lat, is overwhelmed with hundreds of his fire-pen paintings, which are continually scooped up by tourists in the highlands town.

His portrait, Bac Ho trong hang Pac Bo (Uncle Ho in the Pac Bo Cave) beat out more than 100 paintings to win first prize at the “Creating industrial and handicraft products for tourism” competition in 2005.

The painting is now on display at the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Hanoi.

Some of Anh’s other notable portraits include Vietnam’s famous composer Trinh Cong Son playing the guitar and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

But despite the notoriety of his works, Anh’s paintings remain reasonably priced, costing from just VND150,000-800,000 (US$10-47).

However, the 55-year-old, who has been honored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, is concerned there may be no one to succeed him.

He tried opening a class to teach the fire-pen technique to others, but most eventually dropped out as they were not committed enough or couldn’t afford the bach tung wood.

Reported by Lam Vien