Le Hoanh Khanh is the only ve thuc artist (one whose sketches are used to guide wood carvers) left in the central region.

According to Khanh, mastering the art requires great passion, boundless creativity and constant learning.

“There used to be many skilled artists in the field but I’m the only one left in the region,” he said.

He sketches on hard paper or wood and uses his chang (a chisel-like tool with a large blade) to make tiny incisions along the sketch lines.

“Sketches help wood carvers like us instantly visualize what we want to create and makes wood carving much easier,” the wizened 85-year-old said.

Thanks to his decades of experience, Khanh can carve simple patterns without needing a sketch to guide him.

His work spans many subjects, from landscapes to humans, animals and flowers. He also recreates myths and legends, scenes from literary classics, stories from the history books, and other morality tales.

Khanh often reads and explains the stories to his clients before the sketching begins.

To his dismay, he finds that young wood carvers nowadays have limited access to historical drawings on which to base their carvings, and is concerned that no one will succeed him in his highly specialized field.

“They [young wood carvers] are very skillful, I’ll give you that, but they can only make modern stuff. Hardly any of them can work with traditional patterns,” Khanh said.

That’s why he draws the old patterns and images from classical tales, some of them lost now, in a notebook every day for future generations.

Despite his advancing years, Khanh still reads the classics daily to find more material for himself and his students.

Usually in class, Khanh creates a sketch and the students carve the wood based on his drawing. He only carves himself when the pattern is too complicated or based on a very old drawing.

His prized possession is a 40-year-old sap (carved wooden bed) that he considers the quintessence of his career.

He designed, built and carved the bed, which is made of the precious, durable wood known as go and measures two by one and a half meters.

Unlike other saps, which are engraved with apricots, Khanh carved mai dieu (birds alongside apricots) on his sap, making it unique.

“Seeing my lavishly decorated sap, everyone thought I was showing off. But really I just wanted to craft something special for myself.

“I’ve been offered some pretty hefty prices for my sap, but I’ll never sell it. It sums up my career and will be a family heirloom that helps my great grandchildren know about my craft,” he said.

His village of My Xuyen in Phong Dien District, Thua Thien-Hue city Province has been turning out master carvers and finely carved wooden objects for 200 years.

As a child, Khanh was smitten when he watched the carvers at work. At 18 he began learning from the master Nguyen Tram, and three years later was the only one of four learners to complete his apprenticeship.

It was Tram who gave him the chang early on in Khanh’s career. After he dies, the priceless tool will be inherited by his son Le Hoanh Ung, whom Khanh is teaching.

The veteran artist can’t remember how many projects he has created.

Because of his reputation, several conservation agencies have asked Khanh to provide sketch models of structures built during the Nguyen dynasty, such as wooden houses and the nha ruong (a timber house with carvings on the pillars and rafters) in the historic village of Phuoc Tich in Hue Town, Vietnam’s former capital.

In fact, he gets many orders from around the country to make suitable sketches for restoring old houses and places of worship.

His latest assignment is to supply model drawings for the new Dien Sanh Pagoda in nearby Quang Tri Province. All the exposed timber of the pagoda will be carved with “exquisite drawings, making it the most beautiful building when finished.”

After this project, Khanh says he will retire.

In December last year, Khanh was honored as a Folk Artisan by the Vietnam Folk Art Association.

He has donated most of his tools to the Museum of Ethnology but says he will never part with his prized chang, which remains sharp and bright even after 60 years of use.

Reported by Bui Ngoc Long - Minh Phuong