“Once I bought clams for meals, I realised that it is wasteful for their shells to be thrown away. This prompted me to come up with an idea to teach my students about how to draw lovely paintings on seashells. The children are very excited” , said Ms. Nguyen Thi Men, in Hoa Tho Tay Ward, Cam Le District, whilst sharing about her own story on how to set establishment of her seashell painting class.

Eye-catching colourul seashell-based paintings. Photo: DNO

Men is a painter cum art teacher at Lien Luc Dia (Intercontinental) company for gifted subjects. Due to the fact that some children living in Hoa Tho Tay Ward come from difficult families so they do not have the opportunity to access skill classes or gifted subjects. This prompted Ms. Men to open a drawing class named BM Gallery for students in a great effort to unleash their creativity in the colourful world of childhood. BM Gallery started on the summer days of 2022 and now runs regularly every weekend with more than 10 students participating.

Holding a passion for drawing since childhood whilst his home is far from the city centre, so Nguyen Huu Dat, a 7^th grader at the Dang Thai Mai Junior High School, only learns how to draw through online programmes. When participating in BM Gallery-offered drawing lessons, Dat was exposed to in-depth painting knowledge, ranging from colour mixing, image scaling to skills on how to turn mental fantasies into actual products. “In Ms. Men's class, paper is replace with seashells, increasing the child's interest, curiosity and creativity”, said Dat.

According to Men, not only does the seashell-based painting class nurture a passion for art, but it also holds the biggest purpose of educating the children to raise their awareness of protecting the environment around them. Not only seashells, but also waste products such as used cans, plastic bottles and  pieces of wood items that seem inanimate, under the hands and soaring imaginations of children, also have can become living works of art.

When drawing paintings on seashells, plastic bottles and other related items, it will be more difficult than on paper because these materials are smooth, have no grip nor are they as flat as paper. Although they had to go through a lot of material handling stages before starting the first drawings, the children were very excited when they were able to draw on these new materials. Seeing the impressively-painted shells are given eye-catching makeover, the children have more joy to go ahead with their creativity and indulgence.

Through such teaching sessions, lessons about the environment can be integrated with them, thereby raising the children's awareness of safeguarding the living environment.

Another child trainee, Nguyen Ngoc Thu Uyen, a 8^th grader from the Dang Thai Mai Junior High Schoo satisfactorily said: “When I learned to draw on seashells, I found it very interesting, I think it is a  need to have meticulousness and ingenuity to create vivid works on seashells, plastic bottles, pieces of wood and related items. Now, I can turn seashells and plastic bottles into beautiful products for decorations or as souvenirs for friends or relatives on birthdays, at Tet and other special occasions, instead of throwing them away”, said Uyen.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Anh Thu, a 4^th grader from the Ong Ich Duong Primary School shared: “When I was instructed to drawing skills applied to seashells by teacher Men, I was very excited and interested. Since learning to draw on this type of special materials, every time I go to the beach, I always pick up seashells for painting and then use the completed works as lovely decorations in my study corner. And when painting on seashells, it will help protect the environment, limit littering and keep the marine environment more beautiful, shared Thu.

When the products are finished with many ocean-friendly drawings, Men always actively introduces them to people in many different ways.

Chairwoman of the Women's Union of Hoa Tho Tay Ward, Vo Thi Thuy Duong, hailed Men's drawing class for taking advantage of environmentally- friendly products to bring many interesting experiences on new materials to children, and in parallel with this, integrating education for them about environmental protection awareness through the reuse of waste products.

Reporting by THANH PHUONG - Translating by A.THU