The Will of a Disabled Woman Passionate About Painting

Become disabled after a serious illness

I was at Tran Thi Hien's house one afternoon when she was working on a new work of hers. At an old table next to the entrance, next to a pair of wooden crutches, she sat diligently drawing and editing.

Seeing her sitting and drawing was very difficult, her hands were cramped, holding the pen, holding the paper, adjusting the phone to see the model was very difficult. However, just through the initial sketches, the character's image gradually appeared on the paper. Ms. Hien shared: "I have been attached to this job for nearly 3 years. As a disabled person, I have to overcome difficulties, be optimistic, and try hard to work."

Ms. Tran Thi Hien at her working corner at home. Photo: Huy Thu

Over the years, the people of Thuan Dong hamlet, Thuan Son commune have become familiar with the image of Mr. Tran Doan Khuom's disabled daughter, diligently drawing every day in the outer room of the old house.

She is the second child in a family of three children. When she was a child, she loved drawing. She used old notebooks and newspapers to draw pictures and post them all over the house. She dreamed of becoming an artist when she grew up. But that dream was interrupted by a “life-threatening illness”.

Ms. Hien recalled that she was in 7th grade that year, right when the locality was preparing to celebrate National Day on September 2, 1996. After returning from the Team parade, she caught a cold and had to be taken to the emergency room. From the district hospital, she was transferred to the provincial hospital. After 3 months of treatment, her condition became worse. The doctor said she had a cold with complications. Although she was assigned to be transferred, due to her family's difficult circumstances, they could not afford to take her to Hanoi, so they had to take her home for treatment.

Every day, Ms. Hien often sits in the corner of the house drawing. Photo: Huy Thu

At that time, no one believed she could survive because she was “sometimes conscious, sometimes unconscious, often lying on her back on the bed”. Whenever someone told her that there was medicine somewhere, her parents ran around to find it for her to take. Luckily, she escaped, but from a normal person, she became disabled, unable to walk, all her activities depended on relatives, and her studies had to be put on hold since then.

Ms. Hien said that 10 years ago, her family took her to Lang Son to see a famous traditional doctor at home. After 2 years of taking medicine “by mail” and thanks to her own efforts in practicing, her health has improved and she can move with wooden crutches. Although she is still weak and has difficulty, it is also an extremely happy thing for her and her family.

Determined to pursue passion

As someone who always worries about herself and her family, she doesn't want to just sit by the door and look out every day. In 2019, when her younger brother went to work and saved money to buy her a Samsung phone, she fumbled to learn how to go online, learn about painting and gradually learned how to paint.

She connected with a portrait painting teacher in Binh Duong province and applied for a 6-month online painting course. After hearing her situation, her painting teacher, Nguyen Van Huy, agreed to let her study for free.

Her cramped hands have created beautiful works. Photo: Huy Thu

In the early days of learning painting online, she received encouragement from many people. The Thuan Son Commune Youth Union and the “Do Luong Kind Hearts” Volunteer Group called for donations and support for school supplies to help her have more motivation to study.

Ms. Hien shared that there were many students in the drawing class that year, but she was the only disabled person, and she lived far away, so she was very worried. The first 3 months of the course were quite difficult because she could not keep up with everyone. There were times when she thought she would have to give up, but thanks to the encouragement of the teacher and her classmates, she overcame it.

“Normal people can learn more easily when learning directly. I am disabled and learning indirectly online, so I have to make many times more effort,” Ms. Hien recalled.

After the course, she was confident and started to paint portraits at home, by experiencing the reality of “eating and drawing”. Her tools were quite simple, just a small table, a few pencils, pieces of charcoal, a pad of paper and an old phone. She diligently painted with passion and eagerness. Each completed work was hung solemnly in her house and photographed and posted on her personal wall.

Her father, Mr. Tran Doan Khuom, dedicated the entire space outside the old house, which used to be the family's reception area, to an "art gallery" for his daughter to indulge her passion. She painted many black and white paintings, including portraits of famous people and leaders (Uncle Ho, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Karl Marx, Lenin), football players, singers, actors, etc.

Under the house, which has been stained by time, her paintings are hung in long rows, shining with a special beauty. When visiting her family, watching her paint, admiring her works, many people cannot help but admire the will to overcome of this disabled woman.

The simple wooden crutches have been with her for more than ten years. Photo: Huy Thu

She believes that learning portraiture is a job that suits her interests, talents, and health. According to her, a beautiful painting must be similar to the model, bright, and soulful. To draw such “spiritual” paintings, the artist must have talent, technique, as well as hard work and practice.

Each painting usually takes her 2 days to complete. Some urgent works require her to paint all night. Since starting her career, she has painted hundreds of “satisfactory” portraits. Each work is a beloved brainchild, to which Ms. Hien has devoted all her love and passion.

Overcoming difficulties

The good news spread far and wide, after the first few days of hard work, many customers contacted her to order paintings. She only needed to send a photo via phone and she could paint. After each completed work, she personally framed and carefully wrapped it. Her father was the one who transported these paintings to the post office to send to customers. Upon receiving her work, customers were full of praise. In addition to the salary, many people also sent her "tips". Some people did not ask her to paint, but knowing her situation, sent her gifts of encouragement.

Mr. Khuom and his wife love their daughter and are secretly happy with her initial successes. Mr. Khuom said: "Normal people can quit this job to learn another, but Hien is disabled, has overcome her illness to learn a profession, to do a profession, one must love the chosen profession, the family always supports her wholeheartedly".

Since learning and practicing portrait painting, she feels her life is happier and more meaningful. “26 years of struggling with illness, during which, for a long time, I just sat in front of the house looking out the alley, I felt very sad. Now I have a job to distract myself, I know many people… Especially, I have been able to do my favorite job, have more income to pay for medicine and support my parents” – Ms. Hien shared.

Mr. Khuom's family farmed 3 sao of rice and raised livestock, working hard all year round but still did not have enough money to buy medicine for his wife and children. Mrs. Chu Thi Cuc (63 years old), her mother, had heart disease, after surgery, had to go for check-ups every month to take medicine. Ms. Hien's brother and sister-in-law both had thyroid cancer at the same time.

As for her, polyarthritis still torments her. On a normal day, her limbs are cramped, making it difficult to move, walk, and work. Every time the weather changes, her joints swell, she has pain all over her body, cannot sit and draw, and always has to take painkillers. Despite her circumstances and illness, she always tries to stay optimistic: "Being sad doesn't solve anything, you have to accept it happily to live."

The portrait of hometown player Cong Phuong drawn by Ms. Hien has delighted many people. Photo: Huy Thu

Overcoming her circumstances, she always has the will to progress and learn continuously. Her greatest happiness at the moment is to be able to draw with passion. Talking about her wishes, Ms. Hien said: “I don’t dare to dream too far, I just hope to have stable health, to be able to draw more, to have income to cover my expenses, and to support my parents. Currently, I wish to have an electric wheelchair so that I can drive it on the village road myself, because with a normal wheelchair, my arms are too cramped to push the wheels, and if I want to go out of the village, I have to have a relative push the wheelchair.”

The road ahead for her is still full of difficulties and hardships, but with her own determination and efforts, hopefully the "country painter" will overcome it, to live with her passion and paint many works to beautify life.