The portrait formally hung at Binh Minh Secondary School (Photo: baothaibinh.com.vn)

The portrait, which was painstakingly made from beans and rice seeds, was presented to the Binh Minh Secondary School in Kien Xuong district, the school he used to work in, with the desire to promote the studying and following of President Ho Chi Minh’s ideology, morality and style in the younger generation. “The painting is our school’s invaluable souvenir,” said Mr. Luong Khanh Phung, Principal of the school.

In 2008, on the occasion of Uncle Ho's birthday, Mr. Thoi was determined to make the painting as a way to commemorate him. Many people offered to buy it at a very high price but he did not sell, because he thought of the high value for pupils if it is hung at school. Looking at Uncle Ho, both teachers and pupils have more strength to better their work in any circumstances. 

As a non-professional painter, he always chose Uncle as the subject of his paintings with his immense love for the great President. The paintings about Uncle Ho were assessed to be very soulful, accurately depicting every detail of the national hero. However, what he always wonders is how to bring the specialty of his homeland into his works. Then, he decided to choose rice seeds and beans in Thai Binh to create a life-long picture of Uncle Ho.

While drawing with a brush was never easy, arranging thousands of beans and rice seeds to create a picture is even more difficult. Mr. Thoi meticulously selected each grain so that it was evenly spaced to create shapes for paintings. In particular, the rice seeds in the picture is the variety only found in Thai Binh.

The 1-meter high and 0.85-meter wide picture was completed after a long period of creation./.

Compiled by BTA