Dropping out of college to become a 'craftsman' in the wood carving workshop

Once considering wood carving as a mere pastime after leaving college, Trần Duy has been dedicated to this profession for 7 years and has gained significant fame on social media.

'Until one day, resting on a distant mountain peak in Thailand, seeing the sky come down to sit beside the hare, 'You've been wandering around aimlessly, so what will life leave behind? What can be done to not feel wasted for the mind, hands, and heart full in the chest?...' So, I left the journey behind. 

In 2018, I returned to the countryside, focusing on the craft. That year was tough, with not much work. The artisan brothers had to take more than half a break. At that time in the workshop, the remaining brothers gritted their teeth and carried on, afraid they wouldn't make it to the next year. Remembering, it was still a year of hardship and much pain...'.

Those are the words of Trần Duy - a 25-year-old wood carving artisan about his journey with his craft. Duy is the owner of the TikTok channel @duyaulac and is also the person behind the YouTube channel Nghệ Nhân Âu Lạc, mainly focusing on wood carving content. Contrary to people's expectations of traditional wood carving, he impresses with clips carving cartoon characters and movie characters.

Dropping out of college to become a 'craftsman' in the wood carving workshop

Since childhood, Duy has been surrounded by the sound of chiseling and the smell of sawdust in his family's carving workshop. His father, originally from Huế, moved to Quảng Nam, opened a vocational training class for locals, and eventually established a small workshop. But back then, Duy only saw this as a job, without any passion or intention to continue the family legacy.

At 18, after graduating from high school, Duy packed up and went to study at the Huế University of Fine Arts. However, just one month later, feeling disillusioned with student life, Duy dropped out. Returning home, he decided to learn wood carving simply because... he had nothing else to do.

Duy used to avoid the workshop because he disliked wood carving

'Honestly, I only studied to impress my friends, not because I liked it. At that time, I was lazy, afraid of dust, wood, saws, wood shavings,... afraid of all the strenuous work. It sounded like a spoiled brat even though I wasn't. So, I always tried to escape from the workshop, doing jobs that allowed me to come and go or just lazing around at home.'

Nevertheless, I still realize that without learning something, I would just be a clueless person. So when my friends spend 4 years studying at university, I also have to spend those 4 years to develop myself. I study English, marketing, content writing,... even though I have no idea how I'll use them for work. Moreover, with my attitude towards wood carving back then, I also didn't know when I would become a professional, start working, and earn a salary. But at that time, I had a strong belief that someday I would need all these skills for something' - Duy recounted.

Realizing the need to take wood carving seriously while backpacking

Another reason why Duy used to avoid the wood carving workshop is because he enjoys traveling. Without money, he both learned the craft and worked as a waiter at a café to earn money for traveling. After saving up for over a year, Duy had 8 million VND in hand and set off on a month-long backpacking trip to some Southeast Asian countries like Laos, Thailand, Malaysia,...

And on a night camping on the highest mountain peak in Thailand, Duy realized it was time to take wood carving seriously. 'That moment felt like I was talking to myself and decided to return' - the young man confided.

But it's not always instant results, especially with a craftsmanship like wood carving. Duy mentioned that if you only learn the craft, it might take about 2 - 3 years for each person to reach the level of a skilled artisan, and it could take decades. There's no specific number, just knowing that it takes a lot of practice.

However, according to Duy, the most important quality of a wood carving artisan is talent, and he often emphasizes the use of intuition. 'For example, when you want to carve a certain character, you have to feel the character's characteristics. After 'feeling', then you can find a way to express it on wood' - the young artisan said.

For Duy himself, the first few years of learning the craft were truly difficult. The most important reason was that he started passively, not really liking wood carving. As a result, Duy's learning process was stuck: 'When the seniors and teachers were teaching, I didn't pay attention, so I made mistakes ten times more than usual. 

'There was a mentor who taught me and even said that I had to be diligent, need to compensate for my abilities. At that time, I knew it was true, but I still replied: 'I know that, but I'm very lazy. I'm just learning for the sake of it.' Back then, in a class of 15 students, I ranked 13th and over 2 remaining students were disabled learners'.

Later, when Duy 'turned around' with wood carving, he devoted all his time and passion to his products. He meticulously refined and cherished every product made. Some products took 2 - 3 months to finish, but Duy persisted, diligently working every day until completion.

Accidentally became famous on social media after facing difficulties, uploaded a viral video...

Because it's a family workshop, besides learning the craft, Duy also takes care of many other areas like marketing, building social media channels, or serving foreign customers. Initially, Duy only uploaded clips on Facebook, but one day, he realized that people were reposting his clips on YouTube, so he also created his own channel. With the positive response from everyone, in mid-2019, Duy researched more carefully and made the YouTube channel more professional with a series of videos about giant sculptures that went viral.

However, what increasingly attracts viewers to the guy's videos is their uniqueness, novelty, and modernity. Because not only traditional wood carving, Duy also makes models of familiar characters like Son Goku (Dragon Ball), Luffy (One Piece), Professor Snape (Harry Potter), Doctor Strange,... The fame from these cartoon and movie characters also came to the guy quite randomly.

'Each clip is only a few minutes long, but making one product takes quite a lot of time, it can take up to several months. Meanwhile, doing YouTube requires continuous content, regularly 1 clip/ week or 1 clip/ few weeks, so after a while, I ran out of content to post. Stuck, I decided to post clips of making Son Goku and my cartoon characters. At first, I was afraid people would criticize or affect the image of Vietnamese artisans like 'An artisan making foreign cartoon characters' but luckily people welcomed it quite positively. From there, I shifted to making such characters' - Duy said.

'Launchpad' for family and dreams of bringing Vietnamese wood carving to the world

In 2020, Duy created the page Woodart Vietnam. 'In 2020, me and my friends tentatively tried new things, after years of sticking to the bamboo slopes of the village. The name Woodart Vietnam was born, easy to remember, easy to listen to for friends across the four continents. A simple yet proud name, loving the profession, loving the country,...' - the young man confided.

However, because of this English name, Duy also received many mixed comments from the online community. Some people asked him 'Why Vietnamese but name in English?', even assuming it was because of inferiority complex. However, Duy was not bothered by these comments because right below these opinions were defending answers, in line with the guy's desire. 'This guy wants to bring Vietnamese wood carving to the world, so he can't introduce it in Vietnamese!'.

Not only stopping at creating new products, changing the perception of wood carving, Duy also wants to have experiential tours so that people can come to visit. Here, people can immerse themselves in the working atmosphere of artisans and hear stories about the artworks. 'There are many works that are very Vietnamese, very meaningful, and have historical significance. Guests can also make small sculptures with the guidance of the craftsmen' - Duy enthusiastically.

Of course, everything that Duy has, is doing, and will do is thanks to an extremely important 'launchpad': family: 'If I were single, I would have to sell all the products I made to sustain my work. Then when there are additional orders, I alone would not be able to handle it and have to think about opening a workshop, hiring personnel, and so on, which I already have now'.

And this 'launchpad' is also one of the reasons why Duy decisively answered 'No' when asked if he wanted to 'attract' young people to this profession. The guy explained: 'People often see wood carving as a livelihood and most people give up because they can't earn enough to live. Many students in my previous vocational class have already dropped out, leaving only 1 - 2 students remaining. 

'But I'm different. I'm very comfortable doing this work, while others are often hindered by the necessities of life. So you have to be very persistent in learning and accumulating over many years, so I can't attract anyone, only those who are very passionate will follow'.

Photo + clip: NVCC