 Artist Le Xuan Huong, founder of Henry Le Design. |
With a great passion for drawing at an early age, Huong said colored pencils have always been his best friends. When he became a student at the University of Industrial Fine Art, he started thinking about how to use them for other purposes besides drawing.
“Back then, as a graduate, I longed to create something unique. As I ran a travel agency, I travelled to many countries. I was impressed by the different styles of home décor I had seen during those trips. All it takes is just one little but stunning corner to capture the spotlight of a whole room like a living room or a dining room. I wanted to make stuff like that so I started my brand Henry Le Design," said Huong.
 Henry Le Design's colored pencil table. |
The first ever made-in-Vietnam colored pencil table made by Huong and some other designers rocked the furniture market a few years ago. Huong said, "There are numerous possibilities in combining the pencils’ 36 colors. We can make so many products using them. At first, I tried making a vase with a lot of molded pencils. It was then sculpted into a vase. The blend of colors and its wood created a stunning effect. That was the inspiration for me to make a table out of colored pencils."
 There are numerous possibilities in combining the pencils’ 36 colors. |
Some YouTubers have made small decorative items out of colored pencils and epoxy resin, mainly for advertisements. Huong was the first artist to make a colored pencil table. His design was taken a step further.
"I love matching things. For instance, a wood table can be decorated with leather. It is possible to make tea tables in many different styles. Rustic and shiny things can be placed next to each other. A colored-pencil table can be in a modern style bedroom or living room, as the spotlight of the room. I want to create furniture that can take the spotlight in any space," said Huong.
Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Huong’s wife said that at first she was worried about his passion for colored pencils as it made him neglect his duty of running their prosperous company.
“My husband is a businessman and an artist at the same time. I used to be so concerned about him spending time on making colored pencil products. But when I saw his work of art, I realized his passion for it. So I decided to support him. We want to create more products made of colored pencils for daily life,” said Ha.
 The World Colored-Pencil Table. |
Bruce Mc Doual, an Australian working in Vietnam bought not one but two colored-pencil tables for his masons in Ho Chi Minh City and Australia.
“With my home decor, I insist that it is unique, enhanced, selected for style and originality. Recently, when I was furnishing my new home, I insisted on unique home decor. It's custom and it's designed, but all of this was really, really difficult to find until I stumbled upon Henry Le design, the colored pencil, coffee tables," he said.
"I had never seen anything like them before, and I doubt I'll ever see anything like them again. They are creative and artistic and individually handmade. And now I have a piece of his furniture in the main room of my home.”
Mc Doual said Huong’s design triggers the curiosity of every visitor. “It’s a conversation starter every single time I have people over. On those special Saturday nights when my wife and I entertain and enjoy a nice meal and a bottle of wine with our friends, I love it because all of my friends end up asking me about my coffee table, where I got it from, and why it looks so good," he said, adding, "So thank you, Henry Le design for turning my home into a unique place that I love to come home to at the end of every day."
Colored-pencil decorative items are stunning but incredibly expensive, ranging from hundreds to thousands USD. It takes more than a month to turn 20,000 colored pencils into "The World-Colored Pencil Table," which costs nearly 80 million VND (3,500 USD)