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Netnapa Thapinta

"Hello! My name is Netnapa Thapinta but please call me 'Nina.' I was born on December 22, 1986 and am an only child. My parents make saa [mulberry bark] paper and run a small grocery shop in my village. I am thankful to have been born in my family because my parents took good care of me and taught me well – how to choose the right path and how to be a good person. When I looked for myself and for something to do with my life, they suggested I find something I love and just do it.

"I can say that I am obstinate, dogmatic, and really impatient, but these faults of mine started to tone down when I began making umbrellas and fans – the specialties of my village – and casting resin statuettes. For every piece, I had to repeat each step several times until I could make a perfect finished item. I have always helped my parents with their saa paper but I started to get a real interest in arts and crafts when I was about 15. Well, it had not been hard to find because everybody in my village crafts something.

"On weekends and holidays, while at school, I would alternate work in resin and umbrellas. But when I graduated from high school, I worked selling and making clothes in a city tailor shop for some time. Then the SARS epidemic abruptly appeared and travelers simultaneously disappeared. That's when I went back home and invested myself and some of my savings in a small resin workshop.

"The first six months were very, very quiet and discouraging, but gradually I started receive some small orders and threw myself in the work in earnest. So now I do this full time. Most of my designs are of animals and human figurines, but someone may request a new design or pattern and it's always a challenge to put it into concrete form. My favorite design is the elephant, a large animal that has almost been extinct you know, but fortunately it is now protected and no longer endangered in Thailand. I enjoy designing new things, especially if they are related to nature.

"In 2007 I started to design jewelry with the intention of creating my own style. The wood is carved into a specific design, then it is coated with lacquer, decorated with eggshells and in some cases I paint over the eggshells.

"I am so proud of my artistic work. I love arts and enjoy the company of people who share this love. I know that Novica makes people aware that there are many more things in some developing countries than you may know. I would like to thank you and thank Novica for this opportunity and hope I will be able to make you share my passion hand-crafted art."