Artworks by Ta Byrne

From Thailand's rice fields to global art galleries, my journey has been anything but conventional.

I left school at 12 to work in the rice fields. By 13, I was in a Bangkok sweatshop making shirts. At 14, I drove a pickup truck seven days a week, 14 hours a day, selling vegetables. Through sheer grit, by age 22, I had built my own business selling those very same pickup trucks.

But pure chance stepped in when I was 38. A cheeky little drawing I did changed my life forever, opening the door to the world of art.

Today, I am proud to say that more than 1,200 of my paintings hang on walls across 74 countries.

To cap it all, I was deeply honoured to have my painting, "Girl in a Red Hat," bought by the prestigious R.W. Norton Art Gallery & Museum in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA.

Thank you for being a part of my story.