托斯卡尼之旅 / A Trip to Tuscany, Italy

26/8/2014

My swimming towel under the sunshine (watercolour, 15x30cm)

是否曾經看過”托斯卡尼豔陽下” 這部電影? 劇中情節溫馨感人, 風景美不勝收. 讓托斯卡尼(Tuscany)這文藝復興發源地, 義大利旅遊必經路線, 再次深坎人心!

很幸運我在七月有一趟托斯卡尼豔陽下之旅. 我們一行九位女子從多倫多直飛羅馬, 再從機場開著兩部租來的手排檔小房車, 先想方設法的塞滿十二件行李箱, 然後再擠進九個人, 一路聽著GPS的指引, 先上高速公路在群山中穿梭然後又在鄉野間迷途, 三小時後, 終於駛達我們的目的地Torrita di Siena. 我們租了一間位於小山頭的鄉間莊園, Casa Bella 打算在這十天的停留時間, 畫畫閱讀休閒和出遊.

托斯卡尼的風光就如許多電影小說中形容的一樣, 秀麗而多變. 葡萄園和橄欖樹有次序的編排在遠近的山坡地上形成獨特的托斯卡尼風光. 我們的莊園非常舒服, 是個兩層樓的鄉間紅磚建築, 一二樓分別有兩套餐廳, 八個房間兩間廚房四間現代化浴室 (這點讓我很滿意) , 一個戶外平台小泳池和小網球場. 泡在泳池中可以眺望四周美景, 坐在平台上可以欣賞日出日落月升月隱, 彷彿夢境般不真實.

以前我數次的造訪托斯卡尼都是走馬看花, 這次十天的定點停留, 終於可以好好的體會托斯卡尼的人情風味食物和陽光.

這次的旅行大家都帶了戶外寫生畫具, 打算在造訪名勝之外在莊園裡面做一些藝術活動. 我帶了一個已擠好顏料的防水調色盤幾枝水彩筆和一本小的水彩畫紙及一點雜物. 同行的朋友們有人帶了油料壓克力畫布椅子畫架和遮陽傘, 陣容頗為嚴肅令我汗顏.

第二天是個熱天, 熱到超乎我的想像. 悠哉的吃完早飯, 我搬出我簡單的畫畫行頭開始第一次的戶外寫生經驗. 我挑了一個簡單的場景做為我的暖身練習就著幾大盆鮮花開始著手. 每一次我把畫紙刷上一層水, 沒多少時間炙熱的七月陽光便蒸發了紙上的水份, 同時從我的前額鼻尖逼出滴滴的汗水. 若把太陽眼鏡挪開, 白花花的晴光便讓眼睛睜不開. 當我把握著我極限的耐力專注在調色和觀察物体時, 高調持久的聲音從左左右右忽上忽下的傳來. 這些蟲子圍繞著我飛行, 它們似乎沒什麼惡意只是好奇罷了.

它們的嗡嗡聲令我坐立難安, 我開始越畫越快彷彿如此做便能擺脫這些蟲子.

在高溫的戶外寫生就好像打開一個攝氏三百度的烤箱迎面撲來的熱氣, 十分鐘後可以感到皮膚輕微的刺痛. 接下來的幾天我會擦上許多的防曬乳液才走入塔斯卡尼的陽光下. 我的水彩畫風因為這熱氣的逼迫筆觸趨向大筆和簡單, 沒有細節的描繪顏色直接而強烈. 第二天早上我望著二樓正門對面的一大片山坡地, 金黃色的牧草點綴著幾點綠舒展在視野中, 我想把它收入我的15×30公分大的水彩畫簿, 於是我攤開兩頁成了30×30公分來作畫. 我印象最深刻的是我站的那個屋簷下不知從何處飛來數以百計的黑色小甲蟲, 狀似一粒粒西瓜子. 他們前撲後繼的飛入我的舉目所見舉手所觸之處, 彷彿眼前下起滴滴黑雨.

在我集中精神想一口氣畫完這眼前美景的同時, 我基於慈悲之心一一挑出這群有自殺傾向的西瓜子飛機, 從我的調色盤裡小水盒中, 還有刷溼的畫紙上和我的頭和臉, 絲毫不敢有所遲疑讓它們得逞, 我胡想只要我想添加一點天然蛋白質, 只要嘴巴打開就可以了. 當晚我望著端上桌的飯後水果, 那一片片鮮紅欲滴的西瓜上的一粒粒黑色西瓜子. 天啊! 那不就是早上與我常相左右那群可憐又可氣的小甲蟲嗎? 當下真希望我們吃的是無子西瓜!

戶外寫生對我是全新的體驗. 烈陽熱氣惱人的蚊蟲自己汗濕的雙手顏臉和身體, 有限的設備和大自然考驗下我心理的退縮, 我了解了自己的能耐和限度, 而我是多麼的尊崇那些能在酷熱和酷寒的大自然裡完成大幅畫作的藝術家! 你能體會有多長的時間加拿大七人畫家和Tom Thomson 在攝氏零下三十度的冬天不停的創作出驚豔的寫生作品嗎? 那不僅須要強健的體能還要有堅強的意志加上高超的繪畫技巧.

至於我呢? 我對於那幾張小小的水彩速寫成品感到愉悅. 能在托斯卡尼呼吸新鮮空氣, 挺著豔陽與不同種類的蟲子共舞並感動著舉目所及的美景, 這種種都是啟發我創作的生命力!

Have you seen the romantic and heartwarming film, Under the Tuscan Sun? I’ve had the chance to watch the movie, and recently, experience painting and drawing under the summer sun over there for a week and half this past July. We, a group of 9 ladies, rented two small manual cars from the Rome airport, packed in more than 12 luggages, squeezed in all 9 of us, and drove all the way up to Torrita di Siena to our rented villa named Casabella (after getting lost in those hills multiple times on our way up). The villa was on the top of hill, and there, we stayed for 10 days

The scenery was as beautiful as shown in many movies. The vineyards and olive trees line up in an orderly fashion on rolling hills, forming views unique to Tuscany. Our villa was comfortable, where the construction reflected the local style, but also had modernized bathrooms. It had an outdoor patio facing endless fields, and one small swimming pool where you can enjoy the fresh water and gaze into the hilly Tuscany landscape surrounding the villa.

In the past, I have traveled to Tuscany, but I was always on fast-paced schedules. But in this particular 10-day stay in villa, I finally had the chance to get a taste of the real lifestyle of Tuscany, their culture, food, and sunshine.
One day, it was so hot, hotter than I could imagine. I pulled out my watercolour palette and brush. Every single time I coated a layer of water on my 15×30 cm watercolour paper, the surface dried out within a few seconds. Since I haven’t painted watercolour for ages, and I have never done plein-air painting, I chose the flower pots as my warm-up practice piece.

When water disappeared from the surface of my paper, sweat dripped from my forehead. If my sunglasses weren’t on, I couldn’t see anything. While I did my best to focus on mixing colours and observing my objects, I heard humming from bugs that came around me from right and left. So, I painted more and more quickly to finish my first outdoor watercolour painting.

How was the feeling of sitting outdoor and painting for half an hour? It felt like having heat that comes at you when you open a stove at 450F degrees! My skin started to feel the pinning pain from the sun after one short painting session. For the next few days, I put lots of suntan lotion on before I went under Tuscany’s sun. Even though it was so physically draining, I had to thank such unbearable sunlight for speeding up my painting. My brushstrokes became large and determined without too much detail, and my colour mixing turned out simple and strong.

The next day, I painted the hill view standing in front of our front door, on the second floor. It was a huge hay field that was entirely yellow and spotted green. I had one small watercolour paper at 15×30 cm, and two pages opened to paint a 30×30 cm landscape. I still remembered that there were hundreds of flying bugs that looked just like watermelon seeds. They flew into my palette, my small water container, my wetting paper, and my face.

Around the same time that I intended to finish painting, I had to pick up those suicidal bugs from the container, the palette, the paper and my hair….I tried to save these little lives within no time. I knew that if anytime I needed protein, the only thing I had to do was open my mouth. That night, we had watermelon, and I couldn’t help but see those seeds as those poor flying bugs that kept me company when I painted that morning. OMG! I had wished that we had seedless watermelons!
Plein-air painting was a brand new experience for me! After two paintings being outdoors with strong heat and sunlight, with annoying bugs, with my sweaty body and hands, with limited equipment, and with knowing how much less endurance a human body can take from the great nature’s test of heat and humidity, I realized my limit. And I respect those who can do large paintings outdoors under severe weather conditions. Can you imagine how the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson did their splendid paintings in the winter under minus 30 degrees? That not only requires a healthy body but an extremely strong mind, plus great painting skills.

As for my paintings, I was quite happy with my small “sketchy” watercolour paintings. Being in an outdoor environment with fresh air, bright sun, flying bugs, and an authentic view of the natural environment — these are key things to enliven me!

Written Sept. 14, 2011.