冬雪街頭 / Winter Spadina

Winter Spadina. Conté and Acrylic Ink on Mylar. 36" x 24"

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這周末多倫多下了場不大不小的雪,  雪停後的市區車輪壓碾行人走過,  馬路上及行人道滿地冰雪泥濘,  濕滑難行.  我進了城到 Toronto School of Art (TSA) 做了一點功課,  然後去參加一個同學 Michael Stoeber 的首次個展開幕(他特有簡潔風格的抽象畫令人印象深刻),  一整天在 Spadina  和 St. Clair 兩條街附近遊走.

這樣的場景, 讓我想起到城中上課的第二個冬天 (2008年).  風雪一場接著一場,  舊雪未融新雪即到,  人行道連個水泥地都踩不著.  笨重的雪靴, 厚實的外套加上肩頭一個十幾磅的袋子,  在冰雪覆蓋的路上行走總是舉步唯艱小心翼翼.  以往常常追趕著510號的電軌車去趕搭火車,  在這個風雪不斷的寒冬我完全放棄了這個念頭,  我可不想摔斷腿和手.  嚴寒和風雪, 忙碌的課程和身體脂肪能量的消耗,  那個冬季課程結束時我足足瘦了五磅而不自知,  一條緊身牛仔褲當時瘦到幾乎穿不住.

我在那個格外辛苦的冬天,  有感而發的畫了一幅畫, 用硬碳筆和壓克力墨水在塑膠膜片上畫出我走到學校的必經路口( 就在Spadina 大道和 Adelaide 街交差點上).  我讓電軌車從雪水一片的馬路駛往一片春意花海的絲巾,  一條我保有了二十多年的日本絲巾把風雪中的城景包起來,  我的心頭在愉悅的黃色中暖和了起來.



February 13, 2012.

Yesterday was a snowy Saturday in Toronto.  I spent the whole day around the Spadina/St. Clair area and attended an art show reception at Galleria 814, which was displaying the work of Michael Stoeber.  It was a wonderful show that celebrated the uniqueness in his beautiful abstractions.

The road was covered in mud and slush. This made me recall the second winter I was attending TSA…It was a piercingly cold winter accompanied by relentlessly falling snow, and Spadina Avenue was coated in mucky snow over an invisible surface of ice.  Being in that weather, buried in winter wear and attached to a heavy bag filled with art supplies, had made me give up on the thought of chasing streetcar no. 510 to Union Station, since I didn’t want to break any of my legs or arms.  At the end of that term, I had lost 5 pounds due to a busy schedule and maybe due to the body fat I’d burned throughout such a freezing season!

During that time, year of 2008, I drew a city scene of the corner of Spadina and Adelaide Street.  It’s a 36×24″ drawing on mylar with conté and acrylic ink.  The silk flora scarf in the drawing is a beautiful piece that I had bought from Japan and is special to me, as I have kept it for over 20 years.  I wanted to wrap the gray gloomy sky and slushy roads with this scarf to help me get over that tough winter season, blanketing the coldness with a layer of spring warmth.