上星期情人節前後,  鮮花糖果絨毛玩具和卡片上印著許許多多的甜言蜜語, 和各種不同的紅色系愛心 , 到處招惹著人們的視線. 這些溫暖人心的形狀, 令我想起去年此時一件有趣的作品. 繪畫課老師指定的創作風格, 這種風格叫 Cliché/Kitsch ( Cliche意指陳詞濫調老掉牙的一套  Kitsch是廉價俗氣 大量製造的東西).  我決定走豔俗的畫風,  從電腦檔案中找到這張我為了”現代藝術史” 準備的一系列照片.  我戴了幾頂假髮, 抓了幾個髮型, 做了不同的表情, 拿起相機對著自己左拍右拍, 其中拍出這樣一張誇張的照片. 現在看來頗讓我驚訝, 戴著發亮鮮藍假髮的女生半遮著臉淘氣瞇眼的笑著, 這是我嗎?

我只用了兩小時就把這幅14×11吋作品完成,  去了一趟美術用品店找點俗氣的靈感. 先看到一張粉粉紅紅畫滿心型的包裝紙, 買來一塊木板. 然後向Luba 借了她現有的兩個鮮藍和桃紅的壓克力顏料, 留下木板當底色, 用刮刀把心型隨手一刮, 再灑上亮光粉在髮上, 那就更豔麗了. 第二星期回來我把畫中女孩上了向女兒借來的指假油,  鮮黃色的蔻丹, 發亮的藍色娃娃頭假髮和在一旁跳動的愛心, 真是俗到夠力. 可是每個人都喜歡!  難怪 Kitsch 這詞會成為一種藝術品代表, 誰說藝術就必須跳脫世俗高高在上呢?

適逢情人節,  John Denver 的一首老歌 Perhaps Love 其中一段歌詞在歲月的記憶裡沉澱, 他說 “愛” 這東西…

對有些人來說愛像一朵浮雲
對有些人來說愛堅如鋼鐵

有人覺得愛是一種生活方式
有人覺得愛是去感覺
有人說愛就是堅持
有人說愛是要放手
有人說愛就是一切
也有人說愛是什麼 他們不知道

戴藍髮的女孩則想, 愛是酸甜苦辣混雜的滋味, 是糖果店裡的迷人的五彩顏色,  是各式可愛的心的形狀,  於是乎我就把這幅畫取名甜心!


February 24, 2012.

The words “Happy Valentine’s Day” were virtually everywhere last week.  And in every image…hearts!  This reminded me of a special art piece I did for a painting class. It was done in a style called “Cliché/Kitsch” that Celia, my teacher, had encouraged us to depict.  I used a magenta coloured wrapping paper with a heart-shape pattern as an inspiration, and a photo of myself in a blue wig, which I took for my Contemporary Art History class.  For that art history project, I’d worn a few different wigs and tried out some funky hair styles.  Then I made all sorts of expressions on my face and took photos from every angle.  I ended up using one of them for my ‘Kitsch-style painting’.  So in this painting, the subject is wearing a shiny blue wig, face adorned with a childishly playful smile.  I surprised myself – is that me?

The 14″ x 11″ painting was finished fairly quickly – within two hours – with acrylic and gel medium on wood board.  I had borrowed the bright blue and permanent rose acrylics from Luba.  I left the original wood surface as the girl’s skin tone, and scraped out the heart shapes in the background with a knife.   In the end, I sprinkled glitter powders onto the blue wig and painted the girl’s nails with real bright yellow nail polish, borrowed from my daughter.  When it was finished, I thought it portrayed the Kitsch aesthetic quite well, and I was happy when others seemed to love it!  No wonder Kitsch was able to become a unique  style of art – who said that art had to be conventionally ‘classy’ and hard to understand?

In light of the ‘Valentine season’, I have dug into the old memories of this blue-wigged lady, and have recalled a verse of an old song that I wanted to share with you.  It is sung by John Denver, called “Perhaps Love”, in which he ponders upon the idea of ‘love’ and its many sides…

Oh, love to some is like a cloud
To some as strong as steel
For some a way of living
For some a way to feel
And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don’t know

This song reminds me of how I feel that love can be a mixture of all different kinds of tastes and colours, just like sweets in candy store, which, during this month, all seem to be in the shape of a heart.  And so, I have called this painting  “Sweet Heart”.

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.

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.

日本木刻版畫有著一種幽然的美感,  或許是樹木生命所付與木板的靈氣,  或許是水彩透明的質感,  加上印刷時使用人工的臂力透過日本手工製紙的樸質,  這些因素皆增添了西洋版畫無法表現的靜與淨的味道.

我用我家名為卡夫卡的貓做為我版畫印刷的主角許多次了.  我喜歡這個簡單的構圖,  貓兒望向繡球花 , 彷彿期待什麼或發現什麼.  我曾刻過一張鋁板, 這次 我將它刻在木頭上, 想試試日本木版印刷的效果.  這張是我試了十幾張印刷後最滿意的一張.  之前用的紫色背景水彩用到乾涸,  於是在潤浸微濕的和紙乾掉以前, 急急忙忙的調了深和淺兩種橘紅色, 結果出乎意外的,  給這景像帶來陽光似的溫暖!

每年春季課程我才有機會學到日本木刻版畫這門古老的藝術.  從木板上鑿出深而精細的溝紋要有一雙強而有力的手和幾把好的雕刻刀才足以應付.  我關節粗大的右手在使力一陣子之後彷彿更為腫大變形, 總要休息片刻, 否則連端咖啡杯都會抖 .  但是木頭的樸實在和木削的香氣令我著迷,  黑色墨水的魔力總在最後一刷時散發它的能量 瞬間擄獲我的心.  我持續學著這門藝術,  有時想的只是希望有一天我老到使不動印刷機時,  還可以自己在家刻木板, 用水彩, 黑墨和鞋刷和和紙 就可以繼續做版畫 .  同時有著一杯熱茶和一室的音樂,  或許還有一條狗或一隻貓!

這將是個美好的期待, 如同暖陽下的卡夫卡一般.

Japanese woodblock prints show the special beauty which cannot be shown in Western printmaking.   Maybe it’s the woodgrain; or maybe the quality of transparent watercolour as a printing media; or the strength of human arms that brushes the woodboard, penetrating the Japanese handmade paper: all those facts give the “clean & solitary” beauty to Japanese woodblock prints.

Kafka, my Cat, has been used as the main character in my prints.  I did one etching print of this simple yet interesting composition image.  I would like to try to carve this image into wood board and make Japanese Wood block prints.  After many test prints, with black ink image or violet background prints,  the orange background one, as the attached image,  is the last and best print that I tried to pull out in good paper last Wednesday.  The duo-toned orange colours bring a warm and sunny atmosphere to the whole image, surprising me!

I’ve only been practicing Japanese Woodblock Printmaking, the old traditional Japanese art technique, since the Spring term.  It requires a pair of strong hands and a few fine carving tools to carve and gauge the woodblock nicely and deeply.  From time to time, I have to rest my hand in between gauging the wood, otherwise I cannot even hold the cup when I need a drink of tea or coffee.  But the organic quality of the woodblock and the scent of the wood dust charms me very much.  The black ink is like magic which charms my heart the minute it shows on the paper.  I continuously learn from this art technique, simply because I have been thinking far ahead about how when I am too old to handle the heavy press, I can just do Japanese Wood block print at home.  I don’t need too much to make a print, just watercolor, black ink and shoes brushes and paper… and at the same time, I can have a cup of hot tea, in a room with music, with my dog or cat beside me.

It’s something to look forward to, just like Kafka under the sunshine in the mornings!

June 10, 2011.