媽來了!

孩子三個月大時的一個夏日午後, 新手爸媽的我們極度渴望離家遠遊. 在不能跑遠的情況下, 決定讓畫筆帶我們到後院流浪, 那是最簡單, 也最實際的放鬆方法. 本來樹林才是這張畫的焦點, 前面的小屋只是"背景". 但當孩子一哭, 調色盤上的顏色顧不了那麼多, 全都隨畫筆亂飛亂跑了起來. 一陣慌亂中, 樹林說了再見, 小屋跳出來大喊"快! 著火了!" 神遊結束. 我煥然一新地回到現實..

紐約, 盛夏 2010

mom's here!

it was a sunny afternoon. a vacation was badly needed, a quick one with our 3-month-old baby. we decided zooming into backyard with paintbrushes the easiest and most realistic way. the woods was the focus and the shed 'background'. however, colors jumped dancing blindly as soon as baby began to cry. woods waved bye-bye and the shed yielded "quick! fire!" it was the end of the vacation and I came back refreshed.

NY, Summer 2010

夏日的旅程

上週去了紐約州北邊的國家公園(the Adirondacks)爬山, 畫圖. 是一趟很美妙的藝術之旅.

我們落腳的小鎮(Saranac Lake)是個藝術家的集散地, 有不少令人眼睛一亮的繪畫作品. 在環境美, 陽光好, 氣氛佳的啟發下, 我忍不住也提起畫筆, 畫了三張油畫.

那種一頭鑽進自然之美與色彩繽紛的世界中的忘我, 是難以言喻的...

Visitor Interpretive Center, Paul Smith, NY, Summer, 2009

某日傍晚, 在開車回落腳處的路上, 發現西下的夕陽在路邊遠處山頭上的雲端玩著輝映變色的遊戲, 非常美麗. 趕緊把車停下來, 打開後車廂, 抓出畫筆顏料, 架起畫架, 二話不說, 趕緊就跟陽光賽跑, 畫了起來.

畫了差不多40分鐘左右, 四週已經是一片漆黑, 我們只好就此打住. 回到住的地方, 把畫拿出來放在燈光下看, 我們這才第一次有機會看對方的作品. 很有意思的是, 同一個地點, 同樣的景色, 同樣的時間, 我們卻用不同的顏色, 畫出不一樣的畫. "這就是藝術啊~ 是很個人的!" 我驚呼出聲! "重點不在於作品的好壞, 而是創作過程. 我想, 所有的生活中的事情都可以是藝術.... " 難以言喻.. 寫多了反而會膚淺了... 只能說, 那是一個非常珍貴的經驗, 我希望自己能夠記得住那個感覺.

Adirondack Loj Road, the Adirondacks, NY, Summer 2009

這個湖是我這次旅程中最喜歡的一個地點(Copperas Pond), 它旁邊沒有漂亮的豪宅, 只有一個給登山客躲避風雨的木造棚子. 這個湖在山上, 距離公路有段距離, 沒有吵雜的人煙, 很寧靜.

這次我們去了好幾個大大小小的湖, 大部分的湖四周都是私人土地, 而且閒人勿進, 附近的景觀是美麗卻摸不著的森林, 漂亮的大房子, 私人的蜿蜒小徑, 和私人碼頭. 發現這樣的情形到處都有的時候, 我很驚訝人類已經萬能到可以買賣擁有自然.

坐在波光粼粼的水邊, 沐浴在暖暖的夏日微風中, 聽著樹葉隨風搖曳的沙沙聲響, 看著遠方寧靜的山脈, 尋找著水裡的小魚和巨大蝌蚪, 突然覺得, 我再也不要做甚麼將來要住到一個擁有整片天空的湖畔小屋的夢了.

大自然的美, 在自然中, 才是最美的.

Copperas Pond, the Adirondacks, NY, Summer, 2009

the Adirondacks inspiration

We are back from the Adirondacks, happy, inspired and contented.

I did three paintings. The town we stayed- Saranac Lake- is an art town! (we didn't know it.) There are many great artists and artworks! I couldn't help but picking up paint brushes to paint after visiting their galleries. It feels so good to be inspired and dive into the process "making art". oh mine~ oh mine~

Visitor Interpretive Center, Paul Smith, NY, Summer, 2009

On our way driving back Mt. Jo, we saw sunset and pulled over to paint. quickly we got out the stuff and began to race with the sunlight. It was dark after about 40 minutes and we were forced to finish our paintings. When we got to look at each other's work after arriving the cottage, it was very interesting to see how different we did at the same spot in the same time period. art! I screamed~~~ It is not so much to do with the outcomes but the processes. Oh my god. it is so personal. Everything can be an art especially when we do it "like that". I think. I don't have words for "that". but "that" is a precious experience and "that" made me still quite excited.

Adirondack Loj Road, the Adirondacks, NY, Summer 2009

This is my favorite spot in this Adirondack trip. There is no beautiful house, only a rustic lean-to for public hikers. This pond is about 0.5 miles hike from route 86, which makes it peaceful. Many of the lakes we visited this time have some part or most part of them marked as "private property" and are not open to public. There are intangible forests, beautiful mansions, private roads and docks. I was amazed that people are so omnipotent that nature can be owned by individuals. Sitting by the shining water, surrounded by singing trees and silent mountains, bathed in warm summer breeze, watching fishes and huge tad poles swimming, and looking for handsome rocks and rotten tree logs, I decided to give up the dream to live by a lake with an open view. Nature is much more beautiful not to be owned by anyone.

Copperas Pond, the Adirondacks, NY, Summer, 2009