we're all in the dance 2 / 圈圈相連 2

昨天去上天文星盤課，美欽問我過去這一年在做什麼，我說：很多事啊！我把做過的新嘗試都列出來，長期的短期的都算進去。

Yesterday I went to a workshop on astrology. Meichien asked me what I have been up to in the past year. I then listed all of my new experiences, both long-term and short-term ones.

        今天去上了植物標本製作課。

   Today I attended a workshop on making herbarium specimen.

        雖然不難，但大家還是手忙腳亂的。

   Though it wasn't hard, most of us still couldn't get it right.

        資深的專家做起來多麼美麗啊！巧的是一早去上課時發現八月初在青年公園遇到的生態老師，也在同一間教室裡。

   As the senior volunteer demonstrated for us, I couldn't help exclaiming that this is a form of art too. And it was a lovely coincidence that the ecology teacher I had met in the Youth Park earlier in August was in the same classroom as me. 

        接著上裱褙課，走進來的美少男老師林仁信是去年年底參加台北文化之旅的講者。

   Next it was another workshop on framing posters. The lecturer, Mr. Lin Ren-hsin, happened to be the tour guide for our cultural tour at the end of last year. 

        邊看老師重新裱圖時，旁邊的阿姨說：看老師刷灰塵的樣子，就知道可以嫁給這種人。想不到阿姨的想法比我還要少女。

   When seeing Mr. Lin at work, the senior lady next to me made the remark: By looking at how the teacher brushes off the dust, I can tell he's a good husband candidate. Wow, I didn't know that the lady is even more romantic than me....

        最棒的是林老師附贈一堂版畫課介紹，看到浮世繪的製作過程，我的心簡直就要飛起來了。下課跑去和老師相認，老師居然還記得我。只能說這世界真是圈圈相連，看來我過去一年的確是做了不少事喔！

   Best of all, Mr. Lin gave a short free lecture on printmaking at the end of the workshop. Watching the video of how ukiyo-e is produced, my heart literally leaped. And it turned out that Mr. Lin still remembers me. All I can say is, we are all in the dance. I wasn't exaggerating when I said I had done MUCH during the past year!  

Shakespearan week / 莎士比亞週

這週和莎士比亞特別有緣，讀赫胥黎的「美麗新世界」剛好讀到引言莎翁的部份，而倫敦的妹妹們從莎伯伯的故鄉寄來了明信片。

I think my theme of the week is Shakespeare. I am currently reading the part with many quotes from his plays in The Brave New World. And the young girls in London sent me  a postcard from Stratford-upon-Avon earlier this week. 

年初帶嘉蕊去亞方鎮慶生，年尾嘉蕊帶勵雯去亞方鎮慶生，在台北的我也因此受惠，現在回頭看在倫敦的日子很美好，但我的懷念裡從來沒有一絲感傷，因為我知道漣漪效應會一直持續下去⋯

I took Jazel on a birthday trip to Stratford-upon-Avon at the beginning of this year, and Jazel took Liwen there for her birthday at the end of the year. Though in Taipei, I benefited from them both too. I know how fantastic my year in London was when I look back on it, but there is never a tinge of  sadness. That's because I know the ripple effect will last and expand in my life now... 

Camberwell memory 4 / 坎貝爾回憶 4

這一年沒有交很多新朋友，但還好在班上有一群可愛的同學，她們是坎貝爾回憶裡很重要的一部份。

I didn't make many new friends this year, but fortunately there are some really great girls in class. They are an important part of my Camberwell memory.

工藤桃子繪 / by Momoko Kudo 

這是小桃送給我的夏日一景。

This is summer from Momo for me. 

特蕾莎史地瓦著 / by Tereza Sediva 

特蕾莎特地進印刷室幫我印這張圖，她之前因為這個設計拿到了自行車車服比賽第三名。

Tereza went into the printmaking room to screen-print this image for me. She came in third place in the Milltag jersey competition because of this design. 

離開倫敦之後，想到這些人，我會更努力地畫畫！

After leaving London, I'll draw harder upon thinking of these beautiful people! 

Dazzling London / 眼花撩亂的倫敦

明天要去巴黎，週末只不過去市中心拿車票，一路經過無數個好玩的地方，這就是倫敦啊！伯靈頓館最近在展很紅的大衛哈克尼展，不過好天氣的倫敦遊客也多得嚇人！

I am leaving for Paris tomorrow. I went downtown only to get the rail ticket on Saturday, and you can hardly imagine how many interesting places we passed by. What can you say? This is London. Now David Hockney's exhibition is going on in Burlington House. Since it has been extremely sunny in London, there are a shocking number of tourists! 

伯靈頓商圈賣得都是高級貨，我們只是偶然經過進去晃晃。

Burlington Arcade houses really fancy shops. We just stumbled across the site and went in for a look. 

和商圈平行的老龐德街是倫敦的名牌街。

Old Bond Street, parallel to Burlington Arcade, is where all the name-brand boutiques gather.

倫敦無奇不有。

You can find all amazing things and people in London. 

復活節彩蛋秀。

Easter egg street exhibition. 

我們的目的地─森默賽特館。

Our destination--Somerset House. 

仔細看喔，這些不是真花，是目前正在進行的裝置藝術展覽「非同步」，這一萬朵花是智利籍藝術家Fernando Casaempere用黏土捏成的，他的創作動機是為了創造人們在春天來臨之際看到繁花盛放的喜悅。

Take a closer look. These are not real flowers. They are the installation Out of Sync that is going in a grass meadow in Somerset House by London Based Chilean artist Fernando Casasempere. 10,000 ceramic flowers were planted. He wants to recreate the joy people feel upon seeing blossoming flowers at the end of winter and the beginning of spring. 

歐洲今年天氣超好！據說我明天要去的巴黎也陽光普照。

The weather in Europe this year is just lovely. I was told that it'll be equally sunny in Paris, where I am going tomorrow. 

才從波隆納回來，又趕著去看倫敦另一場插畫展，在這裡真是片刻不得閒啊！這是集合優秀年輕插畫家和獨立印刷工作坊的Pick Me Up展。

Though I just came back from Bologna, we were in a hurry to go to another illo exhibition. I can hardly take a break here! This is Pick Me Up, which gathers talented new blood in illustration and many independent print studios. 

嘉蕊說我回家之後一定會想念這裡的展覽，的確，倫敦的資源真是太豐富了，不過我也期待可以坐下來安安靜靜畫圖的日子，在那之前我就把自己的資料庫裝飽吧！

Jazel said I'll miss the exhibitions here after going home. Indeed, the art life in London is so thriving. However, I am also looking forward to sitting down in a quiet corner to draw. Before that, I should fill my brain with as much as I can! 

等我十天之後從荷蘭回來再和大家分享我的旅行吧！

I'll say hello to you after coming back from the Netherlands in 10 days! 

I'm NOT alone in London / 有伴的倫敦

花了一週的時間印好了我很想寫的小書，叫作「有伴的倫敦」，不過我自稱為「不精準女王」的封號不是假的，因為我很努力地對好圖像和文字層，結果還是不準啊！

It took me a week to print a small picture book I had wanted to write. It is titled "I am NOT alone in London." Well, I don't call myself the queen of imprecision for nothing. I did my best to work out the image layer and the text layer, making sure that they fitted into the right places. Still, they kind of end up somewhere they shouldn't!

印刷之前對得多好啊！

See, didn't it look good before being printed? 

展開圖

The poster on the back 

這是很好的倫敦伴手禮。

This is a wonderful souvenir of London!