Good Fortune / 福

Birthday Gift / 生日禮物

Mphande是住在馬拉威的小男生，家裡有五個小孩，據說生日禮物得到一盒十二色的蠟筆得和兄弟姊妹分著用，而且遠渡重洋的禮物通常花上一個季節才會到達他手裡。從Mphande身上我再度學到，禮物的價錢和收到禮物的快樂不是成正比的關係，雖然無法直接和Mphande對話，我在一年365 x 24小時中花四個小時製作他的生日卡，如果可以為他帶來點期待，我會感到雙倍的開心。

Mphande is a little boy from Malawi. He has five siblings, so he has to share his birthday gift, a small box of twelve crayons, with them. Besides, it takes more than a season for him to receive the gift that travels around half of the globe. From Mphande, I learn once more that it is the thought behind a gift that counts, not the price. I can’t have direct dialogs with him, but I’ll feel double servings of joy if I know that the birthday card that I take 4 hours out of 365 x 24 a year to make for him does give him something to look forward to.

Year of the Rabbit / 兔年

Heavenly / 清境

Mexico / 墨西哥



午後的陽光照在對街的灰泥建築，可以數出十幾種色調的顏料，最後全混在牆壁最上端：黃色、土色、磚紅色、血紅色、深藍色、藍綠色，加在一起就變成墨西哥的顏色。而墨西哥的味道也是相似的混合風：茉莉花、狗尿尿、香菜、酸橙。墨西哥領你穿過拱形的石壁入口，進入核心樹木林立的庭院，小狗靠著牆尿尿，侍者匆忙地從如簾幕的茉莉花間端出玉米餅濃湯，熱騰騰的，有香菜和酸橙的香味。貓兒在水池四周的泥土花盆之間追逐著蜥蜴，鴿子藏身於綻放的藤蔓，咕咕地祈禱，感謝蜥蜴的存在。盆栽安靜地呼吸，長大到花盆都顯得小了，就像墨西哥的孩子，得縮腳掌、耐心地站著，因為去年的鞋子已經穿不下了。

節錄於芭芭拉金索芙之「缺口」

"In the afternoon when the sun lights the stucco buildings across the street, it’s possible to count a dozen different colors of paint, all fading together on the highest parts of the wall: yellow, ochre, brick, blood, cobalt, turquoise. The national color of Mexico. And the scent of Mexico is a similar blend: jasmine, dog piss, cilantro, lime. Mexico admits you through an arched stone orifice into the tree-filled courtyard of its heart, where a dog pisses against a wall and a waiter hustles through a curtain of jasmine to bring a bowl of tortilla soup, steaming with cilantro and lime. Cats stalk lizards among the clay pots around the fountain, doves settle into the flowering vines and coo their prayers, thankful for the existence of lizards. The potted plants silently exhale, outgrowing their clay pots. Like Mexico’s children they stand pinched and patient in last year’s too small shoes.”

from The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

I Super Love You / 我超愛妳

我說：你愛我吧？

小方說：不，我超愛妳！


I say, “You love me right?”

Von says, “No, I SUPER love you!”

Record / 記錄

這學期要結束了，忘記自己在課堂上曾經說過甚麼，但是我的鐵櫃上記錄著這學期的水彩課。

This semester is coming to an end. I don’t remember much what I said in class, but fortunately, my locker keeps a faithful record of my watercolor lesson.

下班前的星期五，我和秀貞站在辦公室門外用看展覽的心情檢視可以改進的地方，經過的同事被我們倆專注的站姿吸引，也跑來湊一腳。

Before getting off work on Friday, Jane and I take the role of exhibition viewers, standing outside the office and critiquing my works. Some colleagues are so attracted by our attentiveness that they can’t help but join us.

把美術館搬到生活裡，就是這個意思吧！

That’s what we mean by saying “making an art museum out of the everyday life.”

註：最下方的水彩畫是江老師送給大家年終歲末的抽獎贈品。我的畫顏料一層又一層，老師就這麼淡雅地帶過。


PS: The painting at the bottom is a raffle prize from Jim. My paintings are covered in layers of paints while Jim applies just a light brush stroke…

YEAH!

一歲半的小楷最近在語言發展上有持續性的進步，這幾天已經能夠從模仿大人片語中的一個字增加到兩個字，但是我最愛他每次出門前喜悅的歡呼聲，聽到他那樣發自心底說「耶！」，感覺人生充滿快樂，在新的一年裡，當我覺得自己撐不下去時，我要想起楷維的口頭禪，提醒我得時常用一歲半的眼光看世界。

One-and-a-half-year-old Kai has made constant progress in his lingual development. In the past few days, he has demonstrated the leap from the imitation of one word to two by observing the adults’ speeches. However, my favorite is his elated cry whenever he is going out. His heartfelt joy, totally expressed in the exclamation “Yeah!” infects me and fills the whole apartments with merriness. In the new year, when I have the feeling that I can’t make it, I want to think back on Kai’s concise motto so that I’ll be reminded to look at the world from a big baby’s perspective.

Northeast coast / 東北角

謝謝江老師幫我修畫。

Thanks to Jim for revising my painting

Christmas / 聖誕節

寫申請學校文件時，最後要寫拿到學位之後對自己的期許，例如說希望進哪一家公司服務，剛好之前聽到某位同好說，能夠進橙果工作簡直就是夢想中的夢想，對於我來說寫作不是問題，但這部份卻難倒我，因為我最大的喜悅很渺小，就是為我喜歡的人畫畫寫故事，這樣的答案只會被批評為沒有野心、不實際，這種能落實在日常生活中的目標卻不能寫進去，我覺得很可惜。

While I was preparing my personal statement in the process of applying for schools, I was required to write about my goal after graduation such as working in a certain company I’d always dreamed of. I happened to hear an acquaintance mention her wish of entering the new-brand design company DEM Inc here. For me, writing didn’t pose any problem, but this part did baffle me. My biggest dream is very humble. It is just about writing and illustrating stories for people I love. However, this answer would only be criticized as ambitionless and impractical. I found it a pity that I couldn’t write such a goal which I could actually carry out in my everyday life.

看似是最簡單卻又最難的，我決定把這個心願付諸實現，在我和班上同學的最後一個聖誕節裡。每個人得到一句鼓勵的話語，搭配我最近研發的阿茲提克皇后娃娃圖像，我畫了兩套六十多張的卡片，把自己變成大家未來的回憶。

Thus, I decided to put into practice the seemingly easy but difficult plan. On my last Christmas with my current students, everyone would get a card featuring my latest invention—Aztec Queen Baby along with an inspirational quote on the back. I drew two sets of cards, 66 in total with no exactly identical pictures because I wanted to leave pieces of me for them as a form of memories.

因為太喜歡我的善班，我在這個月初決定把之前展覽過的畫送給班上同學，聖誕節的前一天，我們開了一場完全無金錢交易的拍賣會，每個要競標的小朋友只要說出自己為甚麼想要得到某幅畫，並且能夠在畢業之前回贈一幅畫，其他的就留給籤筒決定，除了競標場面瀕臨失控之外，我沒有想到好幾個人因為得不到畫情緒幾乎崩潰，還有好些人看起來很沮喪，讓我也心情低落了一會，本來只是要把我的過去做個整理，卻發現那些片段被孩子們很珍貴地對待，我是所有人裡收穫最大的。

I love my own class so much that I came up with the decision to give away my past exhibited paintings. On Christmas Eve, we held an auction without monetary trades. Everyone keen on a certain work had to say why she had to get it and give me her drawing before graduation. The rest would be decided by the lot they drew. The whole class went almost wild nearing the end, with some people on the verge of breaking down. I felt kind of bad for not having enough works for everybody. I had meant nothing but to say goodbye to my past, but I was surprised to learn that those moments were so treated with care by the girls. I was the person that gained the most through the experience.

不知道以後會怎麼樣，但是生活的每一天，我看到了更多更多畫畫的理由，這是我發亮的聖誕節禮物。

I don’t know how my future will turn out, but every day in my life, I see more and more reasons for drawing, and they are my glittering Christmas gifts.