How to Meet the Artist Painting Pictures on Tea Bags 如何邂逅在茶叶包上作画的艺术家

2018-08-03胡杨

中学生英语·阅读与写作 2018年6期

胡杨

What do you do with a used tea bag？ Throw it in the trash without any second thought？

你會如何处理一个用过的茶包？不加思索地直接把它扔进垃圾桶吗？

Not Ruby Silvious. The Philippines-born， US-based artist has found an smart way to regenerate1 used tea bags into amazingly intricate2 works of art.

鲁比·西尔维斯不会这样做。这位出生于菲律宾、工作在美国的艺术家发现了一种巧妙的方法将每天用过的茶包改造成为精巧复杂的艺术品。

The inspiration3 for her watercolor paintings comes from destinations4 around the world and the sights and sounds of her everyday life.

她的水彩画灵感来自于旅游所到的世界各地，以及她日常生活中的所见所闻。

Unusual canvas5

不寻常的画布

“As an artist youre always trying to find unique6 ways of expressing your art， and I think this is where all these materials thrown away as canvases came to light，” Silvious tells CNN Travel.

西尔维斯对美国有线电视新闻网旅游栏目的记者说：“作为一名艺术家，你要一直尝试去寻找独特的方式来表达你的艺术，我认为这是所有这些被丢弃的材料成为画布的想法得以实现的原因。”

The idea for this project was born， naturally， over tea. Silvious was discussing art projects with her sister when the idea came up， and she soon began experimenting.

这个项目的想法是在饮茶中自然产生的。当这个想法出现的时候，西尔维斯正在和她妹妹讨论艺术项目，而且她很快就开始试验。

Perfecting the art of painting on tea bags was a question of try and mistake—and Silvious had to stick to it.

在茶包上完善绘画艺术是一个需要反复试验、改正错误的事情——而且西尔维斯必须坚持不懈。

“You have to see all my failed experiments，” Silvious says. “I never throw anything out， I try to recycle them as well.”

西尔维斯说：“你得看看我那些失败的试验品，我从来不会扔掉它们，我会试着将它们回收再利用。”

But once Silvious tried to use watercolor on the used tea bags， she didnt look back.

但有一次，西尔维斯尝试在用过的茶包上用水彩作画之后，她就一直坚持下去了。

She says she loves that theyre small and theyre easy to take and manage.

她说，她喜欢它们体积小，便于携带、易于管理。

She began sharing her unique designs on her Instagram page—and quickly built up a following of tea-lovers across the world.

她开始在自己的“照片墙”主页上分享她那独特的设计，并迅速在全球范围内累积了一批茶迷。

Visit to Japan

日本的旅行

Silvious mini pictures describe her travels across the world—from the colorful streets of Italy to the splendor7 of the Eiffel Tower in Paris to the hills of Japan.

西尔维斯的微型茶包画描绘了她周游世界的旅程——从意大利五彩缤纷的街道，到巴黎艾菲尔铁塔的壮观景色，再到日本的山峦。

“Ive been lucky enough to be accepted into arts field， which required me to travel，” says Silvious. “Ive done workshops as well which has become the reason for me to go to a country.”

“我已经足够幸运能够进入艺术领域，它需要我去旅行，” 西尔维斯说，“我也需要参加各个国家的研讨会，这已经成为我去一个国家的原因。”

“I was doing a series of tea bags while I was there and I called it ‘26 Days of Tea in Japan，” she says.

她說：“我在那里做了一系列的茶包绘画，我叫它‘日本26天的茶。”

Japan provided plenty of creative stimulation for Silvious. “Its all mountains and rice fields， which was surely perfect in terms of inspiration，” says Silvious.

日本为西尔维斯提供了很多创造性的视觉刺激。“那儿都是山和稻田，这方面的灵感是绝对完美的，”西尔维斯说道。

As well as the countrys beautiful scenery and wildlife， Silvious is also interested in Japans city life.

除了对日本美丽的风景和野生动物感兴趣，西尔维斯对日本的城市生活也很感兴趣。

“I wanted to do a series of subway scenes，” she says. “Its just amazing to me how every time I would take the subway or the train in Japan， youd see so many people sleeping on the train.”

“我想画一系列的地铁场景，”她说。“在日本，每当我坐地铁或火车的时候，你会看到很多人在火车上睡觉，这让我感到很惊讶。”

Silvious artwork isnt just from her love of travel—her love of tea also plays an important part.

西尔维斯创作的艺术品不仅仅是源自她爱旅游——她对茶的热爱也起到了重要作用。

So whats her favorite tea to drink？ “I love Earl Grey， and it does not have to be any particular brand， but its usually what I like，” she says. “I like green tea as well.”

那她最喜欢喝什么茶？她说：“我喜欢格雷伯爵茶，不需要任何特定的品牌，但通常是我喜欢的，”她说。“我也喜欢绿茶。”

What about her favorite tea to paint on？ Silvious says certain tea types are easier to paint than others.

在她最喜欢的茶的茶包上进行绘画创作怎么样？西尔维斯说某些茶比其他种类更容易画。

“Over time I have discovered all types of tea bag construction. This was not something that I had planned， but I did notice that certain tea bags were just much thinner than others，” she explains. “And then some tea bags also stain8 better than others.”

“随着时间的推移，我发现了所有类型的茶包构造。这些并不是我计划去做的，但我的确注意到某些茶包比其他的要薄得多，”她解释道。“而且有一些茶包也比其他的更好着色。”

Silvious advises against painting on camomile9， “because the tea leaves， when theyre dried， stick to the tea bag and theyre difficult to remove and difficult to paint on.”

西尔维斯建议不要在甘菊上作画，“因为茶叶在干燥的时候会粘在茶包上，很难去除，很难在上面作画。”

“I love Rooibos tea because it has these wonderful stains， and sometimes it actually creates certain designs that just inspire me to do something with it. Its wonderful，” she says.

“我喜欢南非博士茶，因为它有这些奇妙的污渍，有时它实际上创造了一定的设计，让我可以在这个基础上来做点什么。这实在是太棒了，”她说。

A year of tea

一年的茶

Silvious has also compiled10 her work into an eye-catching coffee table book： 363 Days of Tea， which records a year of tea bag painting：

西尔维斯还将她的作品编入了一本引人注目的咖啡桌图书——《茶的363天》，这里面记录了她一年的茶包绘画。

“Usually the first question is， what happened to the two days？ And it has to do with sometimes New Years resolutions11 just dont happen very quickly， and I did not start until the third day，” she laughs.

她笑著说：“通常第一个问题是，这两天发生了什么？有时和新年计划有关系，因为新年计划不会很快实现，直到第三天我才开始我的计划。”

The artist is now working on a follow-up， now named “Reclaimed Canvas”.

这位艺术家正在进行一项后续工作，目前这项工作命名为“再生画布”。

“This will focus more on not just tea bags but other thrown away materials as well， so it will feature art on egg shells and pistachio12 shells， and all sorts of other materials，” says Silvious.

西尔维斯说：“这不仅仅会让人关注那些废弃的茶包，还会让人关注其它丢弃的材料。因此，以后的创作将以在蛋壳、开心果壳和其他各种材料上作画为特色。”

In the meantime， Silvious is planning future travels. “I would love to do an exhibition in Italy， because Ive never done one there. Thats on my wish list，” she says.

与此同时，西尔维斯正在计划未来的旅行。“我希望能在意大利办一个展览，因为我从未在那里办过这样的展览。那是我的愿望清单，”她说。