每日英語跟讀 Ep.910: Artist picks up brush after 60 years to depict scenes of rustic Taiwan 隔六十多年再拿畫筆　藝術家畫出台灣味

When he was still only 11 years old, watercolor artist Lin Ying-che, born in Chiayi County’s Puzi City, was taught by Wu Mei-lin, an established artist at the time. Lin would later have to put his dreams of being a painter on hold as he had to turn his attention to looking after his family. Even his wife had no idea that he was able to paint, and it wasn’t until after he retired at the age of 75 that Lin picked up the brush again, after a gap of over 60 years. Over the following decade, he has been painting scenes of farming villages as he remembers them, as well as temples around Taiwan. He has exhibited his work in Taiwan and overseas, and was once selected for a national landscape painting award in Japan. One elderly Taiwanese living in Japan back then was even moved to tears when viewing his painting, as they were reminded of the Taiwan of their childhood.

出身於嘉義縣朴子市的水彩畫家林英哲，十一歲曾受畫壇大師吳梅嶺指導，但扛下家庭重擔後就將畫家夢想藏在心裡，連老婆都不知道他會畫畫；七十五歲退休後，林英哲相隔六十多年才重拾畫筆，十多年來畫遍舊時台灣農村記憶與各地宗教廟宇，曾在國內外開展，入選日本全國自然繪畫大賞，甚至還有旅居日本的台灣長輩看到畫作時掉淚，看到小時候台灣的景象。

This year, Lin returned to his hometown to visit the Tian Gong Tan temple in Puzi City and paint the temple architecture. On Thursday last week, he donated the finished painting to the Tian Gong Tan, which was received by temple chairman Lin Po-wen. At the event, Puzi City Mayor Wu Pin-jui awarded Lin honorary citizenship of Puzi City.

林英哲今年回到家鄉到訪朴子天公壇，為天公壇建築作畫，上週四將畫作贈給天公壇廟方，由主委林博文代表接受，朴子市長吳品叡並頒贈朴子市榮譽市民狀給林英哲。

A smiling Lin, who is now 86, says that when he was a young boy, the artist Wu Mei-lin showed him how to sketch from nature, and tried to persuade him not to give up painting. When Lin left National Chiayi Industrial Vocational High School, however, he had to go out and earn a living to contribute to the family keep, since he was the eldest son. After he started working he was too busy, and being an artist was a dream that he never was able to realize. Fast forward over 60 years to when he retired, and Lin recalled his boyhood dreams and the feeling of the farming village of his childhood: he decided to revisit, through his watercolors, the good old days when the people around him labored to improve their lives.

已八十六歲的林英哲笑說，年幼時吳梅嶺大師曾帶他去寫生，鼓勵他不要放棄作畫，但嘉義高工畢業後，身為長子需扛起家計，創業後忙於事業，畫畫成為他一直沒有實現的夢想。經打拚六十多年退休後，因憶起兒時夢想及年幼時農村的印象，決定用水彩將古早時的回憶、台灣人努力打拚的過去描繪出來。

“Even my wife had no idea I could paint,” Lin said, chuckling. Nobody in the family knew he could, until he picked up his brush again in 2010 and turned his attention to creating with watercolors. When his daughter-in-law saw his paintings she took photos and posted them online, and to their surprise someone in the art world contacted them about Lin taking part in an exhibition. Since the appearance of his work in the 2011 Art Revolution Taipei exhibition, he has continuously been invited to take part in exhibitions. When people in the Japanese art world caught sight of his paintings, he was invited to exhibit there. In recent years he has also shown his work on many occasions throughout Taiwan. His work focuses mainly on Taiwanese agricultural scenes, depicted in a realist style and painted in meticulous detail.

「連太太都不知道我會畫畫」，林英哲笑說，全家人都不知他會作畫，直到二○一○年重拾畫筆，專心水彩創作，媳婦看到他的畫作後照相上傳網路，竟有藝文界人士看到後邀展。從二○一一年台北新藝術博覽會開始展出後邀約不斷：有日本藝文界人士看到後力邀到日本開展，近年來多次在全台各地辦展。畫作主要呈現台灣農村景色，畫工精細寫實。

Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2020/07/27/2003740596