犯錯的藝術

by Maryanne Higley Hamilton

翻譯：Cass

犯錯的藝術

by Maryanne Higley Hamilton

翻譯：Cass

Track 8

“Mrs. Hamilton， l need a new piece of paper. I don’t Iike my drawing！ I drew the house too small，”1）moaned the new student standing at my desk. He handed me his art work， which showed twenty minutes of hard work and advanced artistic skill for a fifth grader.

“You have so much detail completed already. Let’s see if we can think of a way to fix it，” I2）empathized. “Mistakes are often a great chance to make your art work better.”

Students I’d had the previous year， some since primary school， knew two of the guiding rules in my art room were creative3）exploration and self-expression. New students were often4）insecure and easily frustrated， which sometimes led to5）torn-up papers or6）smashed clay.

“Let me tell you about a mistake I made while creating wall7）murals in someone’s home，” I began. “One was a painting in a little girl’s bathroom. After spending the morning planning and8）sketching， I painted a dog. I made him over four feet tall so that it looked like he was holding the bar for her towel.”

9）Gesturing with a paintbrush in the air I went on， “While I was putting the finishing10）touch on the black11）dog collar， the paint12）dripped on part of the wall where I shouldn’t paint.”

Nearby students exchanged smiles and stopped what they were doing to listen.

“It was a wall！ I couldn’t throw it away and start over，” I said13）dramatically to14）stress my awful situation. “I had to figure out a way to fix it.”

I paused a few moments to give him time to consider what he would have done， then continued： “So I studied the painting for a while until I thought of a way to cover the spot： I added a red heart-shaped dog tag over it， and included the little girl’s15）initials.”

“Did the little girl like the painting？”

“The next day， my16）client called me to tell me her daughter loved the painting， and she was thrilled when she spotted her initials on the dog tag，” I said.

“So when you make a mistake， make something good out of it！” repeated the other kids， who had heard me say this before.

Since retiring from teaching art in the public schools five years ago， I’ve maintained a friendship with some of my students and their families. I recently heard two of my past students， now in college， recalling

their experiences in my classes. They both repeated， “When you

make a mistake， make something good out of it！”

參考譯文

“漢密爾頓老師，我需要一張新的畫紙。我不喜歡我的這幅畫！我把房子畫得太小了，”新來的學生站在我的桌子前抱怨道。他把自己的畫作遞給我。對于一個五年級的學生來說，這幅作品凝聚了他整整二十分鐘的苦心，展現了他超前的藝術技巧。

“你已經畫完這么多細節了。我們還是想想看有沒有辦法能補救吧，”我帶著同情的口吻說道。“錯誤常常是使你的畫作更趨完美的良機。”

去年開始在這里學畫畫的學生—有些是自小學開始就在這里學習的—都知道他們在我的藝術工作室里，向來遵循兩個指導思想：創造性探索和自我表達。新來的學生往往缺乏自信心、容易感到沮喪，結果就是他們有時候會撕碎畫紙或者是揉毀黏土。

“讓我和你講講我在別人家里創作壁畫時犯的一個錯誤吧，”我講起往事來。“那是一個小女孩浴室里的一幅畫。我花了整個上午的時間規劃、勾勒草圖，最終畫了一只狗。狗狗有四英尺（約1.22米）多高，這樣看起來就像狗狗嘴里銜著掛毛巾的橫桿似的。”

我手中的畫筆在空中比劃著，接著說道：“就在畫狗狗的黑色項圈的最后一筆時，一滴顏料滴在了墻上本來我不該下筆的地方。”

旁邊的學生會意地相互笑了笑，也停下了手頭的畫筆聽我講。

“那可是一面墻啊！我不可能把它扔掉再重新畫過，”我非常夸張地說著，以強調我的處境有多糟糕。“我必須找到補救的方法。”

我停頓了一會兒，留給他足夠的時間來想想能采取什么補救措施，然后接著說道：“我研究了一會兒那幅畫，最終想到了能夠掩蓋那個點的辦法：我在狗項圈上加了一個紅色的心形狗牌，上面還寫著小女孩姓名的首字母。”

“那個小女孩喜歡這幅畫嗎？”

“第二天，我的客戶打電話給我，告訴我她的女兒非常喜歡那幅畫。在發現狗牌上有自己的名字首字母時，她的女兒欣喜若狂，”我說道。

“所以如果你犯了錯誤，那么將錯就錯，創造出些好東西來吧！”其他的孩子們重復著我的話，他們之前就聽過我這么說。

自從五年前從公立學校的美術老師崗位上退休以來，我和一些學生，以及他們的家人一直維系著友誼。最近，我聽說我以前教過的兩位學生現在已經在上大學了，他們回憶起我的課時，都會重復我的話：“如果你犯了錯誤，那么將錯就錯，創造出些好東西來吧！”

1） moan ［m?un】 v. 抱怨著說

2） empathize ［'emp?θaIz】 v. 同情，感同身受

3） exploration ［,ekspl??'reI??n】 n. 探索，探究

4） insecure ［InsI'kju?】

adj. 缺乏自信心的，心神不定的

5） torn-up 撕碎的

6） smashed ［sm??t】 adj. 打碎的

7） mural ［'mju?r?l】 n. 壁畫，壁飾

8） sketch ［sket?】 v. 畫草圖

9） gesture ［'d?est??】 v. 以手勢表示

10） touch ［t?t?】 n. 潤飾，修飾，筆畫

11） dog collar 狗項圈

12） drip ［drIp】 v. 滴下

13） dramatically ［dr?'m?tIk?lI】 adv. 引人注目地

14） stress ［stres】 v. 強調

15） initial ［I'nI??l】 n. 詞首大寫字母

16） client ［'klaI?nt】 n. 客戶

The Art of Mistakes