当密西西比河遇上衢江

3个月前，作为衢州市与雷德温市友好城市之间的艺术交流使者，阿特携夫人凯瑟琳来到衢州，进行为期一个月的艺术交流。当位于密西西比河上游的雷德温市与碧水衢江畔的古城衢州在艺术的领域亲切牵手，会碰撞出哪些动人的火花呢？带着这个疑问，笔者来到衢州职业技术学院精心为阿特先生准备的工作室，走访了这位感性而真诚的艺术家。

“绘画是没有国界的”

初见阿特，他就向记者感慨自己这几天和徐建文、叶云龙、潘宇等衢州艺术家们待在一块“玩疯了”：“在这里，我变成了一个70岁的老男孩。”

事实上，70岁的阿特尽管头发全白，仍不失优雅。

面对笔者和周围的一群艺术家时，天性率真的阿特像个小男孩似的把手乖乖放在膝盖上，回答问题的时候表情专注从容，一开口说的却是学院小吃街上的芋艿、粽子。

时间拉回到2013年10月4日，那是阿特先生来衢州的第一天。当他来到衢州市青年画家潘宇的画室时，立刻就被那种恣意挥洒的山水泼墨吸引住了：画中有青衫磊落的书生，有把酒临风的和尚，有菩提树下款款而来的美人轻启朱唇，把小曲儿轻轻唱……那是完全游离于他日常感知之外的一个神奇世界：“中国画是一个美丽的陷阱，掉进去，很难再爬出来。”阿特如此形容自己第一次见到潘宇画作时的奇妙感觉。

阿特早年从明尼苏达大学获得艺术学和新闻学双学士学位，独特的学习经历滋养了他发现美的独特眼光和源源不断的创作灵感。在观看婺剧表演后，阿特当晚便创作了一幅栩栩如生的戏曲人物画像，尽管画中人物是原汁原味的婺剧角色，但有趣的是，当人们仔细端详这张画作时，发现画中人物的脸变成了阿特妻子凯瑟琳的样子。“艺术家总是难免偶尔调皮。 ”已经和阿特成为好朋友的潘宇笑言。

阿特笑着告诉笔者，在这一个月里，他参观了许多衢州艺术家的工作室，深深地为他们的笔墨所折服：“绘画是没有国界的，线条和色彩永远不会欺骗眼睛。 ”

“乡村是一座城市最真实的横截面”

“与人相比，事物的老化则要缓慢得多。一部古老的小说或者一顶丝绸小伞上面最多只会积些灰尘，而拿过这部小说或者撑过这顶伞的那只手却早就腐朽了。事情总是这样的，难道不是吗？ ”在阿特的理解里，城市总在不断地变化

FRIENDSHIP友好往来

在观看婺剧表演后，阿特当晚便创作了一幅栩栩如生的戏曲人物画像。

Art Kenyon created this oil painting at the same night after he watched a Wuju Opera play in Quzhou.

着，只有“乡村才是一座城市最真实的横截面，那里保留着人们最完整的童年”。

与本地艺术家一道，阿特用将近半个月的时间走访了衢州许多藏在深山间的村落。他喜欢行走，一些遥远的村庄只能步行到达 —在龙游沐尘乡民的泥土屋里，他跟着村民一起热热闹闹地打年糕、做麻糍；在夜幕下的乡村宴席上，他从人们酒令频频、觥筹交错间，感受着中国乡村的独特风情。

而在东坪写生的那个午后，恰逢一场秋雨的不期而落，山间草木被雨打湿，满目苍碧中透出衰黄，小径上远远走来一位披着蓑衣的老人，此情此景，俨然是一幅流动的水墨画。阿特兴奋得几乎要跳起来了：“这简直是梦里都不会出现的场景！ ”顾不上绵密的细雨沾湿了发梢，他支起画架便全神贯注地画了起来：“需要专注的东西就不能被分摊，比如你和女朋友约会，就不要再把工作带出来了。”

来衢州写生的这一个月，成了阿特创作的高产期，从《深山古村》到《竹林》，从《宫殿的思考》到《微笑的小猪》……这位来自密西西比河畔的画家用手中的画笔生动地诠释了他眼中的衢州。

在阿特看来，艺术家必须具有天生的好奇心，将个人感觉融入创作之中，表现那些都市情韵和田园风景。此次展览中有近一半的作品，都是阿特将眼光投向衢州的风物：“我站在江的这边，看到这里还保留着几千年前的古城墙，而对岸却飞速地建起了一座崭新的城市。我未曾见过新旧事物以如此这般的速度相互撞击、改变、交汇、融合，不同于雷德温的静缓，衢州乃至整个中国，都处在飞速的发展当中。于是，在衢州度过了短短几天之后，我就意识到必须把它们画下来。”阿特说。

“期待浇灌出更鲜艳的友谊之花”

10月27日，也是阿特画展的最后一天，一切都在有条不紊地进行着，然而阿特的心情却变得有些沉重，因为第二天，他就要离开衢州了。“这里太美了，有画不完的美景、听不完的故事，我已经爱上了衢州。 ”通过翻译，阿特不止一次地向笔者表达自己对这座城市的喜爱。

就在前一天，阿特代表美国雷德温市姐妹城市委员会参加了衢州二中60周年的校庆活动。幽静的校园环境，浓厚的学习氛围，悠久的历史积淀，都令这位来自大洋彼岸的艺术家赞叹不已。而在其后的“姐妹学校交流活动”中，红五环广场上90多名中外学生共同绘制60米长卷的场景，也令阿特久久难忘：“我很欣慰自己能看到这样的一幕，艺术已经完美地与这个学校、这座城市的气息相融合。 ”

“不论在阿特的作品还是他的眼中，世界永远都是美好的，他的作品用色极纯净，仿佛有着一股静水流淌的魅力，牢牢地吸引着人们的目光，这些都源于他内心的静穆与纯真。 ”衢州市美协主席徐建文这样评价。

从阿特满满的行程里，徐建文撷取了这样一个片段与笔者分享：“在走过很长一段山路后，我们来到一个古旧的村庄，看到一只小猪冲着我们龇牙咧嘴。阿特看到的却是这只猪在微笑，这让他高兴。”正是这段经历，催生了那幅《微笑的小猪》。如今，这幅画连同阿特另外9幅描绘密西西比河沿岸风光的画作一起留在了衢州。这些洋溢着东方水墨韵味的油画作品，俨然成为一部融汇东西方文明的山水人文长卷，成为衢州与雷德温市友谊的永久见证。

不仅是这10幅画，事实上，两个城市之间友谊的见证还可追溯到70多年前的那场将衢州与世界命运紧紧相连的“杜立特行动”。阿特告诉记者，在雷德温市，几乎人人都知道“衢州”，70多年前被衢州人民营救的美国飞行员的后代们至今仍感谢衢州。“尽管相隔万里，但两个城市在文化和情感上是息息相通的。 ”阿特表示，“我做的是把前辈的工作重拾起来，期待在衢州这座友好之城里，浇灌出更鲜艳的友谊之花。”

American Artist Sketches in Quzhou

By Xu Li

Since Quzhou， Zhejiang， China and Red Wing， Minnesota， the U.S. became sister cities in 1994， the two cities have conducted successful exchange programs of education and culture. An exchange artist program started in 2003. Every two years， an artist from one of the sister cities visits the other sister city and creates artworks. Since 2003， Quzhou has sent over 5 artists and photogra-phers to Red Wing and four artists from Red Wing have visited Quzhou.

In October 2013， Art Kenyon and his wife Catherine arrived in Quzhou for a month-long exchange program. What would sparkle when Red Wing， a city on the upstream part of the Mississippi River， connected with

Quzhou on the Qujiang River？ I

went to visit the American artist at the studio set up especially for him by Quzhou Polytechnic College.

Shortly after we met， the artist marveled

how the first few days in Xuzhou had turned

him into a 70-year-young boy. In the first few days， he made friends with local artists and was regally entertained.

With his new friends watching， Art Kenyon sat like a boy， placing his hands on the knees and listening to my questions at-tentively. He said he was deeply impressed with the local snack food he had tried at an outdoor foot court on the campus.

Art Kenyon visited the studio of Pan Yu，

阿特正在创作中。

Art Kenyon at his studio in Quzhou

a young artist of Quzhou， shortly after his arrival on October 4. He was immediately swept off feet by the traditional Chinese landscape painting style. The painting brought him into a world beyond his every-day experience. He described his first im-pression to me： “Chinese art is like a beauti-ful trap. Once you fall in， you can’t extract

yourself.” A graduate with double degrees

from Minnesota University， Art has a special

talent to find beauty. After watching a Wuju

Opera play， he created a portrait painting of a

figure in the costume. At the first glance， the

portrait portrays a woman from the regional play of Zhejiang， but a closer look reveals that the woman， though dressed in the theater costume， looks like his wife Catherine.

Art visited many local artists at their studi-os and found their arts wonderful. For nearly half a month he traveled across Quzhou with local artists and sketched busily. He traveled to some distant villages in mountains. He made cakes with villagers and drank wine.

Art Kenyon was highly productive during

his stay in Quzhou. He finished quite a few

paintings. The paintings reflect Quzhou in his eyes.

According to Art Kenyon， an artist must be born with a curiosity and must translate his personal feelings into the rural and urban landscapes. Traveling around Quzhou gave the American an insight into the changes Quzhou has been undergoing. Standing on

美国雷德温市画家阿特与衢州职业技术学院学生在一起。

Art Kenyon from Red Wing， Minnesota， US， displays a poster with Chinese friends at Quzhou Polytechnic College.

FRIENDSHIP友好往来

衢州市外侨办、衢州市文广局等单位领导出席阿特艺术作品展开幕式。

Leaders of Quzhou authorities of culture， foreign affairs and overseas Chinese affairs attend the opening ceremony of Art Kenyon Art Exhibition.

the bank of Qujiang River， he saw the ancient city wall and on the other bank a brand new

city growing. “I have never seen the new

and the old come together like this， changing each other and getting mixed. Unlike the qui-etude of Red Wing， Quzhou as well as China is changing. That’s why I got to understand

that I must paint the changes.”

Art Kenyon held an exhibition in Quzhou displaying the paintings he had painted in Quzhou. He left ten oil paintings as gifts to Quzhou. Nine are landscapes of the Missis-sippi River he had brought over from Red Wing. The one is about a small pig he creat-ed in Quzhou. He painted quite a few paint-ings about Quzhou， which he brought back to Red Wing to show his fellow Americans what he did in Quzhou.

Xu Jianwen， a local artist， told me how Art created this painting. After a long trek in mountains， they reached a small village nestled in a valley. They found they were wel-comed by a young big showing its teeth. Art happily thought the piglet was smiling. The unusual welcoming grin inspired the Ameri-can and he created this painting.

Xu， the chair of Quzhou Artists Associa-tion， commented that in the eyes and paint-ings of Art Kenyon the world is beautiful. He prefers pure tints for his paintings and his paintings grab viewers’ attention. The charms of his paintings are from the serenity and innocence of his heart.

On behalf of the city of Red Wing， Art Kenyon attended a ceremony at Quzhou No.2 Middle School in celebration the 60th anniversary of the school. He was deeply im-pressed with the campus and students there. He was also thrilled by the event in which 90 Chinese and international students jointly created a 60-meter-long painting at the Red Five Rings Square.