冉茂芹，《埔里河》：台灣‧南投‧埔里
33.5×45.5 cm，1999年

1999年秋天，發生了驚天動地的921大地震，整個台灣都被搖撼了，而震央正是南投縣的埔里。

那年春天，我台北與髙雄兩地的美術班學員舉辦了一次聨合寫生活動，南北向中的集合點就是埔里，記得住在一處名叫“阿波羅”的hotel。在埔里大約兩叄天吧，後來就各車散開了。

這張畫中的河叫什麼名字？處在埔里鎮的東南西北？也不清楚了，但是，清楚記得畫中的右方是一塊台地，延伸過去就是埔里的市區，我們的腳下是直接巿區的石橋，從橋上望去，小河蜿蜒，流水汩汩，春綠的田陌相連，伸向迷濛遠方，自是一幅畫面。結果，大家都湧到橋上來了，待將畫箱架一字排開：好一幅寫生圖！套一句流行的話是：一道特別的風景線！

YIM Mau-Kun, Old Shed, Nantou, Taiwan
33.5×45.5 cm，1999

After leaving Puli, several cars of us headed toward Shuili. I was rather muddle-headed, with no real sense of the route or direction. My only task was to keep my eyes on the scenery along the way, and the moment I spotted something paint-worthy, I would call for a stop.

We got out at this abandoned work shed to take a look, and sure enough, it was promising—full of pictorial charm. The wooden factory building, with its horizontal and vertical planks, stood in a desolate little courtyard where a graceful flame tree stretched diagonally upward. Fine leaves were scattered over the plank roof and the earthen ground of the yard, occasionally quivering and falling as if nervously shedding themselves. There was not a single person in sight—truly a place abandoned and emptied of life. Only the occasional passing bird cried out once or twice, as if surprised that someone would pause to capture images of such a desolate old building.

In fact, although this scene possessed a distinctive beauty, it was extremely challenging to paint. Especially with trees standing in front of the shed—the trunks, branches, and leaves all had to be depicted, including the fluttering foliage. And all of this had to be completed on site within three hours.

Ruined scenes often stir a sense of melancholy. Perhaps this is not merely my own tendency to “force sorrow” where it need not be.