How to Meet the Artist Painting Pictures on Tea Bags 如何邂逅在茶葉包上作畫的藝術家

胡楊

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

你會如何處理一個用過的茶包？不加思索地直接把它扔進垃圾桶嗎？

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.

魯比·西爾維斯不會這樣做。這位出生于菲律賓、工作在美國的藝術家發現了一種巧妙的方法將每天用過的茶包改造成為精巧復雜的藝術品。

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

她的水彩畫靈感來自于旅游所到的世界各地，以及她日常生活中的所見所聞。

Unusual canvas5

不尋常的畫布

“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.

西爾維斯對美國有線電視新聞網旅游欄目的記者說：“作為一名藝術家，你要一直嘗試去尋找獨特的方式來表達你的藝術，我認為這是所有這些被丟棄的材料成為畫布的想法得以實現的原因。”

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.

這個項目的想法是在飲茶中自然產生的。當這個想法出現的時候，西爾維斯正在和她妹妹討論藝術項目，而且她很快就開始試驗。

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

在茶包上完善繪畫藝術是一個需要反復試驗、改正錯誤的事情——而且西爾維斯必須堅持不懈。

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

西爾維斯說：“你得看看我那些失敗的試驗品，我從來不會扔掉它們，我會試著將它們回收再利用。”

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

但有一次，西爾維斯嘗試在用過的茶包上用水彩作畫之后，她就一直堅持下去了。

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

她說，她喜歡它們體積小，便于攜帶、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.

她開始在自己的“照片墻”主頁上分享她那獨特的設計，并迅速在全球范圍內累積了一批茶迷。

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.

西爾維斯的微型茶包畫描繪了她周游世界的旅程——從意大利五彩繽紛的街道，到巴黎艾菲爾鐵塔的壯觀景色，再到日本的山巒。

“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.”

“我已經足夠幸運能夠進入藝術領域，它需要我去旅行，” 西爾維斯說，“我也需要參加各個國家的研討會，這已經成為我去一個國家的原因。”

“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繪畫，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.

日本為西爾維斯提供了很多創造性的視覺刺激。“那兒都是山和稻田，這方面的靈感是絕對完美的，”西爾維斯說道。

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

除了對日本美麗的風景和野生動物感興趣，西爾維斯對日本的城市生活也很感興趣。

“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.”

“我想畫一系列的地鐵場景，”她說。“在日本，每當我坐地鐵或火車的時候，你會看到很多人在火車上睡覺，這讓我感到很驚訝。”

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

西爾維斯創作的藝術品不僅僅是源自她愛旅游——她對茶的熱愛也起到了重要作用。

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.”

那她最喜歡喝什么茶？她說：“我喜歡格雷伯爵茶，不需要任何特定的品牌，但通常是我喜歡的，”她說。“我也喜歡綠茶。”

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

在她最喜歡的茶的茶包上進行繪畫創作怎么樣？西爾維斯說某些茶比其他種類更容易畫。

“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.”

“隨著時間的推移，我發現了所有類型的茶包構造。這些并不是我計劃去做的，但我的確注意到某些茶包比其他的要薄得多，”她解釋道。“而且有一些茶包也比其他的更好著色。”

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.”

西爾維斯建議不要在甘菊上作畫，“因為茶葉在干燥的時候會粘在茶包上，很難去除，很難在上面作畫。”

“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.

“我喜歡南非博士茶，因為它有這些奇妙的污漬，有時它實際上創造了一定的設計，讓我可以在這個基礎上來做點什么。這實在是太棒了，”她說。

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：

西爾維斯還將她的作品編入了一本引人注目的咖啡桌圖書——《茶的363天》，這里面記錄了她一年的茶包繪畫。

“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.

她笑著說：“通常第一個問題是，這兩天發生了什么？有時和新年計劃有關系，因為新年計劃不會很快實現，直到第三天我才開始我的計劃。”

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

這位藝術家正在進行一項后續工作，目前這項工作命名為“再生畫布”。

“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.

西爾維斯說：“這不僅僅會讓人關注那些廢棄的茶包，還會讓人關注其它丟棄的材料。因此，以后的創作將以在蛋殼、開心果殼和其他各種材料上作畫為特色。”

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.

與此同時，西爾維斯正在計劃未來的旅行。“我希望能在意大利辦一個展覽，因為我從未在那里辦過這樣的展覽。那是我的愿望清單，”她說。

Notes：

1. regenerate vt. & vi. 回收（廢熱，廢料等）；使再生；革新

2. intricate adj. 錯綜復雜的；難理解的；曲折

3. inspiration n. 靈感；鼓舞；吸氣；妙計

4. destination n. 目的地，終點

5. canvas n. 帆布

6. unique adj. 獨特的，稀罕的；[數] 唯一的，獨一無二的

7. splendor n. 光彩；壯麗；顯赫

8. stain n. 污點；瑕疵；v. 給……著色

9. camomile n. 甘菊；春黃菊屬植物

10. compile vt. 編譯；編制；編輯；[圖情] 匯編

11. resolution n. 諾言，決心

12. pistachio n. 開心果；阿月渾子果實