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In the late autumn of 2015, The New Center of Pedro Arrupe (Κέντρο Νέων Pedro Arrupe), a school where I have been working as a volunteer for years to give children art lessons, asked me if I could make some paintings for one of their newly arranged classrooms. There was a large blank wall, on which it would be nice to put some original art works, to not only decorate the room, but also, more importantly, inspire the kids' imagination when they sit there.
"Of course! It's my pleasure."
The theme given to me was "The Little Prince", the famous French novella by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
I read the book and found it very sentimental, almost sad. The story is more like a fable to reflect the complicated adult world, rather than a fairy tale for children.
It was not a piece of cake.
On one hand, as a classic literature, "The Little Prince" is a must-read; On the other hand, with its symbolic meanings, the book is like a bottle of vintage wine, that we shall guide children carefully to taste it.
The hardest part was not about art, but about how to make an adult thing suitable for children without losing itself -- or perhaps this is art too, on a higher level than where painting is.
Time flied when I was pondering on it. In the meantime I prepared the stretched canvases, calculated the dimensions of each piece, and planned how they could be arranged on the wall eventually, as there would be totally 9 paintings to show the entire story. Winter had come.
"There is always another point of view to see everything." This saying I had been hearing many times, but it was not until the last night of 2015 that I listened to it, when I was sitting in front of the empty canvas and suddenly realized: this could be the solution:
A happy version for children, "The Little Prince" from anther point of view.
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The New Center of Pedro Arrupe (Κέντρο Νέων Pedro Arrupe)是希臘雅典的一所教育機構，我在那裏做義工，給孩子們上美術課已經不少個年頭了。2015年的深秋，學校重新規劃了教室，其中一間有一面空白的大墻。學校的負責人問我，能否創作一些畫掛在墻上，一來作為裝飾，二來可以激發孩子們的想象力。我很高興地接受了任務。義工嘛，當然要講義氣，再忙也不能推脫。情與義♪ 值千金♫
畫的主題由校方選定為法國著名小說《小王子》（Antoine de Saint-Exupéry著）。
找來這本書看過，才發現是一個多愁善感，甚至悲傷壓抑的故事，更像是一個影射複雜成人世界的寓言，而不是給孩子們的童話。
這可有點難辦了。
一方面，作為一本經典著作，《小王子》應該是必讀；另一方面，書中的種種晦澀隱喻，以及其真正所指，又像是一瓶陳年佳釀，給孩子們嘗嘗看的時候，須萬般小心，“家長指引”。
於是，最難解的不是藝術上的問題，而是如何把一件成人的事物，轉化成適宜孩童，又不失其原貌——或許，這也是一門藝術，比繪畫高深得多。
時光飛逝。苦思冥想的同時，我並沒有沒閒著：按照原著脈絡，規劃了大致9幅畫（即9個主要情景）來呈現整個故事；仔細計算長寬尺寸後，把一塊塊畫布裁切，塗好底料，繃上內框；又斟酌了最後如何在墻上排列。準備工作就緒時，已是隆冬了。
“每件事都可以從另一個角度來看。”這個說法耳熟能詳，我一直認同卻從未真正領悟。直到2015年的最後一個夜晚，坐在空空的畫布前發呆時，才忽然“醍醐灌頂”——對，就這麼辦。
快樂兒童版，另一個視角下的《小王子》。
(1) the narrator crashes in Sahara desert and makes the acquaintance of the little prince
Acrylic on canvas; 70cm x 70cm;
（一）敘述者在撒哈拉沙漠墜機，結識小王子
丙烯布面；70cm x 70cm；
↓The poor little airplane. Get well soon! (The detail of the tongue bump was based on my true experience at that time...)
↓可憐的飛機仔。陰功豬。早日康復！（它舌頭上的燎泡，是我自己當時的真實經歷...）
↓Taxi in Sahara, probably no license (be careful); Hot weather, cloud on fire!
↓撒哈拉的士，十有八九是無證黑車（不是馬明的降魔的喔）；天氣太熱，雲著火了！
↓ Guideboards in Sahara, 3000km to Syntagma, the center of Athens; 3002km to Michali Voda, where the school is, also where the paintings will be put. Very accurate!
↓撒哈拉沙漠中的路牌，到雅典市中心3000公里；到學校，也就是掛這個系列畫的地方，3002公里。非常精確。
↓The little prince and some cacti
↓小王和仙人掌
↓A friend of mine made a cameo appearance here :D
↓“沈小刚到比（此）一yóu（遊）” :D 小p的一個狐朋狗友也來客串，不過只是暗場交代了。
Thank you for your time and wish you a good mood!
謝謝觀看。小p和飛機仔共同祝願您好心情！
~To be continued 未完待續 ~
@pgr/春草美術NewGrass FineArts All Rights Reserved