Notes
It was an interview two years late.
On October 2021, 10, I saw the first report about Zhao Weihong - "Everyone with dreams is great!" The eldest sister of the vegetable market painted oil paintings between sales". She sold vegetables in Yangzhou's vegetable market while painting oil paintings, and then became popular on the Internet. The editor wanted me to interview her, and I didn't want to lose important details because of the phone interview, and I wanted to go to Yangzhou to interview Zhao Weihong live. Unfortunately, the epidemic has restricted going out of Beijing, and the interview has been put on hold until 13. During this time, I kept seeing Zhao Weihong's related news, always seeing netizens saying that her "left hand is fireworks, right hand is poetry", and also saw her participate in the recording of CCTV programs.
Until July 2022, I still wanted to go to the local area for an interview, and as soon as I bought the ticket, there was an epidemic in Yangzhou, and the interview was put on hold again. At the beginning of April this year, I finally arrived in Yangzhou. Walk all the way from the Siwangting in Yangzhou City to the ruins of the west gate of Song Dacheng, you can see the Song Dynasty city wall, and a downhill path next to it can enter the stone tower vegetable market. At 7:4 p.m., the market was dark, and I slowly looked for Zhao Weihong. A kind stall owner led me to Zhao Weihong's vegetable stall, but Zhao Weihong went home at noon to rest and had not yet come. When I walked out of the market and returned at 1 p.m., she was drawing with a pen and surrounded by drawings.
I never contacted Zhao Weihong in advance, so it was a little sudden for her. Her voice was soft, with a slight southern accent, but always smiling. Through chat, I learned that the vegetable stall is not her own business, she is just a part-time job with a fixed salary; It was through face-to-face chat again that I learned that she didn't look like a 57-year-old at all, and she said it was because of a good attitude; Still through live chat, I saw the way she served the guests, the way she painted, and the way she chatted with the stall owner opposite, and I knew that she had gained 20 pounds.
Zhao Weihong has been painting in the market for three years, and her goal is simple: "continue to improve her painting skills". At the beginning, Zhao Weihong picked up the brush by chance, and then let her put down the brush and walk out of the family, which is a "life test". The vegetable market at 3 p.m. gradually began to come alive, and there were constantly sounds of carrying, chopping meat, and chatting... But it allowed me to hear her story more clearly.
Open
The child is not interested, I go to learn
"How much is a bag of bean bubbles?" A man stood in front of the stall and asked, pointing to the stacked bags of bean bubbles. Zhao Weihong said five yuan. The man was surprised: "How many are there in a bag?" It's so expensive! Zhao Weihong said with a smile: "There are almost ten in a bag, it's not expensive, the vegetable market is all at this price." The man paused, took a bag, and scanned the code to pay.
Zhao Weihong sat down and recalled her previous work. She used to work in a garment factory in Yangzhou, and after being told to be "laid off" in 2002, Ms. Zhao became a full-time wife, taking care of the elderly and children at home. In 2004, Zhao Weihong took her 13-year-old son to a painting class to sign up. Recalling the reason for signing up, she talked about herself. "I loved drawing when I was a kid and always had this idea, but my parents didn't have this awareness at that time, so I wanted my children to learn to draw. At that time, it seemed to have paid <> yuan, but my son didn't want to study after studying for half a year, he was not interested. Zhao Weihong smiled lightly and sighed: "Boy, can't sit still." ”
The child didn't want to learn, but Zhao Weihong raised her interest. At the age of 37, she began sitting in a "group of children" and learning to draw with her teacher. "I want to continue paying tuition, but the teacher doesn't charge me. So, I usually help him clean up when he's fine. Zhao Weihong studied as the exam progressed, first sketching, then color, gouache, and oil painting.
For Zhao Weihong, who has zero foundation, "at first I felt that sketching was difficult", and later Zhao Weihong lamented that color is more difficult to learn than sketching, "It's too difficult to adjust, many colors have to be controlled, and the way of color grading is not the same." When she asked the teacher how to master the method, the teacher taught little, always telling Zhao Weihong to draw first and continue to "practice".
In the face of various technical difficulties, Zhao Weihong bluntly said that she was not smart, but she was willing to spend time to practice, she listened to the teacher's solution, did not put down the brush, and tried to use more time to "practice". "The children were in the classroom in the morning, noon and evening, so I practiced with them and sketched and painted still lifes. My mother helps me with the children, and when I come home, I will listen to the teacher's words and practice more lines. Until 2014, she kept drawing, and even learned to draw gongbi. In the past 10 years, Zhao Weihong has concentrated on painting, without worrying too much about work and family, and "the level of painting has improved a lot."
However, Zhao Weihong could not have imagined that the comfortable painting life suddenly disappeared, only to 2014. She began to put down her paintbrush and go out of the family to make a living.
Changes
At that time, I didn't think about painting anymore, and it was good to be alive
"Let's do this." Another person came to buy groceries and pointed to the squid whiskers in the freezer. Zhao Weihong asked him how he wanted to eat, but the man didn't know how to answer, picked up his mobile phone and sent a voice message to ask his family. Zhao Weihong packed a handful of squid whiskers in a plastic bag and said to him: "This is enough for a plate, add some chili and stir-fry it is delicious." Zhao Weihong looked at the weighing pan, less than 10 yuan. The man asked her to take more. "It's 15 bucks." Zhao Weihong packed the bag and handed it to him.
Zhao Weihong looked back, about the "change" in 2014, she was reluctant to talk about too many details, only called it "change". In just a few words, Zhao Weihong revealed that the cause of the family change was economic problems, which directly led to the "family dispersal". "I was separated from my husband. At the same time, my mother had a sudden illness and left me. I feel a lot of debt to my mother, who always took care of my children, but I didn't take good care of her. Zhao Weihong's nose was slightly red.
Zhao Weihong put down the brush and never thought about painting again. "At that time, my son had just started working, and with a mortgage, I had to continue to pay pensions, and my life had to start from scratch, and I always felt that it was good to be alive, and I couldn't care about painting." Despite the rapid decline in life, she "never borrowed a penny from others", which she believes has to do with her personality, "very strong". "I have never asked anyone for anything, to set an example for the child, and that's how I taught him." Zhao Weihong said. When she mentions her son, she will smile all over her face, she is very satisfied with the current situation of her child, "not talking about requirements and income, as long as the job is stable, there is a sense of security." ”
By chance, Zhao Weihong was introduced to work at the Shita vegetable market. Her stall is not her own business, but the boss's business, and she will have a fixed salary of 3000,4 yuan a month. "I didn't think about doing business on my own, and without this ability, it was more bothersome to be alone." Zhao Weihong's day starts at 5:12 a.m., rushes to the vegetable market before 2:6, goes home at <> noon to rest, returns to the stall at <>:<> p.m., and leaves work at <>:<> p.m. "no holidays, no days off."
Despite this, Zhao Weihong is very satisfied with the job, she explained: "My thinking is different from others, I always feel that having a job to do is a very happy thing, not too bitter, not too long." Although I'm almost 60, my mindset is still very good. ”
"Eat this? Wei Hong. The couple in the opposite delicatessen shouted in the air, and Zhao Weihong waved his hand at them and said, "Don't eat, don't eat, you guys eat, I'm busy." After speaking, Zhao Weihong lowered her body again and said with a smile: "They always let me eat, and I often eat with them." ”
Reboot
Quietly pick up the brush again, but I am afraid that others will laugh when I see it
"Weigh the potatoes for me, the boss next to me is not there." The female customer brought a bag of potatoes from the vegetable stall next to her. Zhao Weihong helped her weigh and collect the money, and then took out two dollars from the money box and put them aside for accounting. Zhao Weihong said that usually the stalls next to each other will help each other take care of business, for example, when she paints, the people next to her sometimes come to help weigh and collect money.
Zhao Weihong picked up her brush again in the early days of the epidemic, because she held her mobile phone all day to watch videos, and "her eyes couldn't stand it." She sat at the table, still trying to draw. The brush she picked up again was just a simple water pen, she looked for pictures on her mobile phone, and she didn't draw for a long time, Zhao Weihong could only lower her head and draw quietly, for fear that others would laugh when they saw it. Once, when the customer saw her busy and thought she was embroidering, Zhao Weihong smiled and replied that she was painting.
After a while, Zhao Weihong's desire to paint became stronger and stronger. She wanted to paint oil painting, so she told her boss that there was not much space for oil painting, so she began to move the painting tools. "The bosses next to me said that they painted well, but I knew that when I picked up the brush again, I didn't paint well at first." Zhao Weihong bluntly said that he once met a good teacher, and now he has met a good boss who can allow him to draw when he is working.
Next to Zhao Weihong, there are two paintings of kittens, she is drawing cat hair with a stroke, and the "beautiful short cat" is raised by herself, called Coco. "My family has two cats, and this cocoa was brought back by my son when he was working in Nanjing, and the name was also given by my son. The other is a tanuki cat, but it has no name, so it is called a kitten. In addition to liking cats, Zhao Weihong also likes to look at flowers, and has saved many pictures of flowers in her mobile phone, ready to paint. There is also a larger peony flower next to the painting, and it takes two weeks to complete a painting of similar size. The largest painting, "Forest" leaning against the refrigerator, exceeded half her height, and it took two months to complete the painting.
"I can draw animals and flowers more vividly, but I can't draw people. When I used to draw characters when I was sketching, the teacher always said that every time I drew a human face that looked very similar to my son, I couldn't draw it, I don't know why. Not only painting in the vegetable market, Zhao Weihong will continue to paint when she returns home, and sometimes she also paints with a pen. Referring to the albums she usually reads, she said shyly: "There are many albums at home, and I usually look at more European paintings, but I can't remember the name, just look at the paintings." ”
In October 2021, some netizens posted the scene of Zhao Weihong painting in the vegetable market online, which aroused the attention and discussion of many netizens, Zhao Weihong "became popular" and became a "vegetable market painter", netizens described her as "her left hand is fireworks, her right hand is poetic", and lamented that "anyone with dreams is great".
Zhao Weihong constantly accepted media interviews, and also gained the attention of netizens, and some people even came to the vegetable market to check in and exchange paintings with her. The stall owner next to her asked her for a painting, and she would give it generously. "There are also people who want to buy paintings, ask a lot, have sold a few, sold more than 1000,<> yuan, I just happened to change a battery car, very happy." Speaking of her expectations for the road of painting, Zhao Weihong once said in an interview that she hoped that she could continue to improve her painting skills and hold a solo exhibition.
love
As long as children can sit still and want to learn to draw, I will teach
"Help me weigh his tofu, I can't get used to eating other people's." A female customer was carrying the dish, raised her eyes, and when she saw Zhao Weihong, she said: "Oh, it's you, you're fat." Zhao Weihong took the dish and said with a smile: "Yes, I gained 20 pounds." The woman said, "You look fat and good-looking, but you used to be too thin." After speaking, he waved goodbye to Zhao Weihong. Zhao Weihong explained with a smile: "Either the family on the other side always lets me eat, or I cook alone and cook more and eat more." ”
A month after becoming popular, Zhao Weihong got an opportunity to hold an art exhibition. With the help of Wenhe Street and Shita Community in Guangling District, they found a public cultural space in Yangzhou City where Internet celebrities checked-in and held a solo exhibition for Zhao Weihong. "There were more than a dozen paintings on display that time, and the paintings were so-so, I still feel that the skill is not enough, and there are few paintings, so I still need to create more." Zhao Weihong lowered his head and said.
In addition to holding art exhibitions, the community also helped Zhao Weihong set up a painting class and became an extracurricular counselor at Wenhe Primary School. "They gave me a free place to teach my children to draw, and now 10 students are learning to draw with me, and I started with sketching. Every Sunday at 3 p.m., I would go over and teach them. I don't charge money and teach painting completely free. Zhao Weihong said. Speaking about the reason for free teaching, Zhao Weihong once said: "When I was at a low point, many people helped me out of the predicament, and I especially want to help others now. ”
Zhao Weihong also brought his own teaching into the vegetable market, and some of the stall owners' children would take the initiative to come to Zhao Weihong to learn to paint. Zhao Weihong teaches children to draw in the stall, while the business is taken care of by the stall owner next to him. "Starting on Saturday morning, one student comes at 8 o'clock, then another student at 9 o'clock, and another one at 2 p.m., here it's one-on-one teaching." Zhao Weihong introduced with a smile on his face.
Zhao Weihong's requirement for students is "must draw", "I teach them seriously, not only so that they can draw, but also draw well". Because he doesn't receive anything, "Teacher Zhao" is more strict. She doesn't test the children who come to learn to draw, because she can see if the children really like to draw. Children who take the initiative to find Zhao Weihong to learn to paint are all self-registered, not led by their parents, not being "coerced", being able to sit still, wanting to learn to paint and other factors can reflect the seriousness of the child. One of the children went to the vegetable market to find Zhao Weihong to learn to paint because he saw the CCTV program. "Now children are very smart, don't test them, I won't leave them homework, the more children who want to learn, the less afraid that he will slack, they all have a lot of energy." Zhao Weihong explained.
Zhao Weihong mended the painting as he spoke, rubbed the brush, adjusted the color, and lightly painted it on the canvas. Her goal at the moment has not changed, she still wants to continue to improve her painting skills and create more works, she said: "If you have a dream, you will always move forward, how can you be tired of doing what you love." ”
Text/Reporter Han Shirong