Taoyuan’s Pingjhen District is an area rich in old-time rural landscapes and imbued with the unique character of the local Earth God Shrine.
Earlier this month, Pingjhen District Community Development Association director Wu Hsiu-chi invited Fan Yi-ting, a student at Chung Yuan Christian University, to produce colored pencil sketches of local landscapes for a combined calendar and tourist map.
One hundred copies were printed and distributed for free within the district’s community care centers for the elderly, who were so delighted by the calendar that it “sold out” within just one week. Some have even asked for additional copies to be printed, leaving the artist both surprised and delighted.
Photo: Hsu Chuo-hsun , Liberty Times 照片：自由時報許倬勛
Fan, who is studying psychology, says she uses art as a short-cut to mold her temperament and provide an escape from the pressures of study. Fan only took up sketching a little over three years ago, and carries pencils and a sketch pad with her, drawing wherever she goes to train her distinctive “sketching logic” and color selection. Last semester, Fan signed up to a “Taoyuan studies” class at her university, which included a cultural and historic tour of Pingjhen District. During the tour, when Fan arrived at a scenic location she would concentrate all her energy on trying to emulate the view in front of her eyes, rapidly filling the white pages of her sketch pad with color. Wu, who was acting as the guide, was so impressed by what she saw that she invited Fan to illustrate this year’s calendar.
Fan, who grew up in Taoyuan’s Bade District, confesses she rarely had an opportunity to visit Pingjhen District when she was younger and only became familiar with the place after she started sketching. Fan began to be deeply attracted by Pingjhen’s landscapes while searching for material for her art and says the district represents the epitome of Taoyuan with its row upon row of tall buildings, juxtaposed with simple and quaint village vistas.
Fan and Wu traveled through Pingjhen District for more than a month and selected 12 unique landscapes, including the more than 100-year-old, 50cm-tall Shuibiantou Earth God Shrine. Fan says the tiny shrine, which is made from just three stones, impressed her the most.
Photo: Hsu Chuo-hsun , Liberty Times 照片：自由時報許倬勛
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
桃園市平鎮區保有早期農村景致及特色迥異的土地公（伯公）廟，中原大學學生范怡婷受平鎮社區發展協會總幹事巫秀琪邀請，月初以色鉛筆速寫手繪地景年曆含導覽地圖，印製百份，放在平鎮社區關懷據點供長者免費取用，讓老人家們樂不可支，短短一週就「售罄」，甚至有鄉親要求再版，讓她倍感驚喜。
范怡婷就讀心理系，繪畫是陶冶性情、逃離學業壓力的捷徑，學習速寫僅三年多，攜帶一筆一冊，大量「走畫」練就獨到的速寫邏輯與選色，上學期報名校內開設「桃園學」課程，參與平鎮文史導覽活動，每到一景點就凝神臨摹眼前景致，色筆在白紙上飛快來回，讓擔任嚮導的巫秀琪十分驚豔，邀她擔綱平鎮年曆的畫者。
Photo: Hsu Chuo-hsun , Liberty Times 照片：自由時報許倬勛
對於平鎮，自小在八德成長的范怡婷不諱言鮮少有機會造訪，是透過速寫才認識，取材時被平鎮深深吸引，認為是桃園的縮影，有櫛比鱗次的高樓大廈，也有樸實可愛的農村。
范怡婷與巫秀琪經一個多月走遍平鎮，選出十二個特色地景，其中一百多年歷史、五十多公分高、以三顆石頭建的「水汴頭伯公廟」讓她印象最深刻。
(自由時報記者許倬勛)
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