徐榮木

2020年初秋，舟山女畫家朱芝花又一次將自己的畫賣掉，從市場購買千余斤大米、食用油之類食品，送到定海一家頤養(yǎng)院慰問老人、獻上愛心。

此類善舉，朱芝花不事張揚，做得低調。她為什么要這么做呢？這得從她的童年說起。

我要學放牛娃王冕

朱芝花的童年是苦澀的。她隱約記得，有一天媽媽抱著自己，不顧風大浪急，漂洋過海，含著淚把她送到舟山定海一家慈善機構，爾后悄悄地走了。她一直不明白媽媽為什么如此狠心？為什么哭著將她這個親生女兒拋棄不管，從此不再相見？她沒有名字，不知自己來自何方、何時出生、父母是誰？這些統(tǒng)統(tǒng)是個謎。稍大些，她才弄懂，原來自己是個私生女。她被遺棄的那一幕永遠烙在心里，如影隨形地伴著她走過了70載漫長的風雨人生。

孤兒生涯，對她幼小心靈的打擊是巨大的。有一次患病，她甚至跳井自盡，幸虧被好心人發(fā)現(xiàn)并將她救活。之后，她離開了孤兒院，被定海一朱姓人家領養(yǎng)，主人家給她起了個名字：朱芝花。

雖然少年時代生活很苦，挑水砍柴放牛，但不論怎樣，她有了一個棲身之所，有口飯可吃。新家生活雖然也很貧困，但卻省吃儉用，擠出學費，供她上學讀書。朱芝花從小懂事，白天上學，一放學就默默地干活，再苦再累從不吭一聲，同時還照顧病中的養(yǎng)父。艱辛，磨礪了她頑強不屈的意志。

很小的時候，朱芝花就喜歡收集描有各式花紋的碎碗片，躲在一個沒人的角落里，舉在陽光下一一欣賞。每天上山撿柴、打草時，看流水繞過溪石一路歡歌，看陽光打在樹上泛出美麗的光澤，然后撿一根枯枝在地上畫。一天，她砍柴累了，靜坐在高高的山坡上舉目遠眺，天邊的晚霞染紅了山間楓林，令人心醉，她想象著如能將這美景畫下來該有多好。她想起語文課上說的放牛娃王冕學畫的故事，心潮澎湃，暗自思忖：王冕能自學成才，我為何不能呢？那樣，有朝一日還能通過賣畫幫助像她這樣需要幫助的人。

童年的她，心間種下了與人為善、樂于助人的善根，且這種善根一直伴隨至今。

售畫款皆用來做慈善

自從立志繪畫，人生有了目標，心就不再迷茫與孤獨。那時，她連水墨畫常識都不懂，便從別處借來畫冊，不斷臨摹。沒有紙筆，靠撿香煙殼紙作畫，甚至連課本、作業(yè)簿的空白處都留下了自學作畫的痕跡，還因亂涂亂畫挨過老師的批。她說：“每當自己心生煩惱時，繪畫仿佛是我的避風港，一躲進避風港，我就覺得很快樂自在，把一切煩惱統(tǒng)統(tǒng)拋置腦后了。”

繪畫的稟賦仿佛與生俱來。興趣濃厚，加之勤學苦練，她的畫技漸漸被社會認可。1971年春，她受聘于當時的舟山衛(wèi)校，專門繪制教研掛圖及各種動植物。眼界和思路開闊了，膽子也大了，信心更足了，繪畫水平漸登藝術之堂奧。她的信念是，只有畫好畫，才能讓自己變得更強大。

此時，她開始熱衷于繪人物畫，請普陀山知名書法家道生師父在其畫作上題字，幾十年來，從未間斷。她的人物畫系列不斷推陳出新，塑造的人物形態(tài)飄逸端莊，線條優(yōu)美流暢，細膩多變，色調氤氳，詩情畫意融貫其中，形神兼?zhèn)?，獨具個性，業(yè)已形成自己的獨特風格，作品多次參賽、參展，獲各類獎項，一幅作品在參加世界文化藝術聯(lián)合會首屆畫展時還榮獲金獎，一些畫作被美國、日本、澳洲及國內一些藝術機構收藏。

之后，不時有人來買她的畫，而她則用賣畫款去幫困扶貧。她說：“苦難經歷是我成長的財富，海島百姓用愛心融化了我心中的冰雪，將我這可憐的異鄉(xiāng)孤女一路呵護至今。現(xiàn)在我和丈夫衣食無憂，子女都有穩(wěn)定的工作，飲水思源，我心懷感恩去做慈善，用實際行動來回報社會?！?/p>

朱芝花一生坎坷勵志的故事，引起許多人的關注。西泠印社還出版了她的人物造像畫集。

將繪畫進行到底

退休后，她把主要時間和精力心無旁鶩地用在兩件事情上：一是繪畫創(chuàng)作，二是做慈善。她說，余生會把這兩件事進行到底，人生苦短，一定要做自己喜歡的事，直到生命的盡頭。

從孤兒到女畫家，朱芝花用筆墨畫出慈善愛心。回首自己的人生經歷，她坦然地說道：“人需要有精神追求，做一個富有精神情趣的人，日子會越過越踏實，越過越幸福。”

現(xiàn)在，年屆七旬的朱芝花，探索創(chuàng)新的步伐不止。她敢為人先，大膽嘗試用朱砂畫人物像。朱砂易沉淀，與國畫顏料調和在一起，不太好畫，常要返工，需要投力更多的精力。但慢工出細活，她覺得繪畫就要耐得住寂寞，坐得住冷板凳。

朱芝花的日子過得很知足，很充實。有一次，朱芝花在杭州旅行時，巧遇一位叫王福莉的中年婦女，因家境不幸有點想不開。朱芝花發(fā)現(xiàn)后以身說法，講自己的身世遭遇，苦勸2個多小時，又邀請她到舟山自己家中住了一個多星期，待其心情平復后，又介紹她到舟山醫(yī)院打臨工，之后又送回新安江老家，幫她重拾生活的信心。幫人之難，解人之困，這樣的事她樂此不疲。

這些年來，朱芝花生活節(jié)儉，卻將繪畫所得數十萬元悉數捐出，資助困難學子、殘疾人、孤獨老人等，做些力所能及的善事。這類幫扶的事，多得她自己也數不清了。

朱芝花說：“慈善事業(yè)永遠在路上。我一不圖名，二不圖利，只要自己一息尚存，就要將愛心傳遞下去，實現(xiàn)自己的人生價值?！?/p>

Big-Hearted Folk Artist： Zhu Zhihua

By Xu Rongmu

Zhu Zhihua， a 70-year-old artist in Zhoushan， Chinas biggest archipelago， is dedicated to the charity undertakings in her hometown.

She remembers the day when her mother took a ship and sailed across the sea to Zhoushan and gave her baby girl to a charity institution in Zhoushan. She didnt know who she was， how old she was， who her parents were. It was much later that she learned she was an illegitimate child. She was adopted by a family surnamed Zhu in Dinghai， the capital of archipelago. Her foster parents gave her a new identity： Zhu Zhihua.

The life wasnt easy at her new home. She did house chores， but she had a roof over her head and she had three meals a day. And then she went to school. She loved art without knowing she had some talent. Thinking of Wang Mian， a self-made artist of the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）， the girl determined to be an artist. She drew. Without proper supplies， she drew everywhere： on cigarette packs， in her notebooks and textbooks. Gradually， she became a better artist. Her reputation spread. In 1971， she got hired by a local nurse school in Zhoushan. Her job description included creating drawings of animals and plants for teaching. The school job gave her adequate time to dedicate herself to painting. She took to figure painting and became excellent. Over decades， her artworks have appeared in various exhibitions at home and abroad. The highest accolade she has attained is a gold medal at an international art event. Some of her artworks are in collections of art institutions in the USA， Japan， Australia and China.

Since she established herself as an artist， she has sold her works to art fans and collectors. “The hard life in my younger years helped me grow and local people loved me when I grew up. Now its time for me to pay back to the public and help people in need，” says Zhu.

Since her retirement， she has engaged in two things： she paints and she engages in charitable undertakings. She leads a peaceful life. She and her husband dont have to worry about life and their children have steady jobs and can support themselves. So she has time and means to help. She ran into a woman while she was on a sightseeing tour in Hangzhou. In a tight corner of life， the woman wanted to end her life. Zhu talked with the woman for two hours and asked her to come to stay at her home in Zhoushan. The woman stayed at Zhus home for a week. Zhu then found her a hospital job to support herself. After the woman bottomed out from her breakdown， Zhu accompanied her to her home in Jiande， a county-level city not far from Hangzhou.

In early September 2020， Zhu sold a painting. With the proceeds， she bought 500 kilograms of rice and some edible oil and sent them to a care institution for seniors in Dinghai， capital of Zhoushan.

Over decades， Zhu has donated several hundred thousand yuan to charitable undertakings. Her donations have helped students from needy families， physically challenged people， lonely seniors without family.

“I seek neither fame nor personal gains. I live to help people and give love to the world. This is the value of my life，” says the self-made artist in Zhoushan.