一位民间画家的慈善心

徐荣木

2020年初秋，舟山女畫家朱芝花又一次将自己的画卖掉，从市场购买千余斤大米、食用油之类食品，送到定海一家颐养院慰问老人、献上爱心。

此类善举，朱芝花不事张扬，做得低调。她为什么要这么做呢？这得从她的童年说起。

我要学放牛娃王冕

朱芝花的童年是苦涩的。她隐约记得，有一天妈妈抱着自己，不顾风大浪急，漂洋过海，含着泪把她送到舟山定海一家慈善机构，尔后悄悄地走了。她一直不明白妈妈为什么如此狠心？为什么哭着将她这个亲生女儿抛弃不管，从此不再相见？她没有名字，不知自己来自何方、何时出生、父母是谁？这些统统是个谜。稍大些，她才弄懂，原来自己是个私生女。她被遗弃的那一幕永远烙在心里，如影随形地伴着她走过了70载漫长的风雨人生。

孤儿生涯，对她幼小心灵的打击是巨大的。有一次患病，她甚至跳井自尽，幸亏被好心人发现并将她救活。之后，她离开了孤儿院，被定海一朱姓人家领养，主人家给她起了个名字：朱芝花。

虽然少年时代生活很苦，挑水砍柴放牛，但不论怎样，她有了一个栖身之所，有口饭可吃。新家生活虽然也很贫困，但却省吃俭用，挤出学费，供她上学读书。朱芝花从小懂事，白天上学，一放学就默默地干活，再苦再累从不吭一声，同时还照顾病中的养父。艰辛，磨砺了她顽强不屈的意志。

很小的时候，朱芝花就喜欢收集描有各式花纹的碎碗片，躲在一个没人的角落里，举在阳光下一一欣赏。每天上山捡柴、打草时，看流水绕过溪石一路欢歌，看阳光打在树上泛出美丽的光泽，然后捡一根枯枝在地上画。一天，她砍柴累了，静坐在高高的山坡上举目远眺，天边的晚霞染红了山间枫林，令人心醉，她想象着如能将这美景画下来该有多好。她想起语文课上说的放牛娃王冕学画的故事，心潮澎湃，暗自思忖：王冕能自学成才，我为何不能呢？那样，有朝一日还能通过卖画帮助像她这样需要帮助的人。

童年的她，心间种下了与人为善、乐于助人的善根，且这种善根一直伴随至今。

售画款皆用来做慈善

自从立志绘画，人生有了目标，心就不再迷茫与孤独。那时，她连水墨画常识都不懂，便从别处借来画册，不断临摹。没有纸笔，靠捡香烟壳纸作画，甚至连课本、作业簿的空白处都留下了自学作画的痕迹，还因乱涂乱画挨过老师的批。她说：“每当自己心生烦恼时，绘画仿佛是我的避风港，一躲进避风港，我就觉得很快乐自在，把一切烦恼统统抛置脑后了。”

绘画的禀赋仿佛与生俱来。兴趣浓厚，加之勤学苦练，她的画技渐渐被社会认可。1971年春，她受聘于当时的舟山卫校，专门绘制教研挂图及各种动植物。眼界和思路开阔了，胆子也大了，信心更足了，绘画水平渐登艺术之堂奥。她的信念是，只有画好画，才能让自己变得更强大。

此时，她开始热衷于绘人物画，请普陀山知名书法家道生师父在其画作上题字，几十年来，从未间断。她的人物画系列不断推陈出新，塑造的人物形态飘逸端庄，线条优美流畅，细腻多变，色调氤氲，诗情画意融贯其中，形神兼备，独具个性，业已形成自己的独特风格，作品多次参赛、参展，获各类奖项，一幅作品在参加世界文化艺术联合会首届画展时还荣获金奖，一些画作被美国、日本、澳洲及国内一些艺术机构收藏。

之后，不时有人来买她的画，而她则用卖画款去帮困扶贫。她说：“苦难经历是我成长的财富，海岛百姓用爱心融化了我心中的冰雪，将我这可怜的异乡孤女一路呵护至今。现在我和丈夫衣食无忧，子女都有稳定的工作，饮水思源，我心怀感恩去做慈善，用实际行动来回报社会。”

朱芝花一生坎坷励志的故事，引起许多人的关注。西泠印社还出版了她的人物造像画集。

将绘画进行到底

退休后，她把主要时间和精力心无旁鹜地用在两件事情上：一是绘画创作，二是做慈善。她说，余生会把这两件事进行到底，人生苦短，一定要做自己喜欢的事，直到生命的尽头。

从孤儿到女画家，朱芝花用笔墨画出慈善爱心。回首自己的人生经历，她坦然地说道：“人需要有精神追求，做一个富有精神情趣的人，日子会越过越踏实，越过越幸福。”

现在，年届七旬的朱芝花，探索创新的步伐不止。她敢为人先，大胆尝试用朱砂画人物像。朱砂易沉淀，与国画颜料调和在一起，不太好画，常要返工，需要投力更多的精力。但慢工出细活，她觉得绘画就要耐得住寂寞，坐得住冷板凳。

朱芝花的日子过得很知足，很充实。有一次，朱芝花在杭州旅行时，巧遇一位叫王福莉的中年妇女，因家境不幸有点想不开。朱芝花发现后以身说法，讲自己的身世遭遇，苦劝2个多小时，又邀请她到舟山自己家中住了一个多星期，待其心情平复后，又介绍她到舟山医院打临工，之后又送回新安江老家，帮她重拾生活的信心。帮人之难，解人之困，这样的事她乐此不疲。

这些年来，朱芝花生活节俭，却将绘画所得数十万元悉数捐出，资助困难学子、残疾人、孤独老人等，做些力所能及的善事。这类帮扶的事，多得她自己也数不清了。

朱芝花说：“慈善事业永远在路上。我一不图名，二不图利，只要自己一息尚存，就要将爱心传递下去，实现自己的人生价值。”

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.