说起张霭维老师，因为是中距离的观察，对她的认识是较为三度空间的。
在我的印象中，她是一位以学生为友的教师、一位不精明的美术编辑、一位游走于港台美加成功的"巡回画家"、一位历尽艰辛的单亲妈妈。
我们这行很特别，全校的师生都是画画的，在学术面前人人平等，学生比老师画得好的大有人在，摆架子的老师是心虚的，只有虚心的老师才得到学生的尊重，往往他(她)们又是有能力的，亦师亦友，张是属于后者。
1964年，当我还是学生，得到时任美编的伍启中兄的约稿，画了平生第一张彩色插图，交稿后倒数计时期待着 "广东画报"的出版，谁知等到的是一幅被改了的画，画中的妇女被改成个“男人"，令我十分失望，改画者张霭维也，时任画报美编。又有一次，出版社约我画宣传画，印后交回画稿，上加了大滩水印——不小心弄上去的，约稿和加印者，张霭维也，时任美术出版社编辑，诚然，她不是一个精明的编辑，却是一位精明的画家。
在英文中，"ART"，是艺术与技巧的同义词，技巧之于画家，实在太重要了，张霭维凭着一支画笔，游走于海外，举办过无数画展，取得过很大的成功。她画的肖像，尤为台湾、香港名人的垂青，画约不断，这应归功于她的深厚的绘画功力和敏锐的观察力，她的油画在写实中有一种浪漫的气息，浪漫主义本来就是重主观、重想象。她的油画在造型上重客观，在色彩上则重主观，这就形成了造型严谨而色彩又偏于冷暖对比跳跃的特点。这种在对比中求得和谐的音乐感正是其油画的动人之处。
绘画本来是表现自我的劳作，而画肖像则是从客人的要求和自己的艺术追求之间去寻找平衡点，这正是画肖像最难的地方。张霭维在这方面是掌握得相当成功的。说句题外话，有一次在加州州博物馆见到一幅州长肖像，是用大写意近乎抽象的画法完成的，令人过目不忘。我感叹的不是这画家的技巧，倒是钦佩这位州长可以容忍艺术家造型手段的大度。
现在的画家都有门有派，过去的画家有的画了一辈子到出画册时方悟到要 "认祖归宗"，好象练了数十年少林拳不知自己源出嵩山。于是我想起达芬奇了，他在十六世纪就提出"镜子论"，认为画家必须具备对自然万物都能描绘的"全能"，这个理论潜移默化的影响着我们整代人，我们这一代当年都一样穷，最大的特点是没有相机，速写本是记录生活的唯一工具，因此，都穷一生精力去练就这种 "全能"(写生变成强项)，这种能力令我们一生享用。
雨果说:"艺术是一面集中的镜子，它不仅不减弱原来的颜色和光彩，而是把它们集中起来，凝聚起来，把微光化为光明，把光明化为火光，这就是艺术生活真实的精髓"。当前数码之镜充斥现代生活，但此镜不同彼镜，永远无法取代。
如果我们从这个角度来欣赏张霭维的油画，你就能感受到她的画表现的不是女性柔弱的美，而是有一种超强的力量。这大概与她在生活中所担当的单亲妈妈的超强的负荷，超强的神经不无关系。可以想象，她曾经走过一段十分艰难的路，独力抚养一子一女，又是画画，又是做家务，一天24小时是不够用的。虽然她 "傻人有傻福"，一路走来都有友人仗义相助，但她自强不息的精神令人钦佩。现在她的子女长大了，成家立业了。正当她在国内的同代人已经安享晚年之际，她又在构想一个庞大的创作大计，再走上征途。
 

陈衍宁
2006年12月1日
 

陈衍宁: 美籍华裔、美国著名油画、肖像画家

 

　　About Ms. Ai-Wai Chaung, since my observation is in medium distance, my understanding
of her is three dimensional.
In my impression, she is a teacher that made friends with her students, a not-so-smart art editor, a touring artist who is successful in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the U.S.A and Canada, and a single mother who went through a lot of hardships.
The arts field is uniquely different from other subjects. At school, all teachers and students are painters. Academically, everybody is equal. It is not unusual to see a student who can paint better than the teachers. Those teachers who put on airs are likely lacking in self-confidence. Only open-minded teachers who are usually also very capable receive respect from students. They are as much a teacher as a friend. Ms. Chaung belongs to the latter.
When I was still a student in 1964, I was asked by Mr. Qizhong Wu to contribute to Guangdong Pictorial. That was the first color plate I ' ve ever painted in my life. However, after I received the final publication, the woman in the illustration was replaced by a man. I was greatly disappointed. It was Ms. Ai-Wai Chaung, art editor for the pictorial at the time, who changed my work. On another occasion, I was asked to paint a poster. But by the time I got it back, there was a big water mark on the painting. It was Ms. Ai-Wai Chaung who requested the painting and accidentally stained it. She was an art editor for Fine Arts Publishing House. However, although she was not a smart editor, she was a very smart painter.
In English, "ART" is the synonym of art and skills. Skills of a painter are extremely important. Ms. Ai-Wai Chaung traveled among overseas destinations and successfully organized many art exhibitions. Her painting, especially her portrait paintings are very popular in Taiwan and Hong Kong, which won her numerous commissions. It is fair to say that we could attribute her success to her masterful skills and sharp observation. Her paintings have a radiance of romantic feelings amidst realistic depiction.
Romanticism itself is very subjective and imaginative. Her paintings are more objective in shapes, but very subjective in colors, which creates a special effect of loyalty to shapes accompanied by jumping comparison among cold and warm colors. Her paintings touch people because of the sense of musical harmony that she was able to achieve.
Paintings are artworks to express ourselves. However, portrait paintings need to balance the requirement of the clients and our own artistic pursuit. That is the most difficult aspect of portrait paintings. Ms. Ai-Wai Chaung is very successful in this. To stray from the topic a little bit, I once saw a portrait for a governor in the State Museum of California. The technique of the painting was close to freehand, almost abstract. I was very impressed. I applaud not the skills of the painter, but the open-mindedness of the governor.
Modern painters belong to many different schools. Some painters didn't realized that they need to trace their artistic origin until the time of publishing their works, just like a Shaolin boxer who exercised for many years, but didn't know that the martial arts were from Mount Songshan. This reminded me of Da Vinci. He raised a Mirror Theory in the 16th century asking painters to have all-around capacity to be able to depict anything existed in nature. This theory unconsciously influenced our whole generation. Our generation was poor growing up. We didn't have cameras. The only thing we have to record lives surrounding us was a sketch book. As a result, we spent our whole life trying to reach that all-aroundedness and sketching became our strength. We benefited greatly from it.
Victor Hugo once mentioned that "art is a concentrated mirror." It does not diminish the original color and splendor. Instead, it collects them, condenses them and changes dim lights into brightness, bring brightness into fire. This is the quintessence of art creation. Even in this digital world of modern society, this mirror is irreplaceable.
If we appreciate Ms. Ai-Wai Chaung 's oil painting from this perspective, you'll notice that her paintings do not demonstrate the beauty of a soft woman. On the contrary, it is great power that we experience. This may result in life's pressure as a single mother. It's imaginable what kind of difficulty she went through bringing up a son and a daughter all by herself in addition to her art career. It will make 24 hours too short to take care of both housework and painting. Even though as a Chinese saying says, she has the luck of a "muddle-headed" and she has received great support from friends, her diligent spirit is highly admirable. Now that her children are grown up, despite the fact that most of her peers in China are relaxing in retirement, once again, she's embarked on a new journey of art creation..
 

by YANNING CHEN
Dec. 1,2006
YANNING CHEN: American Chinese.Famouse oil Painter

作者：陈衍宁