Terry Lee：一辆“小汽车宝宝”的成长故事

 

Terry Lee 四岁多的时候来到我们的工作坊。第一次来，他就把鞋子和外套整齐地放在门口。他的母亲告诉我们，家里在上海时曾经上过蒙台梭利学校，父母两人也都接受过相关的教育培训。

她经常对他说：“你可以画任何你想画的东西，但你绝不能抄袭。” 由于还不明白“抄袭”是什么意思，他自然选择了自己最熟悉的主题：汽车。他连续画了两整年汽车，探索着它们的每个细节：车轮、大灯、不同的视角。我们从未催促他更换主题，而是耐心观察他好奇心的发展。

有一天，他带来了一辆越野车，把它拆开，专门画车轮内部的结构。觉得纸太光滑，他要求换上更粗糙的质感。我们还把画架倾斜，让他可以躺着画，从更合适的角度观察。他用直尺测量，贴上标记，一点一点推进自己的绘图。

他的父母对我们非常信任：除了上课，有时还把他整天交给我们照顾。我们为他准备饭菜，陪他玩耍与画画。对我们来说，孩子与教师之间关系的质量，是一切创造性学习的基础。这种关系需要慢慢建立，也依赖一种默契与亲近感。

在动笔前，他常常先与我们聊天。随后就会安静下来，低着头，专注而连续地创作。他的画中带着一种内在逻辑，仿佛是他自己独立建立起来的。

到第三年时，他突然不再画汽车。他的想象力和技能同时被释放出来。当我们给他提出“未来的地球”这一主题时，他画出了一座分层功能的城市：上方是风能交通网络，中间是生活空间，地下是废物与水处理系统。每个区域都有注解和说明。他既没有参照，也没有指导，一切都来自他自己的推演。

我们不知道未来他会走向哪里，但我们确信，只要看到一幅这样的作品，就能立刻认出：这是 Terry Lee 的！

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Terry Lee: The Growth Story of a “Baby Car”

Terry Lee joined our studio a little after turning four. On his very first visit, he carefully placed his shoes and coat at the entrance. His mother explained that the family had attended a Montessori school in Shanghai, and that both parents had received training in this approach.

She often told him: “You can draw whatever you want, but you must never copy.” Not yet fully understanding what “copying” meant, he naturally chose a familiar subject: cars. For two full years, he drew cars, exploring every part—the wheels, the headlights, different angles of view. We never pushed him to change themes, preferring instead to observe the unfolding of his curiosity.

One day, he brought in an off-road vehicle, dismantled it, and drew the inside of the wheels in detail. Finding the paper too smooth, he asked for a rougher texture. We also tilted his easel so he could draw lying down, with a better perspective. He used rulers, measured his lines, marked points, and advanced step by step.

His parents trusted us completely: beyond the classes, they sometimes left him with us for the whole day. We prepared meals, played, and drew together. For us, the quality of the relationship between a child and their teachers is the very foundation of creativity. It is something built over time, resting also on a kind of affinity.

Before drawing, he often chatted with us. Then he would fall silent, head bent, focused, moving forward without interruption. His drawings carried an internal logic that seemed entirely his own.

In his third year, he suddenly stopped drawing cars. His imagination and skills were released together. When we invited him to create a work on the theme of “The Earth of the Future,” he drew a city in functional layers: a wind-powered transport network above, a living space in the middle, and waste and water treatment systems underground. Each zone was annotated and explained. He had no model, no instruction. Everything came from his own reasoning.

We do not know where he will go in the future, but we do know this: when you see one of his drawings, you will recognize it immediately—Terry Lee!