Sugar painting class for children offered by former engineer

Sugar painting class for children offered by former engineer

2023-07-31

An engineer in Hsinchu has made a radical career change and now teaches a traditional art to children. After two decades in technology, Chen Wen-pin decided there had to be more to life than calculations. He took up the traditional craft of sugar painting. Children attending his class learn how to use a special sugar painting pen. He invented it to keep little fingers safe from hot melted sugar. Chen spoke to us about his hope of inspiring beautiful memories and creativity in his students.

This candy is both a delicious treat and a traditional art.

Sugar painter Chen Wen-pin pours sugar crystals into the pan and adds water.

Chen Wen-pin
Sugar painter
When you boil the sugar, the ratio is about two to one, like if the sugar is two, the water is half, one. You can’t stir it when it’s cooking.

Careful work makes the dream come true. When the caramel is bubbling furiously, it becomes a beautiful golden color. It’s poured into molds and cooled. Those cooled syrup batons are heated up once more to melt them down, and then they can be used to create beautiful images.

Chen Wen-pin
Sugar painter
Then more and more children and parents wanted to give it a try. They’d say “Hey sir, can I have a go?”

Chen initially feared that kids would scald themselves on the hot caramel. So he developed this sugar art pen. It gives children an easy way to make candy art works that they can take home and eat.

Chen Wen-pin
Sugar painter
See, you can make art out of sugar. Maybe after this call you can have a think about what other objects around you you can use to make stuff. Everyone gets imaginative ideas from the sugar painting class.

Chen does not come from an art school background. He was an engineer for 20 years, struggling to balance work and life. Then he remembered a moment in his childhood when he saw some sugar painting. It made him so happy that he made a decisive career change.

Chen Wen-pin
Sugar painter
“Is this really how I’m going to live my life? Do I have to spend my whole life as an engineer? Is this what I want to be for my whole life?” Now I don’t define it as just a class. I hope people who come to the class can take it away with them in their hearts, and maybe it can be a beautiful memory for them even when they grow up.

Chen uses his experience as an engineer to offer this innovative class, and hopes his encouragement to embrace creativity will stay with his young students long after they’ve eaten their artwork.

棄20年工程師工作畫糖師開設才藝班傳承技藝

2023-07-31

放棄了20年的工程師工作，投入傳統技藝！畫糖師陳文斌為了文化傳承，開設課程才藝班，讓小朋友也有機會體驗傳統的文化技藝，他透過工程師經驗，研發出糖藝筆，讓孩童在不會燙傷的過程中，也能輕鬆畫糖，能吃能玩的過程中，留下美好回憶。

這些黃色的糖品，是甜美的味道，也是傳承的記憶。

畫糖師陳文斌舀好糖粉，再加點水。

[[畫糖師陳文斌]]
“煮這個糖的話比例大概是二比一，大概是比如說，糖的話是二水的話就是一半一，這樣煮。煮的時候不要去攪拌它。”

慢工出細活，快火煮糖粉，等到水沸騰滾出泡泡，讓糖漿煮成漂亮的土褐色，倒入模具中冷卻，再將冷卻後的糖漿煮到熔解，這時開始大展身手，畫出各式各樣的圖樣。

[[畫糖師陳文斌]]
“後期越來越多小朋友跟家長都想要嘗試，就說老闆可以換我來畫看看嗎？”

擔心小朋友因為湯匙高溫而受傷，陳文斌還特地研發糖藝筆，除了能讓小朋友親手體驗，又能無後顧之憂。因此更多可愛的造型，就藉由這隻糖藝筆，能輕鬆讓小朋友有得玩，又有得吃。

[[畫糖師陳文斌]]
“你看用糖就可以做創作，也許你們上完這課之後，你試著去想一下，你身邊的哪些東西是可以做創作的，每個人都因為畫糖的課程，帶給你一些更多的想像。”

事實上，陳文彬不是藝術本科出身，過去擔任20年工程師的他，在工作與生活拉扯，他回憶起小時候親眼看到畫糖的樣子，滿是欣喜，毅然決然的轉行。

[[畫糖師陳文斌]]
“難道我要這樣子去過我的人生嗎？我是要這樣子當工程師做一輩子嗎？這個是我這輩子想要的事情嗎？我現在不只是定義他只是一個課程，我希望上過課的人，他其實是把這個畫糖這個課程，這件事情把他變成他們心裡面，也許長大之後一個很美好的回憶。”

陳文斌融入工程師的經驗，創意發明來教學，就是希望讓畫糖的技藝，永遠記憶。

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