VOA标准英语2012--Artist Reinvents Herself After Near-Fatal Accident

Artist Reinvents Herself After Near-Fatal Accident

Ruffner is one of the best-known glass artists in the United States. Her one-of-a-kind sculptures are vibrant¹, exquisitely² detailed³ and often humorous.

Over the years, she became famous for a technique called lamp working, also known as flame working, which involves using a torch to melt and shape the glass rather than blowing it.

But in 1991, at the peak of her career, Ruffner was involved in a three-car collision that almost took her life. She was in a coma⁴ for five weeks.

"It's scary when you can't talk. It's scary when you can't do what you've done all your life," she says.

The award-winning artist was in the hospital for five months and in a wheelchair for five years.

However, despite the odds⁵, Ruffner overcame her injuries and, although she still has difficulty walking and talking, has willed herself back to work.

She's still creating the glass work that made her famous, but she also paints, draws and creates large-scale sculptures in a variety of mediums.

Because her movement is now limited, Ruffner works with a team of artists and designers who help bring her vision to life. 

She calls it a benign⁶ dictatorship. 

“I’m the one saying green here, yellow there, but they’re the ones who are actually doing it,” she says.

She and her team recently finished a 28-foot [8.5 meter] high flowerpot made of steel and aluminum⁷, installed in downtown Seattle.

And Ruffner hasn’t stood still since.

She was recently honored at the Smithsonian’s prestigious⁸ Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., with a special screening of an award-winning film about her life called “A Not So Still Life, the Ginny Ruffner Story,” by filmmaker Karen Stanton. 

And, in a current exhibit at the Maurine Littleton Gallery in Washington, art fans were able to see the glass flower sculptures for which she’s famous. Also, a collection of prints and drawings Ruffner says were inspired by scientific readings.

“She uses her imagination and her mind to put together shapes and forms and subjects in a way that you haven’t seen,” says gallery owner Maurine Littleton, who has known Ruffner for more than 25 years.

It’s been a long journey, but Ruffner says the hardest part has not been the physical challenge.

“I detest⁹ being taken for granted. Being ignored,” she says. “The way I talk, people assume that I’m either really old, or kind of retarded¹⁰, and that is so frustrating¹¹.”

Maurine Littleton believes Ruffner has done more than influence people in a technical way.

“She’s also set an example of someone who, despite losing technical facility," she says, "is still able to work and do more than ever before.”

Ruffner has had 40 solo shows, several hundred group shows, and her work is in 42 permanent collections in museums around the world. However, she feels her best work is yet to come.

“Fortunately I’ve done a lot of stuff in my life, so I know that the best thing is to be open to the mystery. Who knows what great things will happen. I’m sure they’re many more to come.”

1 vibrant   

adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的

参考例句：

• He always uses vibrant colours in his paintings. 他在画中总是使用鲜明的色彩。
• She gave a vibrant performance in the leading role in the school play.她在学校表演中生气盎然地扮演了主角。

2 exquisitely   

adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地

参考例句：

• He found her exquisitely beautiful. 他觉得她异常美丽。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He wore an exquisitely tailored gray silk and accessories to match. 他穿的是做工非常考究的灰色绸缎衣服，还有各种配得很协调的装饰。 来自教父部分

3 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

4 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

5 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

6 benign   

adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的

参考例句：

• The benign weather brought North America a bumper crop.温和的气候给北美带来大丰收。
• Martha is a benign old lady.玛莎是个仁慈的老妇人。

7 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

8 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

9 detest   

vt.痛恨，憎恶

参考例句：

• I detest people who tell lies.我恨说谎的人。
• The workers detest his overbearing manner.工人们很讨厌他那盛气凌人的态度。

10 retarded   

a.智力迟钝的，智力发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• The progression of the disease can be retarded by early surgery. 早期手术可以抑制病情的发展。
• He was so slow that many thought him mentally retarded. 他迟钝得很，许多人以为他智力低下。

11 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》