Source: Xinhua Net
Yanqing, 9 Mar (Xinhua) -- At the Yanqing Winter Paralympic Village, Slovak Paralympic alpine skier Martin Franche's room door now has nothing but room numbers. But this situation should not last long.
"Every time I go to the Winter Paralympics, I paint some pictures and paste them on the door." Franche said. This time he lived with his visually impaired teammate Miroslav Harlaus.
"[The painting I'm going to paint this time] isn't done yet, maybe I'll paint a mad dog, maybe two, because the two of us are two 'mad dogs.'" Maybe I'd draw a cuter mad dog, like me. The 37-year-old said.
Born with a physical disability, Franche fell in love with painting while in school. One day many years later, when his brother expressed a keen interest in an oil painting with a frog in New York's Central Park, Francie's desire to create was aroused: he perfectly copied the expensive oil painting and gave it to his brother.
Once he picked up the paintbrush, Franche was fully engaged. "I've been painting for 15 years, I sold three or four paintings last month, and when I finish the Winter Paralympics, I'll probably be a full-time painter." He said.
"I just bought a new house, an old house, and the old house was in ruins, but that's where I painted." Drawing inspiration from street art and graffiti, Franche especially loved to depict animals, with frogs, big cats and birds being his subjects. Each painting he needed at least two months to complete. Today, he already has a long list of buyers.
"I'm still making a mask for my physical therapist on a TV show. Graphics and painting are different, but I still prefer to paint animals. "I like to draw lions the most, and of course I like to draw monkeys, and maybe soon I'll draw monkeys." ”
Last month, when Franche's compatriot Pietra Ferkhova won the gold medal in the women's slalom event in alpine skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics at the "Snow Flying Swallow" in Yanqing, Franche created a painting for Ferkhova. On the 10th, France will appear in the Winter Paralympic Men's Grand Slalom Stand, and he has finished fourth on three of the previous four Winter Paralympic Grand Slalom matches. He longed to end his skiing career with a medal.
"Standing on the podium is my biggest dream, maybe competing with less disabled players, it's not easy to complete this dream, but now I'm much better than I was in the 2006 Winter Paralympics. If I had won a medal, I would have finished painting the Winter Paralympic Village, and if the final result was not satisfactory, then I might have finished that painting as well. Franche said.
Editors: Liu Yang, Yu Sihui, Zhou Xin, Zhang Yumeng (Intern)