A new semester begins in September. I've been busy buying my daughter's kindergarten supplies lately. A friend named Ana, who has the same name as me, directly and sincerely helped me with my first kindergarten supplies. With her help, I completed a task that would typically take me over an hour by myself in just 30 minutes. She said it was so hard like me when she bought the new school supplies for the kids when she first knew nothing. She has great empathy. I am genuinely grateful for her warm heart.

Buying her school supplies and putting them in her pretty purple bag, my daughter is so happy she's already tying her bags as if she's going to school and looking at herself carrying backpack in her mirror. Most of all, I truly seems to be the greatest happiness to be educated and to be able to receive it.

In a news article, I recently saw a picture of Afghan schoolgirls on the way to last school day who could no longer go to school due to the Taliban occupation. Can they go back to school with their bags like they used to? Seeing my daughter running happily with her backpack on, I feel my heart aches at the sad reality of Afghan girls who may have to burn their backpacks with despair and fear, deprived of even her most fundamental rights in the corner of the globe. Just because they are women and girls, I are worried about the gloomy future they will have to face just because they are children.

  Looking back on our history, women have been subjected to much oppression and sacrifice just because they are women. In the book "Remember Our Names (By Bridge Queen, Artbooks)," a book that introduces sixteen female artists who left their names and works in an era when women were not readily known for their names, the book discusses the social status, right of women in art history. The author reminds us that only 16 female artists 'officially' recorded in over 800 pages of Ernst Gombrich's "History of Western Art", which documented more than 3,000 years of art history. Right now, if we ask ourselves to write down memorable female painters in art history, the reality is that we cannot list a few.

 Life as an artist is also like a pioneering life. It means that artistic activity requires more passion and effort than anything else. This is especially more harder for women with many restrictions on their activities and freedoms. 

Na Hye-Seok (28 April 1896 – 10 December 1948) , the first Western painter and women's rights activist during the Joseon Dynasty, is evaluated as a person who left essential achievements in modern and contemporary history during the Japanese colonial period. In a conservative society based on male-dominated Confucianism, she held her solo exhibitions as a woman and a painter. The funny story was told that when the children who saw Western oil paint for the first time thought it was candy and tried to eat it. When she didn't even have a concept of art, especially when women were confined at home and depended on men only and thought it was her destiny, she struggled to live alone. She took great interest in her independent life as a painter and human rights issues as a woman. 

 ​Among Western female painters, I like Prada Kahlo, a Mexican surrealist painter. From her childhood polio to a severe train accident at the age of 16 and to her husband's Casanova-liked life, she brought the hardships of her life to life through her works. Due to her physical disability, she spent a lot of time alone, and she painted many self-portraits of her with the belief that she was the subject she knew best.

Once I exhibited some paintings about singing woman at an exhibition at Huntington Art Council. The woman in this picture is singing with her eyes closed. Nearby her, many beautiful flowers blossom endemically. Where even women can dream and sing to their heart's content, the community I live in now. However, many women do not have this kind of freedom somewhere in the world.

On the contrary, many women still have gone back in time and have been locked up in the past again. I sincerely hope that the time will come when they will be able to laugh again, sing, enjoy art, and draw again freely. I hope that my paintings can be a little comfort to them.

 On August 15, the country of Afghanistan disappears behind history. It is genuinely shocking to see a country closing its doors in the 21st century.

 I'm a Korean. Every Korean grows up hearing war stories. And always live in fear of war. But as time goes by, they get used to battle and go about their daily lives despite any threat. Some day a foreign reporter who visited South Korea was astonished to see South Koreans having a winter fishing festival right in front of the border at the moment when North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened with a missile. As I read the article, I felt some difficulties for not being able to express about the psychology of these Koreans. Every human being goes through an intense trauma at some point. And when the trauma repeats itself, they get used to it. If they get used to this kind of thing, their mind will become dull no matter how strong a stimulus is given. 

​As a child, I was regularly trained to hide under my desk when the sirens sounded loud in the classroom to prevent damages from a war. I spent my elementary school days reading anti-communist books and drawing related posters. Probably it is likely to the childhood of all Koreans my age. And additionally from my parent's generation, I have heard through their real private stories over and over how cruel war is. So even though I didn't experience it directly, I got enough indirect experience. Perhaps, almost all Koreans have dreamed of a nightmare about this war at least once in their lifetime. And even now, the war has not ended in Korea. North Korea still fires missiles, and it reminds us of all nightmarish things. Koreans are nervous and nervous. And even though there are many social conflicts that continue to prevent these tragedies from repeating themselves, they have been united again and again.

  I feel sad about the situation in Afghanistan. When I think of the socially disadvantaged weak left behind, especially children and women, my heart aches so much that I couldn't even sleep. Do you think there will be a future for them in the future? It hurts my heart even more because they have been abandoned with no place in the world to turn to. Indeed I can empathize even more by hearing the horrors of war and experiencing it indirectly. Many painters have been steadily drawing pictures of war hoping that future generations will recognize the horrors of war and pray for peace.

Artist Whanki Kim(1913–1974), Korea's representative a pioneering abstract artist, captured such a tragedy in his paintings to the extent that the Korean War completely changed the personal painting pattern itself. Through the 1951 evacuation train, he tried to inform the sorrow of the refugees who have recklessly driven to Busan and the horrors of war. Looking at his paintings, it seems that the pain of the generation that went through the war is concise.

  Personally, I painted to record the 4.3 Incident, an incident in Jeju Island, with a painting called Camellia. This painting is a vivid, true record of my deceased father. The Jeju 4.3 Incident was an armed clash between the armed forces of the Namro Party and the subjugation force that occurred on Jeju Island from March 1, 1947, to September 21, 1954, and a large number of residents were sacrificed in the process of suppressing the subjugation force. It is said that during the Korean War, the elderly in mountain villages always carried two flags. They showed American flag when the US troops came, and the Communist Party flag was shown when the communist party arrived, and they tried to protect their family. Poor people had no greed about political power and religious beliefs. They had only dreams of eating with their families, educating their children, and watching them grow. Perhaps not now? More than any ideology or faith, we want our families, especially future children, to grow up beautiful and healthy. I think that's enough. But the world is not so benevolent. Those who have power in the world always do it for their benefit. 

​At the time of the Jeju 4.3 incident, my father was eight years old. My grandfather was the principal of the Jeju Village Elementary School at the time. On the 4.3th, armed men from the South Korean Labor Party gathered people from schools, civil servants, and local officials in one place and shot them. At that time, my grandfather passed away at such a young age. My father's dad, held my father's little hand tightly and cried before he went to paradise. At that time, Jeju Island was a beautiful season when the camellia flowers were colorful and red. But these camellias flew over and covered the blood of many innocent citizens who were executed for ideology. That day, Jeju was dyed everywhere red. It doesn't matter whose fault it was, who was the trigger, or what wrong decision was made. Because even if it is revealed, the deceased will not come back. Whether by the communist party or by the government, the same things are still happening repeatedly. Historically, these weak people are constantly being exploited and abandoned, with or without an apology. That is one of the tragedies of war.

 Picasso said like this. Do you think you can become a painter with only eyes, a musician with only ears, and a poet with only a harp in your heart? I'm sorry, Never!  An artist is a political figure. Paintings do not exist to decorate an apartment or to decorate. Painting is a combat weapon that attacks and defends against enemies.

To not forget the mistake and not repeat it, many painters will be working hard to contain these real problems today. And I hope that even a little bit of these efforts will provide a little comfort to the weak and us. 

 Most artists announce that there's nothing more effective and relaxing than getting into the flow of a good painting. It takes your mind off your problems and can have a calming effect similar to meditation. Art-based therapy has proven effective at helping people cope with the stress that it is a helpful mental supportive tool for treating those who have PTSD. 

I also know the healing power of painting to relieve stress, increase attention and creativity, and help you to maximize and focus on the positive aspects of life. And throughout my life, I have seen the healing and recovery functions of painting, and I am proud to say that I still do.

Looking back, I am always grateful that I grew up so well despite living with a narcissist who only tells with negative words such as devaluing, ignoring, and cursing me and cuts off all relationships around me. For me, that power was the painting.
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 Unfortunately, there are many narcissists with various spectrums in the world, and I meet them without me knowing. Because there are people in the world who support others with words of encouragement and love, but there are also people who always have to dominate through the edge over others and suck the energy of others. That's right. All coexist together. So, at some point, I realized that it wasn't important the person who bothered me with words and was more important to me, the myself who could survive in those words.

 ​Fortunately, Painting allowed me to survive in this world. Even amid such harmful verbal abuse, I can confirm, "No, I am not." It helped me to focus on my present life. And it helped me to hold on to my mentality and live in new hopes and dreams every day. Above all, the most incredible power of painting is that it allows you to recognize and find your inner self. If you continue to be verbally abused by a narcissist, you gaslighting and lose your true nature. Then, if it repeats again and again, traumatically, you may believe the fake facts in the frame the narcissist put on despair to you. That's the result they want. Their purpose is to project their unhappiness and inferiority onto others and see others suffer from withdrawing the negative effects.

But painting is like a shield in their psychological tactics. While looking at the picture or drawing something, you feel something moving inside of you. And such an internal process helps you to can identify yourself relatively accurately. It becomes a mental weapon to remind you that it is not true no matter how much others frame and devalue you.

 In my case, during a difficult time last year, I found solace in the paintings of Philippe Charles Jacquet.

 His paintings have particular forms, and it frequently appears a lonely figure who feels relatively small appears in front of a huge sea landscape with waveless emerald color. If you look at his paintings like this, you can find yourself being immersed into the painting. Looking at the lantern in the lonely house at the end of the sea, I try to soothe my loneliness. Even if the narcissist hates, curses, and makes it hard for you, you feel that the scenery in this picture is more actual than reality when you look at a view like this. It seems that the healing energy of the painting will re-energize you and make the world a better place to live. If you're tired of the world's curses and devaluation, it's an excellent way to see or draw a painting  for calm and comfort you. 

And the best way to fight a narcissist who judges others easily without any guilty is to cherish and love yourself because  the energy vampires don't know how to really love themselves.

Enjoy the fun journey of finding and cherishing yourself step by step with the pictures. Please take out the crying inner child, comfort him, and tell him that everything is not your fault. Give him a chance to be brave and tell his story to the world. If there is a picture that gives you such energy, I believe it will be conducive to healing your broken heart if you look at it often and quietly express your feelings.

Reference: 3 Reasons Scientists Say Painting is Good For Your Brain  by Noella Andres 

 In 2000, there was a boom in dot-com companies in Korea. The dot-com bubble is a bubble economy phenomenon that spanned from 1995 to 2000 when the stock market in industrialized countries saw a rapid rise in equity prices as the Internet-related sector grew. Korea was no exception. Companies competed to create and manage Internet-based companies, and most investors poured all the money into dot-com companies to the extent that rumors circulated that anyone with a website would receive investment. As I recall, there was a trend in the market for training and hiring web designers and webmasters to create and manage websites for companies like this.

 In such an atmosphere, I studied medical informatics and obtained a master's degree. And I thought it would be helpful for my work, so I enrolled in a computer art school in Jongno-gu, Seoul. After completing the web design and webmaster courses, I got the relevant professional certification. It was a time full of ambition and vision. Looking back, I had a tight and tiring day with work and studied simultaneously, but it was an excellent decision because the technology still feeds me. 

And after getting a license, I planned and designed several websites. It was fun to work with programmers to create an interface and see the site being serviced and operated. However, after I left for Korea in 2006, I could not actively do this work. In other words, I lived a life close to nature-oriented. By the way, I recently started making a website again. Twenty years ago, creating a website required a lot of manpower, time, and cost. Because it was a team-based project, the team had to design, code, and get feedback by themselves as their roles. But 20 years later, the world has changed very quickly. At that time, website planning and development were the domain of related experts, but now anyone can create a website that suits their taste. Therefore, cost and time have been saved, so many more diverse and free-form sites appears. Most of all they are not always in the same frame and pattern as before.

 ​Creating a website has also given me endless fun recently. Below is a website I recently worked on. Opposite to in the past, the programming steps were minimized, and it was good to be able to focus on the content of the site instead. Above all, it is good to be able to respect the taste of the client. In the past, several cases such as 1, 2, and 3 samples were made according to the needs, and the client chose the best one. But recently, the designer can communicate and negotiate with customer directly and it is also easy to fix it according to their needs and imagination. Therefore, it doesn't need to prepare some samples to present or choose it. For example, the recently created website minimized the images and icons because the client is a minimalist. Also, because it emphasized modern and popular trends, we gave more animation elements. In the past, the meaning and philosophy of images that inserted to the site was not so important. That was the reason that most website has similar form and patterns. The webdesigner made a separate their image library and used the images in it. 

However, nowadays we can find the trend  that the site's symbolism appears apparently even when only the homepage is opened. In other words, in my case, I invested more time and effort when creating the images used because I wanted to add more artistic elements.

​The website will re-publish its address when the domain registration is completed and development is 100 %  finished.

This opportunity made me realize that every experience is worthwhile. Once the website's design is completed, the domain must be registered and registered in the search engine. And you have to get feedback and make corrections constantly. I hope that a record of this series of processes can be of little help.

 ​In China, there is a famous four proverbs called 孟母三遷.
The word comes from Mencius's mother moved three times to raise her young son, Mencius, properly.
Mencius's mother lived near the cemetery for the first time with Mencius. When she often saw a young Mencius burial and imitated it, Mencius's mother moved her house near the market, but her son imitated it. It is said that Mencius's mother was able to study Mencius here only after moving her home to the school districts. It means that parents should do everything they can to educate their children.

 I am well aware of the importance of the environment, as the above points out. Maybe that's why, since I've lived in New York for a long time, full of energy, I feel like I need to start a business. In that sense, we try to create and operate a company. I am pleased to document the process of starting a business here. Seeing this experience, I think it would be good for anyone to have courage. And I hope that these records will be of little help to anyone who takes on a new challenge.

​In that sense, I plan to keep a record through this blog as if I was writing a work log.

The most important thing when creating a company for the first time is the name. The name has many meanings. It carries many invisible energies, such as identities, memories, values, differences, attributes, etc. Therefore, it is complicated to decide on a name when creating a company for the first time. An example is Amazon. Amazon was built with the meaning of pursuing brand values ​​that are exotic and different, like the rainforest Amazon. It's a unique and exciting name.

 ​We like that meaning name too. So, the legendary animal called "girin" was adopted as its name. Korea has a long historical record of over 5,000 years. This animal was introduced in one of the artifacts unearthed a long time ago. It is one of the works in a country called Silla, Korea, 1500 years ago. This girin, looks vivid as if it jumped out of the sky at any moment, appeared with painting on the bark of a birch tree, and after a long time of travel, it discovered in the world of modern people.

 ​The girin is an imaginary animal. Therefore, this girin is different from the African giraffes and horse. In the past, people believed that a saint would appear riding this animal and save humankind. Perhaps such a legend exists in any country.  In a situation where civilization or technology was not as developed as it is recent, people had spreaded their imaginations in search of what their hearts can depend on against unpredictable events such as natural disasters. In a way, I think that modern development may have originated from such a same mind. For example, in a dire situation that cannot be predicted every minute in the stock market, experts still try to anticipate and prepare somehow. Occasionally, the image of a cow or a swan is used to unleash the imagination. There is no difference between past and present.

​Institute is attached to girin, and I set the entire initial to G&I and made the initial mark by working with the illustrator.

​It was easy to make because we communicated enough and shared stories when making the initial mark. Then the result will be satisfactory enough. Communication seems to be the most crucial item in design.

Although this logo is not an official logo, it can be applied to presentations or future animation work. And below is the official logo of the Girin Institute, which was briefly introduced in the previous post. (go to previous post)

 The Girin Institute website is currently under construction as follows. The production process is also introduced in the info menu on my website.

 The design of the intro image for the first screen of the company website was written with a lot of thought. Below is a description of the image.
Go to related article ! 

When the overall image work is completed, the results will be uploaded gradually and the production process will be opened.​

Amazon, which is now a giant, started out as a shabby office in its early days. What is the power that makes a company? Without even a small attempt like this, it would seem like an unknown world. I hope everyone plant a small seed of hope for the future.