​Traditionally, Chuseok is a time when Koreans celebrate the fall harvest by harvesting after hard work. Chuseok is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar, or the autumn equinox.

On Chuseok, people wear hanbok and prepare food such as songpyeon made from new rice, various new fruits, and taro soup to give thanks for the harvest.
We also spend a pleasant day sharing delicious food with our neighbors.
No matter how poor or difficult people were, they shared food and had fun together, which gave rise to the saying, "All twelve months and 365 days of the year should be the same as Chuseok, no more, no less."

Chuseok is the biggest holiday in Korea, celebrating a good harvest during the harvest season, holding ancestral rites to honor the blessings of ancestors, and sharing warm hearts with neighbors.

In life, change is inevitable, and one of the most beautiful manifestations of change is the shifting of seasons. Whether you live in a bustling city or a quiet countryside, you've likely experienced the wonder of watching the same scenery transform as the seasons come and go. Each season brings with it a different vibe, a unique perspective on the world around us. 

​I often receive photos from my son, who is attending college, that give different impressions of the same place. And then I think those photos are like paintings.

When my son takes a picture and shows me the landscape, we are looking at the same window. I'm going to transfer this to another window, the picture. To start this work I chose a long horizontal canvas in landscape format. And I will capture some amazing scenery with acrylics. For this landscape I have to choose one of three photos my son sent me.

The picture to be drawn will probably be somewhere between the second and third photo.

In the realm of art, paintings hold a unique power. They are more than mere visual records; they are storytellers that convey emotions, atmosphere, and the artist's perspective in ways that photographs cannot. When we stand before a painting, we are transported to a world where colors, composition, brush strokes, and mood combine to offer a sensory experience that transcends the boundaries of the visual. 

Paintings have the remarkable ability to capture the atmosphere of a scene. Whether it's a tranquil landscape or a bustling cityscape, a skilled artist can use color and texture to evoke a feeling that goes beyond what a photograph can achieve.
The interplay of light and shadow in a painting can transport us to a specific moment in time, allowing us to feel the warmth of a sunny day or the coolness of a moonlit night.

Unlike photographs, which often provide a straightforward representation of reality, paintings leave room for interpretation and imagination. The viewer can engage with the artwork on a personal level, finding their own meaning and emotions within the canvas.
The same scenery can be depicted in countless ways by different artists, each offering a unique window into their individual perceptions and creative expressions.

This is like feeling the singer's mood and inspiration when we listen to the song.

​Therefore, painting is like creating another window that can give the same scenery but a different feeling.

​Photos always tell about the past by showing the present progress. There is a difference between a painting and a photograph in terms of time, and their meaning is also different. In other words, a painting involves work done in advance to complete the painting even before the artist paints it. It also connects the past with the present and the future. So, when we look at a photo, we get a message and emotion, and when we look at a picture, we can see the future. We dream together, look at the same place and have hope.

​
School Year: 2023/2024 
 
 
Productions: A Midsummer Night's Dream
                      A Wacky Version of Shakespeare
                      Senior showcase
 
 
 
Fall 23' 
 
TITLE OF SHOW: A Midsummer Night's Dream Adapted by Aurand Harris (From the play by William Shakespeare.)
 
Cast size: 15.
 
Event Date & Time: 10/28, 10/29 at 9:00 pm 
 
Rehearsal Dates: 10/2 – 10/27 
 
Days/Times-Monday – Friday, 3:30- 5:00 pm
 
Location: Auditorium 
 
Staff Needed: We will need staff in the following areas to consider for the night's performance:
(Security guide (3 people), parking assistant (2 people), receptionist (1 person), filming and sound maintenance (1 person), emergency personnel (1 person).
 
Costs for resources: Total $2,500
 
- Royalties/Rights through DPC dramatic publishing-Quote $1,000
- Costume: $ 500
- Print (Pamphlet/banner) $500
- Labor (each. Staff) $ $500
 
 
Spring 24'
 
TITLE OF SHOW: A Wacky Version of Shakespeare 
 
Cast size: 15. 
 
Event Date & Time: 3/16/24, 3/17/24 at 7 pm 
 
Rehearsal Dates: 3/1 – 3/15 
 
Days/Times-Monday – Friday, 3:30- 5:00 pm
 
Location: PAC (Performance Art Center)
 
Staff Needed: We will need staff in the following areas to consider for the evening's performance:
(Security guide (3 people), parking assistant (3 people), event information staff (5 people), event receptionist (1 person), filming and sound maintenance (1 person), emergency personnel (1 person).
 
Volunteers Needed: We give the valuable gift of their time and welcome and appreciate all who contribute in this vital way. From ushers to ticket office assistants, the volunteers are an integral part of the operation of the Performing Arts Center.
 
Costs for resources: Total $3500
 
- Royalties/Rights through Melisa Sparks-Quote $2,000
- Costume: $ 500
- Print (Pamphlet/banner) $500
- Labor (each. Staff) $500
 
 
Summer 24'
 
TITLE OF SHOW: Senior showcase
 
Cast size: 20.
 
Event Date & Time: 6/15/24, 6/16/24 at 7pm 
 
Rehearsal Dates: 6/3 – 6/14
 
Days/Times-Monday – Friday, 3:30- 5:00 pm
 
Location: PAC
 
Staff Needed: We will need staff in the following areas to consider for the night's performance:
(Security guide (3 people), parking assistant (3 people), event information staff (5 people), event receptionist (1 person), filming and sound maintenance (1 person), emergency personnel (1 person). 
 
Volunteers Needed: We give the valuable gift of their time and welcome and appreciate all who contribute in this important way. From ushers to ticket office assistants, the volunteers are an integral part of the operation of the Performing Arts Center.
 
Costs for resources: Total $750
 
Awards/Trophy: $ 500 (First place: $250, Second place $150, Third place: $ 50, honorable mention: only trophy) 
Photos exhibition $ 100: photo print (11 x 14 inches or 5 x 7 inches), Stand for display)
Photo zone: $ 50 
Labor (each. Staff) $100
 
 
ADDITIONAL NEEDS AND NOTES: 
 
 
I chose these productions because I hope to enable high school students to view, interpret, and enjoy Shakespeare's plays from various angles. Anything more than else, I divided Shakespeare's plays into Classics and Retellings Adapted for the Modern Era and selected the plays that fit them. The classic version is “A Midsummer Night's Dream”. And the Adapted version is "A Wacky Version of Shakespeare."
 
Students can see and understand Shakespeare's plays from various angles, transcending time through these two plays.
 
Additionally, I decided that the third play would be a 'Senior Showcase' and drew up a plan to exhibit photos recording the events that occurred while preparing for the play at the performance center where the showcase was held.
 
“This is Creative Dramatics: Process or Product? Richard by Richard G. Kolezynski” states, "The immediate experience is more important than everything it leads to. It is inspired by "The students' path and journey take precedence over the destination set by the teacher."
 
Through this module, I deeply empathized with theater education as a process rather than a product.  In this sense, because I value process-oriented education, I will print photos of students' preparations during the three performances and post them in the hallways where the performances are held. Through the photo exhibition, audiences can see how hard the students prepared and created the stage with passion, and participating students will also be able to grow into future theater practitioners by focusing on the results, know-how, and creativity they have gained through these productions.
 
 

​When I was young, drawing was something that attracted my question in my mind. I felt a strong curiosity about feeling the unknown energy that moves human emotions in something drawn on a piece of paper. At that time, my heart felt like a child standing in front of a large tree. It was like an unspoken hint that one day I would know everything from the roots in the ground to the tops of the trees in the sky.

And I always drew with that mysterious enquiry. From my childhood until I debuted as an artist, I stood in front of paintings as if solving exam questions. The blank paper always felt like homework that had to be filled with something scary and had to be solved. However, as I was drawing the painting, I had to realize that the colors and shapes on the flat white surface were quietly speaking to me like a tree map.

After debuting as a painter in Germany, I thought that the answer to my childhood questions was the invisible energy contained in objects. So I wanted to capture that energy and draw it. The ‘Overcoming Series’ below is a series of works I painted with acrylic in my early days. I spontaneously and without hesitation put the energy I felt onto a large canvas. Wood has always been a good material because I had to depict invisible energy. I discovered that a tree that seemed to be tightly closed felt like a huge crystal of life made up of countless energies. When viewed from the side, it appears to be dead, but inside, it is born times, blooms, endures wind and rain, and lives on, resembling human life. I encapsulated this energy in my canvas and painted many tree series.

​As I was drawing trees like this, I suddenly felt the illusion that the flat canvas looked like space. This canvas was not paper, but the large door I faced as a child. Then I mustered up the courage to knock on the door and push it with my palm. Then the canvas changed from being a flat surface to a huge door. In that space, I discovered a framework that moves to another dimension beyond reality and pictures. This gave me infinite freedom.

​I captured this spiritual experience and drew the images that came to my mind. And I experienced that images drawn in my mind and invisible images were shown in reality beyond the space of the picture. I finally began to understand the painting I was most curious about, Velazquez's Las Meninas. The exact space he wanted to talk about a long time ago. I opened the door to another world in front of that space.

​Then, I realized that the boundaries between brushes and materials, the medium for expressing my inspiration, were becoming blurred. If I wanted to express myself, it didn't have to be a brush. One day, I drew a picture while holding a balloon in my hand instead of a brush. Because the brush was too heavy to express my inspiration. I put acrylic on the balloon and drew a picture as if stamping it. The patterns in the picture showed me that it was the dream garden I dreamed of as a child. I felt happy in that garden.

​The life of an artist can also be explained through the journey of my paintings. I used to not be able to confidently call myself an artist. This was because I only focused on the external conditions of being an artist. However, as I live as an artist, I have realized one thing. That is, visible conditions do not create artists. The conditions for becoming an artist were very similar to the process of drawing a picture. Just as the invisible energy and traces of patience and overcoming in a tree create the shape of a tree, the artist's time of patience and passion also creates a great artist.

There are so many people in the world who are good at drawing. Such people, and sometimes geniuses, will shine brilliantly with numerous works and careers even during this time. However, we artists are all bound to meet each other at God's door in the end. And this story is also a famous quote from Lee Hyun-se, a Korean painter whom I respect. External conditions are of no help when opening that door. At that time, like a tree, the door will be opened with the energy of overcoming, persevering, and holding on for a long time. And we will face God. In that sense, at some point, I realized that drawing became more comfortable.

And if I am not sincere, honest, and pure in front of my paintings, I will know it myself and I know that everyone in the world will know one day. So, I feel that as time goes by, my painting and creative process loses its complex techniques and becomes simpler. Also, I stand in front of lovers who love paintings and my paintings more carefully and with sincerity.

​And ultimately, the conclusion of my work is always connected as one.

That is ‘love’.

As a child, I stood under a huge tree called ‘Art.’ Under the tree, I was a little child. I couldn't see the ends of the tree branches from my eye level. The lonely falling leaves touched my head. I was a lonely girl. But even at that moment, I was growing like a tree and continue to grow. Eventually I looked up and saw the end of the tree. I felt the dazzling sunlight and ultimately realized that there was love above it. In the end, art did not betray me. Like a tree that gives generously, it gave me the gift of ‘love’ through art. And I realize that this is the energy I must express as an artist in the future.

​My creative journey will continue along with the ‘love’ that art gives me.

​Today, we installed a piece to participate in the scarecrow making contest, one of the local events hosted by Ward Melville heritage Organization. The title is "The golden statue of Liberty" and it is an installation art created by attaching children's works to the golden Statue of Liberty.

​This work will be on display for one month from September 25th to October 25th.