​As we live, we experience ups and downs like a roller coaster. Just as flowers bloom and fall repeatedly, our lives fill up and then disappear, and when they seem completely empty, they slowly fill up. And when life feels dark and hopeless as if we have hit rock bottom, no matter how much we try to squeeze out, we strangely cannot think of positive and hopeful thoughts. The same goes for when everything is going well and we are happy. When we become arrogant and have difficulties around us, we arrogantly evaluate and ignore them as if they are lazy or have done something wrong. In this way, humans and human life sometimes go round and round in vain, without depth and without recklessness.

What if you are standing in the middle of a dark tunnel in life? Strangely enough, there is no one by your side at such times. Even when you try to approach someone with a loving heart, the other person feels burdened by you. Even well-intentioned words are twisted and conveyed. It may feel like everyone is plotting to criticize you, gossip behind your back, and discourage you. At that time, you feel all the energy drained from your body and you feel helpless, as if you can’t walk a single step anymore. I also had a time when anything I said would get messed up. At that time, even sincere gifts would be ignored. I think anyone who has been through the bottom of life would know what this means. If you continue to feel wronged, not understood, and not loved, how deep would that darkness be? How great would it be if someone lit a light in your dark heart at that time? If you were standing in the middle of a tunnel, unable to go back and looking ahead, the darkness would continue, how grateful would you be if someone told you that if you just went a little further, you would see a bright light? Can we still expect this kind of warmth in this world? In fact, my blog was like a long journey in search of this kind of warmth in a bleak life.

The topic of my blog at first was ‘What is art?’ Why do artists choose a path that is vague, not guaranteed to succeed, and requires them to constantly create themselves? What is art to me? I wrote every day while asking myself these questions. This task was like hitting a racquetball against a wall. Every time I hit, it always came back to me. This ball was not a catch ball that someone would gently catch and pass back to me with a smile. When I threw it hard, it flew hard, and when I threw it softly, it came softly. Time passed as if I was talking to myself against a wall that had no emotions. When the number of visitors to my blog gradually increased, I was the first to receive advertisements and spam. They were very diligent and surprised me by leaving comments on my blog from early in the morning. Deleting these posts became a routine for me. Then one day, I got burnt out and couldn’t find any material. At that time, I couldn’t even move forward with my drawings and was in a slump. It was a moment when everything I did felt meaningless. Everyone else was successful in drawing and writing and posting success stories, but why wasn’t anything easy for me? I wanted to give up everything in despair.

But then I saw a $1 watercolor paint that my child had placed on my desk. Feeling frustrated, I drew a small candle. It was as if my dark heart was waiting for the light to come out. But when I focused and drew and looked at the candles I drew, I felt a bright energy welling up from somewhere in my heart. Suddenly, my heart became bright. At that moment, I realized that I had overcome my slump. And to convey this energy, I wrote and drew again. My daily life went on like that for several years.

It's Fall Art Walk season. It feels like summer was just yesterday, but it's hard to believe that fall is already here. I always start fall with the Fall Art Walk presented by the Port Jefferson Chamber Commerce along with the Outdoor Art Show.

This year, I was busy and didn't have time to submit my artwork, but thankfully the Chamber called me directly to remind me. And this year, I will be displaying the two artworks below.

​There is a corner space where I have solar lights on the siding outside my house. At some point, sparrows flew in and made a nest behind the solar lights. And every year, they lay eggs here, raise their chicks, and fly away together. Since this nest is very close to the bedroom where we sleep, I can hear the baby birds singing incessantly. I can also hear the sound of the mother bird thumping every time she goes into the small nest. When the wind and rain blow hard and the chicks cry anxiously, we also have a hard time sleeping.

​Before we knew it, the sparrow family and we became a family living in the same space. This cohabitation with the sparrows continued for a long time. Eventually, it became so common that we didn’t even notice the sparrows coming and going. We welcomed and sent off the sparrow family without paying rent.

Then, yesterday, I had a mysterious experience. It happened when I became so used to living with the sparrows that I didn’t know if they had come or left.

​In the morning, my husband and I heard the sparrows chirping very loudly. I thought the baby bird had fallen to the ground and went outside to rescue it. But it wasn’t a sign of danger.

​The sparrow had given birth to three baby birds and was practicing their flight. I made eye contact with the baby bird through the curved roof of the alphabet letter L. The baby bird wasn’t quite as plumage-filled as its mother. It had a patchy appearance with patches of skin showing, but it was the same size as its mother. The baby bird chirped loudly at me and flew away with the mother bird. I knew for a moment that they were trying to say good bye to us before leaving their nest.

And now every morning I see the empty nest. In fact, we’ve been putting off the siding and roofing this year because of this nest. I think they probably noticed.

​As the bird flew away and I looked at the empty nest, I thought, there are many things in the world that can communicate other than language. My family and I seemed to have relied on each other in the wind and rain while staying with the small sparrow family. The sparrow family must have been the same. Because they always make a nest next to our bedroom. I was very curious about why the solar lights were so close to us when there were many of them. It seems like we had an invisible conversation with each other. And I know that Mother Nature is also constantly sending us signals, talking with us, comforting us, and loving us.

​The same goes for paintings. They comfort us with invisible energy. Even at the moment when we are drawing, there is warmth surrounding us. That is why we become happy when we draw. Isn’t the effort to find beautiful signals in everyday life, like the signals of nature shown by the little sparrow, art? I would like to share the enlightenment I received through the beautiful marching song that the sparrow gave me yesterday.

The 2024 Outdoor Art Show has been successfully completed. I am happy to be writing a review while drinking coffee at home. There is always an indefinite sense of anxiety before an art show, so I feel a real sense of joy when everything is finished. Above all, I am always nervous because I hope that the paintings I present this year will be healing and a good gift for visitors and art lovers.

​Once again, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Jinmoon Park, CEO of Euro Instrument in Korea, who supported the booth fee, tent fee, and other additional expenses for my outdoor art show this year.

​This article is both a review and a report to him. I am pleased to report on this year's accomplishments.

For your information, Mr. Park Jin-moon is the owner of Euro Instrument and GNE Holdings Tech Co., Ltd., a gold-meat software and consulting company. He is deeply interested in mathematics, finance, and stocks, as well as art, and has supported me as an artist.

​

This is my first time participating in an art show with an individual booth. So, everything from setting up the booth to everything was new to me. I asked local artists about this, but I found out that they were also busy with their own activities.

​So, I decided to share all my experiences and know-hows since this event for artists who are just starting out. If artists who are new to outdoor show booths read this, I sincerely hope that it will help them create a successful art show. Because I know how helpful this information is.

First, I prepared a 10x10 tent, which is the standard size for the competition. I had a lot of trouble deciding whether to buy a tent or rent one, but I decided to buy a tent. Below is my post comparing buying and renting.

​https://www.annakoh.com/blog/outdoor-art-show-rent-vs-buy-for-a-booth-setting

The tent above was very satisfactory. It was bright, sturdy, and held up well against the wind. The downside is that it has windows, so the sun comes in directly and it gets hot inside. If the temperature gets high, I recommend opening the sides.

And I bought a mesh panel for display like the one below. I was satisfied with it because it was sturdy and most importantly, it fit in the trunk of my car.

When hanging pictures, I found the plastic hooks for the Christmas lights below to be much more practical than the regular metal hooks. They attach more firmly.

My booth was in a corner, so I was able to open up the sides to make it more spacious, as shown below.

​In addition, safety devices to withstand wind and rain are also necessary. There were a few strong winds, but it was okay.

I hung the painting on the metal bar that supports the roof of the tent.

In the middle of the event, a butterfly flew in and circled around. Visitors said it was a sign of good luck. I love outdoor art shows because I get to meet people who love art directly.

​I always include a section of my outdoor art show with the work of my students who have reached a certain level. This year, if their work is sold, half of the proceeds will be donated to Angela House in the community. Currently, $50 from the sale of the children's work will be donated. I sincerely thank all the visitors who purchased the work for the donation. I will also be donating my own proceeds.

Since I started blogging, I have been writing consistently every day. Before I knew it, this post had surpassed 1,000 posts and kept growing. My greatest strength, sincerity, made my blog like a tree. My blog posts started to get attention, and I received comments and emails from people all over the world.

And as my blog started to get attention, I realized that this blog could become a publishing platform. Some people started asking me to introduce their companies. I started reading those posts and posting articles that had public interest and educational value.

One time, I visited a hotel. It was a hotel with not many people. However, the staff was very friendly and the hotel was clean. I wrote about the beautiful artwork hanging in the hotel. And every time I visited that hotel in Boston, I saw a crowd of people. Coincidentally, I saw people taking pictures in front of the very artwork I had posted.

I realized how powerful the writing and life that I wrote with sincerity and sincerity can be. The moment I realized this fact, my day changed. I thought of each day as gold and tried to spend every day honestly and sincerely, not wasting it. And I love this sentences.

In this sense, I received a meaningful email from her a while ago. She asked me to publish her article. What she wrote to me resonated deeply with me.

There are people in the world who make things hard for each other and create many problems and conflicts, but I am grateful that there are warm people like this who have the same temperature. I am waiting for her amazing article. And I will post and introduce it here someday. I am sure she is a very passionate person. I can't wait.