Paintings

All the Korean folk paintings posted here were drawn by Sun Jae Jung.

Every picture has its meaning in Korean traditional folk painting.

[Peonies and butterflies, 2015]

My first painting. Peony is the symbol of happiness and virtue.

[Lotus and birds, 2015]

My second painting, lotus; which means “wisdom” after struggling, since they bloom in a dirty pond.

[A tiger, a magpie, and a pine tree, 2015]

My third one exhibits traditionally popular theme. It is known that while the tiger protects you from a bad luck, the magpie will bring you a good luck.

Carps are the symbol of getting a good job; that’s the reason why some people searching for a job loves this picture.

As been told, butterflies and flowers mean a lot of pleasure in life. Also, butterflies were drawn to pray for someone’s longevity. Two separate pictures were drawn as a pair.

[Summer scenery, 2015]

Sometimes, you can paint on fabric. I drew birds and lotus on ramie fabric, which was a traditional ornament for summer windows.

[Birds and lotus, 2015]

These pictures were also drawn as a pair. Two birds swimming together is the symbol of love between couples. This picture was presented to Dr. Aesun Shin as being my wonderful mentor.

From the beginning of learning Korean traditional folk painting, one of my aims was to draw this kind of picture.  I loved the dynamic power of this blue dragon. This picture was presented to my M.Sc. and Ph.D. mentor, Dr. Daehee Kang, which was eventually donated to Seoul National University College of Medicine.

This was a quite large-sized work (it’s about 160cm tall). This was the picture I drew before my Ph.D. final dissertation.  Rock traditionally means longevity, however, I interpret this as perseverance. My dissertation was tough, and I tried to endure as if I were the rocks in the picture.

After I settled in U.S. alone, I needed any hope to live on. Winter in Boston was harsh, and I was lonely. I began to grab a brush and paint again.

[Love your life, 2016]

This picture was given to my child, who loved this painting from the beginning.

[Hee, double joy, 2016]

This Chinese character is pronounced as double “Hee”, meaning “great joy doubled”.

[Bok, a good luck, 2016]

This Chinese character painting, pronounced “Bok” means “Good luck”.

[Ae, love, 2017]

I draw this Chinese character painting, longing for my husband to come, who was in abroad at that time. It is called “Ae”, which means “love”.

[Hwa, peace]

I draw this picture after I heard the news from N. Korea. It seems that everyone including me needed peace: peace of mind,  of course.

[Plum, a bird, and moonlight, 2017]

Boston is too cold and winter is endless. Plum is the symbol of early spring. I couldn’t wait until the spring comes.

[Phoenixes in a couple, 2017]

The meaning of phoenixes staring at the sun means “Never give up by worldly hassle”.  The picture was drawn by the time I was struggling with choosing the direction of my life.

[Group of lotus, 2017]

Lotus, as mentioned before, is the symbol of wisdom. I spent almost 7 days to paint,  fully concentrating on this piece, trying to reflect my passion for “wisdom”.

I loved the details and color used. Actually, mixed colors from pigments come up with serendipity. I loved the color of leaves, bluish green, which make me calm.

I love painting peonies. You need to master the technique called “Barim”, or giving  gradation with a water-soaked brush after you paint your color.

Updated 2018

[A scenery with books. 2018]

This was painted in monotone to express tidiness of a scholar I admired, in commemoration of his retirement as an epidemiologist.