Based in Ulsan City, artist Huh Bu-geum is best known for her works themed on textile art and preserved flower. Instead of using canvas and paper, Huh chose textile to give colors or painted images onto the surface.

“The charm of textile art is that you can make an instant image without a sketch. You don’t need to worry about the mistake as it can be melted into the work which you might never imagine like what to come out at the end. This is the process you can make a unique art work of your own by using textile.”

Huh and her husband spent a certain period of time in Japan during which she felt a great deal of loneliness. One day she happened to join a textile art class and was enchanted by its charm. Pushing forward her moment’s zeal, she took a course to learn the skill and obtained a textile art instructor’s certificate in 2010.

“Strange to say that obtaining the certificate made me feel I still had more to learn. But I interpreted it as I had actually made advancement in the field. One good thing about textile art is that it is simple yet it gives you a feel of uniqueness that can hardly be found in oil and watercolor.”

Preserved flower reserves a flower through hydration, coloring, preservation and drying. It takes a considerable amount of time and effort in order to create a beautiful work. It has been a trend in Japan, Italy and Colombia for many years while Korea is in early stage. Huh enhanced her style of preserved flower art by learning a certain skill from artist Ma Jin-sik famous for his works themed on wild flower.

“Many people live in cities nowadays. But we can still appreciate the natural beauty of wild flowers as they are always finding a site to grow provided the condition. Seeing them can make us feel happy and we wish to keep it closer to us for as long as we can. Preserved flower in this respect can be a good alternative.”

One of Huh’s works was specially selected for the 33rd Grand Fine Art Exhibition of Korea followed by winning the grand prize at the 35th held last year. She also won a prize at an art exhibition held in Tokyo, Japan. While achieving substantial results in the art world home and abroad, she has been actively engaging in fostering talented future artists.

“Art can start at a very small thing. All I need as a teacher is to help them push forward their zeal until they achieve something. If they are successful in the field, it can positively affect the preserved flower industry as whole. So it naturally promotes the Korea’s confidence in terms of its technique and uniqueness.”

This year, she opened a café <Wild Flower & Coffee Gallery> and is meeting with citizens of Ulsan City through exhibitions and one to one class on textile art and preserved flower. The gallery is located on the corner of a road to Munsusan Mountain and you can hold or join an exhibition as long as you are an artist and have works to display. Huh is planning to organize solo exhibition once a year despite her busy schedule to meet and teach people in the gallery. Quite recently on 3 November, she joined an art fair organized by the Culture Happiness, an organization in Busan, and gave a one day class on making handkerchief with fabric art. “The more people I meet and introduce the charm of textile art and preserved flower, the happier I become. This is why I opened the café and proactively engage in various exhibitions and art fairs.”

<Wild Flower & Coffee Gallery> has become a landmark of the region where artists and people alike can meet and talk about art over a cup of tea or coffee. Huh opened this gallery café last March with will to use it as an open space for all and for art class and exhibition.

“I wish the café to function as a reception room over just a gallery or a teahouse so that people can share their story of daily life alongside tea and art work. For example, I often offer an advice or two to those who are planning to travel Japan since I lived their quite a while.” When asked about future plan, Huh said “I want to spread my concept of this gallery café nationwide over Ulsan City. I hope more and more people would find a place like this in their residence where they can have a chat over a coffee and art works whenever they want.”