▲ Jasujeong Folk Painting / CEO Gwak Gyeong-hee

Folk painter Gwak Gyeong-hee won numerous prizes at numerous painting competitions during her school years. But her parents insisted that she must make a success by studying hard and getting a lucrative job. She did as her parents said but she struggled with running her interior prop shop after graduation. During the course of finding a breakthrough, she suddenly realized the fact that she had a talent in painting.

"It is regretful that I was forced into studying hard and getting a lucrative job while wasting my proven talent in painting. In fact, I didn't even made for prestigious university and I was just an ordinary woman who ran an interior shop rather clumsily. So I thought of my talent in painting and it might be a good idea to sell my painting in the shop. So I started folk painting" says Gwak.

She took several folk painting courses in Masan, Changwon City and continued the practice for 5 years. Feeling a thirst for more, she went under the instruction of Song Gyu-tae, a master folk painter, and practiced hard for another 5 years.

"Folk painting is easy that everybody can do it without much difficulty. However, it requires utmost attention to detail and concentration as one single mistake ruins everything and you have to start all over again from the beginning. But it is good that the process of concentration creates psychological stability."

The reason it is called folk painting is because ordinary people drew it for hobby in the past so the objects were things that were commonly used in their daily lives. Also the objects in the paintings symbolize the painter's wish to ward off bad energy and bad luck but invite good energy and good luck instead. 

Gwak has so far painted more than 200 works and held and joined numerous solo and group exhibitions. She is running Jasujeong Folk Painting in Jinju where students are willing to travel from other neighboring cities such as Gimhae, Sancheong, Goseong and Sacheon to learn her skills. PowerKorea.