Featured Artist Joyce Lee

Close-up floral paintings in oil by artist Joyce Lee invite reflection and an appreciation of nature. Visit her website to see more of her work.

 

 

I am an artist who is also a mother of three beautiful children, a wife to a sweet husband, a teacher of wonderful art students, a black-belt martial artist, a player and teacher of the piano, and a volunteer for the local school’s activities and sports teams. I have many titles to describe myself.

 

 

I am a dreamer and an achiever when it comes to everything that I do. I dream of what I want to be rather than getting lost in the past, although I believe it is good to always remember what has happened before.

 

 

I love to achieve my goals and I am not afraid to create new ones. I believe everything is meant to be and must have a meaning for others.

 

 

Starting with the inherent visual beauty of flowers, the point of my work is to give people a sense of serenity. It allows them to open themselves to a deeper emotional response.

 

 

I hope people are able to discover and feel hope, peace, joy, comfort in my work, and most of all a love of life and nature. I want my children to love the beauty of life and nature.

 

 

My approach is by reinterpreting traditional Korean paintings—cephalopod ink and water color on rice paper—into oil paintings on canvas.

 

 

The thought process behind this is to combine the modern and western mediums to present traditions and customs that are getting lost with the pace of life today. As people become more and more focused on “what’s next,” I would like to provide an opportunity for them to reflect on “what was.”

 

 

Making connections from my Korean heritage to other cultures of the world through the beauty of flowers can be a bridge to understanding one another on a different level.

 

 

For example, “Blue Magic, Honor,” (white peonies on blue background) shows a traditional Korean subject—peonies. They are  used symbolically to represent “honor” and often displayed in living rooms. My peonies were painted using multiple whites with different tones and temperatures to achieve a sense of stirring in the petals. The interplay of deep and rich blues of the background and the reddish tips of the inner petals give the flowers a sense of presence in the painting.

 

 

Although peonies are a common flower, I hope that my paintings can inspire a unique appreciation of their beauty. If they open the door to a moment of reflection, then I have accomplished something in a small way.

 

Artist Joyce Lee invites you to follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

 

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