25/09/2025
A morning spent in the garden of the house where renowned Korean artist Lee Jung-Seop sheltered for a year with his wife and two sons after fleeing the Korean war.
Despite living in a tiny 4.6m square room with meals made from leftovers, their time there was happy - playing on the beach, finding lots of small crabs to eat and spending time with each other. Although Lee Jung-seob disliked painting portraits, he painted his neighbours while pursuing his own expressionist paintings including his iconic bulls.
Unfortunately the family were later separated due to the conflict, from which the artist never recovered.
I felt compelled to stay here sketching for a bit longer than I usually do.
The next day, I was admiring the window display (a beautiful collection of Penguin books) of , a newly opening bookshop and creative space, and the owner kindly invited us in. The space overlooks the garden I had been sketching in the day previously, and we had many shared interests including Lee Jung-Seop's work and story. A wonderful meeting!
