Featured Virtual Art Gallery Artist: HeeJune Shin
Posted in Art, Featured Artists, Home Design, Residential Design, Uncategorized on June 15, 2016
A native of Korea, HeeJune Shin dreamt of being a painter all her life. She came to the US to study nutrition, and received a master’s degree in public health nutrition. In 1998 she enrolled in art school, with much commitment and gratitude.
Through her interest in art history and museum visits around the world, she was inspired to become a representational painter of the post impressionism era, with an emphasis on visual perception of color.
“I am thrilled to be able to paint. The object of my painting is light. What light does to the color and form never ceases to fascinate me. Each moment is uniquely a new song with its own colors. It is a privilege to observe the moment and sing a new song on a canvas.”
HeeJune defines herself as a Colorist in the tradition of Monet in France and Hawthorne-Hensche-Przewodek in USA. Colorists attempt to see and render objects in color variations in the light key in which they are seen.
Starting with abstract shapes of colors in the right relationship to each other, HeeJune’s paintings then gradually emerge with form and air to represent the light effect of the moment. She prefers to use a palette knife, “I relish the intimacy and immediacy of strokes that a palette knife brings to a canvas. Through much practice, I am able to make a variety of textures and expressions. My knife stokes speak for the tactile sensitivity I acquired from the brushwork in Chinese calligraphy.”
As a member of Oil Painters of America and a signature member of MN Watercolor Society, HeeJune has received much recognition. Her paintings were accepted at the Fine Arts Exhibition, at the MN State Fair in 2002, 2008 and 2012. In 2011, she was chosen as the featured artist of thewinefest.org for University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital. In 2012, she received McKnight Established Artist Grant, and was selected for the Art in Embassies Program of US Department of State, displaying paintings in Havana, Cuba. Her painting received the 2nd place at MN River Plein Air competition in 2014.
“Guest House at the Villa”
“I am happy that my painting captures the beauty of light. It is a song responding to the moment in time and place. What better way to abide than to surround yourself with the songs of light.”
– HeeJune
See more of HeeJune’s work in the Virtual Art Gallery