Sang Lee

"I was very luck to be born in Hay Nam (located on the south side of Korea.) It was a perfect place to learn all about nature." Sang Lee says. "My town was facing the Pacific Ocean and was surrounded by beautiful mountains. It was an incredible sight. It was there that I became an eternal lover of Na- ture." Sang Lee was born in 1949. He was raised by a single mother due to his father's death during the Korean War. Although it was not an easy time for him, Sang Lee remembers his childhood as the most inspirational time of his life. It was his great love for the sea that led him to becoming one of the best seascape painters in Korea.

In 1972, Sang Lee graduated from Seoul University with a degree in fine art. After graduation, he taught drawing at the high school level for three years. In 1975 he became a full-time painter. He started off in many group exhibitions and then went on to private exhibitions. He received first prize at "Sam Mi Art Competition and the Grand Prize at Gu San-Jun Cone, which was the biggest art com- petition in Korea. In 1989 he decided to leave Korea and go to the "bigger world," America. How- ever, when he came to America, he faced many problems. He has no connections in this new country and it was hard to find someone to understand his talent since he was unable to speak a word of English.

Sang Lee has never forgotten his love for the ocean and continues to paint the oceans on both coasts. On the west coast, he includes the recognizable point lobos and big sur in the seascapes; on the east coast, Sang Lee prefers the Cape Cod seascape. Mr. Lee has three children who are also all artistically inclined. He spends his days doing the two things that make him the happiest: painting and tending the garden he loves so much.