Haechilbo-san in North Korea Painting

Chilbo-san, Myeongcheon-gun, Hamkyongbuk-do, North Korea. July 14th to 17th, 2012. Chilbo-san is a magnificent mountain system located on the north eastern coast of North Korea. Locals call it their Kumgang-san, but I think it better resembles a miniature Grand Canyon. Chilbo-san is one of the six sacred mountains of the peninsula. The 250km² zone gets its name from a supposed seven treasures that are hidden there. Like all of Korea’s great coastal mountain clusters, the topography is split into three sections. The section located on the inland side of the main ridge is called the inner section. The area facing the ocean is called the outer section, and the coastal area is called the sea section. This same format exists at Kumgang-san and Seorak-san in the south. It is not part of the Baekdu Daegan, but was a worthy detour. We spent four nights there. 2012년 7월 14~17일: 칠보산(함경북도 명천군) 칠보산은 북한의 동북 해안에 있는 명산이다. 여기서는 함경도의 금강산이라고 한다지만 축소판 그랜드캐년이라고 하는 것이 더 어울린다. 칠보산은 한반도 6대 성산의 하나다. 250km²의 이 지역에 일곱 가지의 보물이 묻혀있다고 해서 붙여진 이름이다. 한반도 해안선 근처에 자리한 다른 명산처럼 칠보산도 세 구역으로 나뉘어 있다. 주 능선을 중심으로 내륙 쪽을 내칠보, 바다 쪽을 외칠보, 해안 지역을 해칠보라고 부른다. 금강산과 남쪽의 설악산도 같은 식으로 구분한다. 칠보산은 백두대간에 속하는 산은 아니지만 우회해서 들러 볼 만한 곳이다. 우리 일행은 여기서 4박을 보냈다. The work process: In the case of the original photograph, it was taken from a moving vehicle as we entered the Chilbosan area on a wet July day in 2012. Everything is wonky in North Korea, not many straight lines, with a lot of things made from local timbers and stone. My art teacher once told me no one can draw a straight line, so don't try too hard. That may also match the adage, that there are no straight lines in nature. Fractals, well then that's another thing. That's looking inwards, not outwards. I was very happy when I completed this painting. It is quite folkish with its finish, but as I painted it, it also reminded me of the eastern bay of plenty, around the Motu river area, where the extended family live. There, pointy bluffs drop into a wide curved sea and a cool wind slides down from the Raukumara ranges in the background. It was kind of my first steps towards impressionism, by trying to capture mood and colour, rather than over detail. It was popular once posted on my FB page and I was glad to sell it to an old high school friend now practising law in the middle east. I hope it looks good on his wall. It's pretty cool how art can end up on walls, where they normally stay for as long as the painting survives. In the case of oils, hundreds of years. No one else paints the beautiful coastline of northern Korea. One day when Korea is unified or living together in peace, my works will be pre that period.