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Grandpa Chan


Grandpa Chan (Lee Chan-jae, 76) is a Korean water color artist whose practice includes making water colors of the world around him in order to communicate with his grandchildren who live half a world away. He learned Instagram just so he could draw for them. On his account "Drawings for my grandchildren" he posts his images on Instagram along with a story or memory to go along with them. Although he has begun to use his fame to sell prints of his work- all the money he earns goes to a project called The Unloneliness Project, and initiative from The Foundation for Art & Healing, and to his grandkids' college funds. When I first started following him on Instagram, he lived in Brazil, but he has since moved back to Korea. His images are moving. Sometimes they tell stories about what is happening in his life at the moment, sometimes the stories are more about what is going on in the world - especially when large world events happen (good or bad). He is poignant and introspective and his work has a very intimate feeling to it. He paints all types of subject matter, but my favorite are usually his figurative paintings. I love when he depicts his memories of himself or his children when they were young or when he paints his grandchildren. He has 339K+ followers on instagram, he's had shows in multiple countries and all of this was never his intention. All he wanted to do was cheer up because he was feeling like he didn't have purpose in his life and his kids suggested taking up painting again in order to connect with his grandkids through social media. There was just something so special about his work that I'm not surprised that so many people follow him. I look forward to his stories (that his wife writes for him). I love his fluid and untainted style of painting. It's like it is straight from the heart and the mood each picture captures always matches the story that goes with it. I feel like I'm connected to him. I love his artistic practice and the premise behind it. 





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