korean cats

My father's wife went to Korea recently, and she very kindly got me some lovely gifts I must share with you. This cat postcard is probably the cutest (printed) cat I've ever seen, seriously! How can someone look at that little face and not smile? Impossible! I just found out that there's a webstore with more items like this cutie, Jetoy. Unfortunately most information is in Korean, a language I do not master one little bit, but maybe there are ways around that. There are just too many precious things there!



On the other hand, I might just as well go to Seoul for some live shopping instead! I was reading this little shopping guide, and it seems to be a city to my taste in general. If I do go I'll definitely visit the National Museum of Korea, where this beautiful notebook is from. Oh, I can just imagine all the treasures in such a museum. I'm a bit of a museum-runner, not because I'm not interested in art, I am indeed, but I tend to get overwhelmed. So I usually run through quickly first, like a browsing session, and then go back and stay longer in front of the pieces that made the strongest impression on me (tilting my head to the side, nodding understandingly, sighing ...). When it comes to Asian art though, I will surely be overwhelmed and then some. Only doing it will let me know how it will go.



This painting is called “Cats and Sparrows”, by Byeon Sang-byeok, 18C. It seems cats are popular in Korea, all the more reason for me to go there!



A little fan card was also among the presents. Very pretty with a print by Shin Yun-bok, 17C, from Gansong Art Gallery. It says on the back: “A man staring at a woman with her hand in the water and a young man with a long tobacco pipe in his mouth and his hand on a woman’s shoulder, forcefully engaging in a conversation. A long bearded elder showing composure, listening to the chords of a reed instrument and a clarinet type. All of these character’s interactions on the boat are successfully portrayed when it could’ve been monotonous.” In case you were wondering what was going on there. Now you know.



I know it's a bit weird maybe, but even getting a Korean receipt made me happy, because it's so nice looking! I love Asian alphabets and typography.

One day, hopefully, I might post pictures from my travels in the Far East. One day ...