What inspired Suzy Lee?

 





How Suzy's personal life shaped her to be an illustrator

In an interview with Behind the Books in 2006, Suzy Lee talks about her early childhood. Suzy explains that when she was  a child, she was not the best artist but her parents encouraged her to explore her interests. Suzy explains that she met an art teacher in primary school which inspired her to become serious in art. In Taiwan dpi Magazine, Suzy Lee explains when she started drawing and what made her want to become an illustrator. Suzy states "When I was a kid, people around me said that I drew very well. (Who didn't when we were kids?) Whatever the truth was, I never doubted to be an artist. I guess ones who really believed that compliment become artists, and those who were smart enough not to believe it are doing some other useful things." 

Additionally, Suzy talks about how her life as a university student and how that shaped her illustrative choices. Suzy says "As I said earlier, being an artist was my inevitable goal in my childhood. I think my dream became more specific. When I was studying painting in university, I became interested in books as a new medium. I started working as a freelance illustrator after I graduate university. Being an illustrator seemed to be a perfect negotiation - the idea was that I could earn my living doing what I like."

Suzy's literary interests as a child

One of the books that Suzy read when she was a child was The Shrinking of Treehorn by Florence Parry Heide. Suzy explains that there were not many picture books in Korea and that she got this book probably from her mother. 
Another book Suzy mentioned reading as a child was The Selfish Giant. In the interview with Behind the Books, Suzy says " I read these books until they were torn apart. As the Gorey’s books gave me a certain feeling of strangeness and solitude, above mentioned books gave me the same feeling that I couldn’t forget." 

Taiwan dpi Magazine interview: http://www.suzyleebooks.com/zeroboard/zboard.php?id=misc&page=10&sn1=&divpage=1&sn=off&ss=on&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=70&PHPSESSID=3a171ec0b82656dfbfdb0ece9e306e27  






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