Jong Won Kim

When Jong Won Kim (Deborah) opened an art gallery in Seoul, she was interested in art but not passionate about it.

But in the five years she owned the business her affinity with art blossomed. So much so that she's now studying to be an artist herself!

"When I was young all my art teachers encouraged me to do art," says Deborah, who now lives in West Harbour.

"At that time I didn't pay much attention to them. It wasn't until many, many years later, when I started my art gallery and developed relationships with the artists, that I really fell in love with art."

Although Deborah immigrated to New Zealand 15 years ago, she spent the early years travelling backwards and forwards between Korea and Auckland. It wasn't until she sold her gallery and headed Down Under again in 2005 that she really settled down in New Zealand. Shortly afterwards she bought paints, brushes and canvas and started to paint.

"I'd been working for over twenty years. At the same time that I had the gallery I was also the sales and marketing director for an advertising agency and before that I had a fashion boutique selling designer clothes from Italy. But my two children are adults now. I don't have to work to support them anymore so I decided it was time to do something for myself. I wanted to pursue my art."

Deborah was keen to study art in New Zealand, but she lacked confidence. At 52 it was many years since she'd been in the classroom environment and English was her second language. When her kids found out about the foundation course at Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design it seemed like the perfect place to start. The One Year Certificate of Arts and Design (Foundation) is a bridging programme to help non-native English speakers into tertiary arts and design study in New Zealand. The majority of the first semester is spent studying English at FERN English Academy while the second semester is based at Whitecliffe exploring different aspects of arts and design and developing a portfolio.

"It's been an excellent stepping stone for the Bachelor of Fine Arts," says Deborah, who has just been accepted onto the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree programme at Whitecliffe.

"Both FERN and Whitecliffe are very well organised schools. I feel very comfortable at both of them and the staff and students are very nice. My English improved a lot while I was at FERN, especially my writing and my grammar. In the 19 weeks I was there I worked my way up from pre-intermediate to upper-intermediate.

"Whitecliffe has also been wonderful. I've been happy here every single day. Even though I'm 52 the oldest in our class I'm treated the same as the other students. I've got good lecturers and my work has progressed a great deal since I've been studying here. This school is teaching me everything I need and that's something I couldn't do alone."

As well as teaching her basic arts and design skills, it's also keeping her young.

"Coming here has made me realize it's never too late to study. I don't mind getting old on the outside but I don't want to get old on the inside. That would be terrible!"

When Deborah graduates from the four-year degree programme, she has her sights set on opening another art gallery either in Auckland, back in Korea or in Japan.

"I'd like to open a small, unique gallery. I'll sell my own work there as well as that of other artists. In my experience, art can be difficult to sell so I'd like to open a gallery with a point of difference. I'm very interested in interiors so I'd like to go into clients' homes and advise them on which pieces of art would work best with their interiors."

With her Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts and her lifetime of creative experience, her services are sure to be in hot demand.