Ancient Arts

Hello, I’m Kimberly Grunden

I got my BA in graphic design and information science from SUNY Oswego. I have an interest in design, psychology, and cognition. A lot of my electives during college was psychology courses. In my free time during college I would often be trying to expand my learning. During my graphic design path it was a challenge for me to find what fitted me. I took a lot of classes like, typography, digital media, photography, art history, drawing, 2d design.

During the end of my second year of college I felt like I just picked the wrong major because none of these classes were something, I wanted to spend my life doing in a job field. However, I was recommended to take a web design course and I knew I found where I belonged. Since I am a science and art major, web design was a perfect combination for me and fell in love with the field. Being able to find what I am passionate in drives me as a designer. I was able to become much more successful in my final years of college and much happier.

Why Ancient Arts?

I became interested in Eastern Asian culture around the time I started high school. My best friend at the encouraged me to learn the Korean language. While on that adventure of learning the language, I learned a lot about their culture. From there I was curious on Chinese and Japanese culture as well. How and if they related to one another. When I attended college, I became friends with a few Korean students who helped me continue learning the Korean Language and I would often ask them questions about their home country.

I had an exposure to an Asian language for about 5 years now and decided to take Japanese as my language credit for college. I loved the class. My family tried to tell me not to take Japanese and just take Spanish since it is easier. I insisted in Japanese and learned a lot as well as passed with flying colors! While I was taking the second required Japanese language course, I started to take Japanese art history as an elective. There is where I learned a lot about Japanese culture, and a bit on Chinese culture because the two intertwine a lot.