Jane Park’s life changed forever in July 2021.

That’s when her 10-month-old daughter, Grace, was rushed to the hospital, suffering from seizures and brain swelling.

Grace was ultimately diagnosed with refractory epilepsy, and the brain damage she suffered necessitated around-the-clock care. Suddenly, Park went from 15-year LPGA Tour veteran to full-time caregiver, alongside her husband, Pete.

In the years since Grace’s diagnosis, Park has documented on social media the grief, frustration and small victories of Grace’s journey. She returned to play a final tournament on the LPGA Tour, the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, in 2023, and later that year received the LPGA’s Heather Farr Perseverance Award. In 2022, Pete had begun caddying for Hye-Jin Choi, who has two runner-up finishes this year and is ranked sixth on the CME points list heading into this week’s season’s finale.

Park isn’t onsite in Naples, Fla. this week – but her paintings are, which is wildly impressive given Park didn’t pick up a paintbrush until February of this year.

In honor of the LPGA’s 75th anniversary, Park created original commemorative artwork which will be used for several purposes, including giveaways and as gifts with ticket purchases.

“We were looking for a creative way to celebrate the end of our 75th anniversary season,” said Christina Lance, the LPGA’s director of communications. “Jane’s art caught our eye, and we loved the connection with a former player.”

Park turned to painting as a “getaway,” she said, and honed her stroke in the most relatable of ways.

“You can learn anything on YouTube nowadays,” she told me with a laugh earlier this week. “I looked up simple landscaping, pictures that I could draw, and there’s a bunch of tutorials online where it gives you, step by step, how to mix colors, and which brushes to use. And it was really a great thing for me to discover, just so that I can kind of shut my brain off, and just literally do something that is step by step. And the end creation is often very pretty. So I really enjoyed the process and just getting to learn more about color theory and feeding my brain something different.”

In January, the LPGA will formally celebrate its 75th year with a pro-am at Pebble Beach, where Park’s artwork will be auctioned off with proceeds benefitting the LPGA Foundation.

Park used a molding medium on canvas for the green background of each piece, and acrylic paint. She divided the LPGA’s 75 years into four different time frames, with standout players representing each era.

“Obviously there are some very recognizable figures in golf, and I basically I chose a reference picture that might have decent shadowing, because that makes the figure pop off of the canvas,” Park said. “It was really hard to choose the ones that I did because there’s so many.”

For Park, making art has enhanced her life in previously unforeseen ways.

“It brought me a way to connect with people outside, even more so than with just talking about my daughter’s disability,” she said. “But also, I like painting things for people so that they feel seen.”

The effort Park puts into her artwork is tantamount to the energy she pours into other areas of her life – as a wife, daughter, friend and devoted mother to Grace.

“A labor of love,” she said.

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