Jane Park retired from professional golf in 2020 to give full-time care to her daughter, Grace, who suffered brain damage through seizures in the first year of her life. Like most professional athletes who are in a second phase of life, Park needed something to fulfill her competitive fire.
For Park, that became art.
The 39-year-old Southern California native is self-taught via YouTube videos and is about 11 months into her side gig as an artist. She’s already been commissioned to do numerous paintings, including a Clayton Kershaw portrait for LPGA Tour player Lizette Salas, and one for two-time Solheim Cup captain Stacey Lewis’ recent retirement.
The LPGA Tour gave Park an open canvas to create something to represent the 75th anniversary of the tour, so she did five scenes representing the different eras in tour history. Those will be used for giveaways, gifts and auctioned for charity.
There was a surfing theme for Tiffany Joh, her former UCLA golf teammate, who has two paintings gifted from Park displayed in her apartment. She’s done countless gifts for family and friends—which she displays on Instagram. She’s so into it that she already had all of her Christmas gifts painted and shipped by early December.
It’s been a continuous joy to learn, and it began when an aunt of Park’s left her art supplies while visiting.
“I just started messing with acrylic paints one day and looked up YouTube videos to figure out techniques and colors and see what I can kind of render up,” Park said in a phone interview with Golf Digest. “It just kind of snowballed from there.”
After a star-studded amateur career, highlighted by a victory in the 2004 U.S. Women’s Amateur, Park started playing on the tour in 2007, had 16 career top-10s and was still searching for her first victory when she retired.
Jane Park poses with daughter Grace during Stacy Lewis' retirement celebration. (Photo courtesy of Jane Park)
Daughter Grace, who is 5, will often be near her mom in a studio in their Atlanta home. Grace, who has refractory epilepsy and is non-verbal, will usually be watching “Ms. Rachel” toddler learning videos on her iPad from her comfy chair while her mom is crafting something. Park will keep an eye on her, and sometimes, there’s a nurse to help Grace, who has substantial challenges due to sudden seizures and brain damage sustained when she was 11 months old.
“It’s a super peaceful time that she and I can spend together. I’m able to do something that I enjoy with my favorite person in the world next to me,” Park said.
Park’s husband, Pete Godfrey, is an LPGA caddie for South Korea’s Hye Jin Choi and is on the road 30-something weeks a year to tournaments all over the world. They are a lot like many families, navigating jobs and life and challenges. As Grace’s full-time caregiver, she finds peace in her art.
“Honestly, it takes my brain off of everything,” Park said. “I'm able to turn on some music, put on some headphones, turn on a podcast or a book or something. Literally, every other part of my brain shuts off. And the only part is the creative part that is trying to mix the perfect hue for whatever skin tone I'm trying to do or whatever shadows I'm trying to paint into make the painting more realistic and 3D.
“I just really like that aspect of it because my brain, when I'm not doing art, is all over the place. It’s hectic, thinking of 10 different things at once, as most moms kind of do. But when I'm able to go into my little art space, I'm able to kind of let all those things go and be nothing but just an artist or a creator, whatever you want to call it.”
Park mostly likes depicting sports. She emphasizes that she’s not good with faces because of all the nuances. For the Kershaw project, she knew she had to get details like his facial hair and red stitches on the baseball correct. She’s done everything from Tiger Woods to athletes with disabilities, and she really loves to paint LPGA golfers because so many are friends.
Godfrey has enjoyed watching his wife soar. When they bought their home, one room was designated for Park and her art.
“Obviously, she spent most of her life playing golf, which is kind of a dedication within itself,” Godfrey said. “I see this as a variation on that. It's like something that she's picked up and has a talent for and now she's developing it.
“It's been really interesting. She was laughing the other day, and said she thought her first pictures were really good. And then she looks back now and she's like, ‘Man, I can't believe how bad it was and how much better it is now.’”
Jane Park made a brief return to the LPGA in 2023 by playing in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational.
David Berding
Godfrey thought her initial projects were good, too. That’s the perfectionist in Park.
The holidays mean family and friends from different corners of the world travel to Georgia and pop in and out. Park gets to show them her latest projects straight from the studio. Godfrey is home for a good stretch in the offseason and takes a big role in Grace’s daily care. Park took a trip with her friends, too.
It’s all a balance. Park’s perspective on life and golf has changed so much since having her daughter. She wouldn’t change a thing about her golf career.
Jane Park reads to her daughter Grace at a bookstore. (Courtesy of Jane Park)
“If I could change anything, I would want my daughter to not suffer,” Park said. “It’s been tough to come to terms with her having to deal with ailments that she has that deter her quality of life. The amount of love people have shown her and the ways and the amount of love that has grown in my heart, I couldn’t even quantify it. She hasn’t said a single word to me in her entire life, and she’s changed the chemistry of my brain.”
And maybe this is why she’s switched her focus from golf to art, something her daughter can watch her do from their home.
Asked to describe what her future in art, Park said: “It’s a challenging hobby I’ll never perfect. Golf is the same way. It’s an ongoing challenge. It’s been fun and a challenge, and I’m not one to back down from a challenge.”