Wildflowers of Illinois Collection

The universe is not only for human beings. Every creature, living or nonliving, big or small, has its own significance. Their existence enables human beings to survive. However, not all creatures are equally considered. When we just look out of our car windows while we are stopped at a traffic light, we can see pretty little flowers along the side of the road. When you take a close look at them, they are perfectly structured and colored. Each one has its own charm and beauty. We don’t need to root out weeds (wildflowers are considered weeds when we don’t know them) from our backyards or mown everywhere and feel good seeing bold front yards and curbs. 

My mission as an artist is to show the beauty and significance of nature by painting flowers, especially native wildflowers including rare, threatened or endangered species. I love to dramatize the unique characteristics of each plant I take as my subject. That helps people actually see the little creations and notice their beauty which is not often appreciated.

Drawing or painting wildflowers is quite a task for me. It requires patience and passion: sometimes I wait years till my subject blooms into a form that is pleasing to me, and I track every single steps of its life circle in order to put more accurate and scientific information into my paintings. Battling against the hot sun or vicious bugs and insects, though, my love for the unloved creatures has grown deeper and deeper wishing their beauty and significance would be shared with the world.

All pictures on this website are copyrighted by Heeyoung Kim and may not be used without prior written permission.