STORY BEHIND THE ART OF JAMIE JM KIM
21st Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists at Wave Hill
Roselle
Hibiscus sabdariffa
Hibiscus sabdariffa goes by many names: roselle, hibiscus, Jamaican sorrel, Queensland jelly plant, carcade and Florida cranberry. Many species are grown for their showy flowers or as landscape shrubs, and they attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds. The one I painted is roselle, the fruit.
Roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) is a species of Hibiscus probably native to West Africa. It is used to make a kind of burlap, and as an infusion, known as carcade. It is a shrub that grows to 7 or 8 feet tall, with flowers that are white to pale yellow with a dark red spot at the base of each petal. The calyx at the base matures over several months to a bright red fruit, about 1.5 inches in size.
Hibiscus’s renown in South Korea since the Goryeo dynasty in 918 appealed to me. It serves as the national flower, symbolizing the country’s perseverance, which allowed a small, weak country to survive during many historical hardships. Hibiscus is recognized for its unique characteristic of persistently blooming a new flower every morning for about 100 days, even in a harsh environment.
Roselle, or Hibiscus sabdariffa, is used widely in many countries to lower blood pressure, and it is still a subject of study for this treatment. When I was young, my mom often brewed the dried leaves of hibiscus for my dad, who was struggling with high blood pressure, to drink it as a tea. I was not really interested in it when I was so young, but I recently saw the fruit of hibiscus in National Geographic Magazine, which fascinated me with its oddly beautiful appearance. This made me decide to paint it.
I was worried about expressing the subject in the painting with just one color, but it was very charming! I painted it without realizing that the time flew. For its unique body, and moist and glossy surface, I specifically focused on gradation of the color, and for its hair, I used very tiny brushes (no.1 and no.0) and colored pencil for details.
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