STORY BEHIND THE ART OF SEONGWEON AHN
Wildly Exquisite: Florida’s Native Plants
Silver maple
Acer saccharinum
I like maple trees very much. In my native country of Korea, I recall the spectacular sight as the Japanese maple leaves, with their small bright leaves, colored the mountains a vivid red every autumn.
There are an especially large number of maple trees in New Jersey where I now live. I found the summertime-green silver maple while taking a walk at Glen Rock Duck Pond Park near my house. The pandemic prevented me from going to places where many people gathered, so I naturally went to places where there were few people. I was lucky to find a quiet spot with such a wonderful tree. The only thing I could do in the frustrating situation of the pandemic was to observe and paint, and I became grateful that I could spend a lot of time on painting.
The silver maple is more attractive than other maples because of its leaves. The lobe shaped leaves divide into more lobes, as the middle pieces are again divided into three, with the back of the leaf a silvery white. The silver-white color on the back of the leaf is what distinguishes it from other autumn leaves.
I like paintings with unusual compositions, but this time I wanted to draw a picture that was more traditionally botanical, one which helped viewers understand the plant well. This is the first time I’ve ever included the seeds and pistil. It would have been nice to do it in a bigger size, but I chose to draw it in A3 size because of limited time. Next time, I want to draw a picture of the four seasons of the silver maple, with a lot of detail.
There were also many difficulties in expressing the texture of rough bark and I had to do it with patience to make it look three-dimensional. It was fun to draw a close-up of the seeds. When I visited the same place several more times to observe the seeds, I felt sorry for my husband who accompanied me. Waiting for me to observe only one tree takes patience!
The leaves on the tree were painted as brightly as possible to express them in bright sunlight. The autumn leaves were not the pretty red I wanted. The leaves were a little withered, perhaps due to the tornado that had passed through New Jersey the past summer. I didn’t like it, so I drew it a little smaller.
I hope that visitors to the gallery of the exhibition Wildly Exquisite will be happy to see beautiful paintings, a relief from being confined due to the pandemic.
Next Story
Read more about this artist’s work: Abundant Future