STORY BEHIND THE ART OF JEAN EMMONS

15th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists at

The Horticultural Society of New York

Hibiscus II

Hibiscus cv.

Two years ago, a friend gave me a potted hibiscus as a houseplant. It was so garish, I couldn’t even look at it, much less paint it. I couldn’t throw it out, in case my friend came back and asked me where it was. One day, I noticed some of the dying hibiscus flowers had fallen off the plant onto my living room floor. As I picked them up, I realized they were so beautiful -- muted colors, fantastic texture. Now I can’t stop painting dying hibiscus flowers. I completely lose myself in the intricacies of their texture. I try to see how much color I can feed into the hibiscus and still have it look like a hibiscus. Hours of happiness...

Onion

Allium cepa

I had to do a “self-portrait” for a local self-portrait show staged by a friend. I never take the self-portrait idea very seriously. I had to do a plant, as that’s what I like to do. So, I chose an onion, as I like to think of myself as a person of “many layers.” Really, I was just looking for an excuse to paint a white onion, as I had been thinking how beautiful they are. They’re like a giant pearl or opal, reflecting lots of beautiful high-key colors in their delicate, papery skin. After the onion came back from the self-portrait show, I took it out of its frame and painted another 40 layers on it. 

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