STORY BEHIND THE ART OF Albina P. Herron

25th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and Wave Hill

Abutilon

Abutilon x hybridum

I have a fair number of houseplants including Abutilon (flowering maple) that stay in bloom for quite a while. I grew this one from Abutilon bellevue seeds bought online from Etsy. The plant is about seven years old. As it grows quite tall, I keep cutting it back and rooting the cuttings into other pots.

I have always liked flowering maples. I love the shape of maple tree leaves and my appreciation crossed over to this plant. I like the dry crepe papery texture of the flowers. I find the color changes fascinating to watch as they go from bud through flowering to dying. Their graceful shape is also very appealing. The plant seems to like being rootbound. It flowers profusely for a while, takes a rest, and starts again. It spends its summers outside on the deck in the sun. It winters in a south window in the staircase.

I thought it would be interesting to paint this plant in traditional gouache, which I have used quite often for my botanical work.

I cut some of the flowering stems, tied them together and placed them in a glass of water, under a small overhead light. To cut some of the glare, I modified the light by taping some tracing paper over it.

I now work on mostly black paper for traditional gouache, because I like the idea of using opaque mediums on black paper to depict light. Traditional gouache can be very tricky to work with: it re-wets and picks up with each layer, so painting takes a very long time, as I let the colors and the paper dry thoroughly between layers. I don't underpaint with white, as I found doing that made the colors dead looking. Pigments need to be slowly built up and white added very carefully to avoid this.

As I was working on this painting, I was a bit concerned that the bottom was in deep shadow, however that is what I was seeing in front of me. When the flowers died, I worked from photos while the plant started to grow roots in the glass of water, so when I finished, I planted my specimen!

I struggled a great deal with the top leaves arguing with myself about how I was painting them, but that is how I observed the light on them. 

Since I worked from the top down for the most part on this painting, the flowers may have been a bit faded when I got down to them. They had already begun to change color. I suspect that the lighting and the black background I had behind the plant also influenced my perception of the color. (I always put black or white foam board behind what I’m painting to block out distractions as my studio is small and somewhat cluttered). 

I'm attracted to moody mysterious light. I spent a lot of time in the woods as a child, often sitting on a rock drawing tree roots. Even now, as my studio looks out on woodland, I watch light on tree limbs against dark shadowy woods. This tends to show up in my work. I push the contrasts.

I like to paint the things that surround me. I marvel at the incredible amount of detail in even the simplest plant, and I try to get people to stop and really see something that they walk past daily, but ignore, for how wonderful it is. So, I hope people look at my work and say, “I never realized how wonderful everyday plants are.”

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Read more about this artist's work: Abundant Future