Heeyoung Kim - Botanical Artist & Instructor

A watercolor painting depicting forest floor full of layered leaves and mushrooms. A butterfly, Eastern Comma emerging from them along with early spring ephemerals. Enjoy! 😊

Forest floor full of layered leaves.. .
Eastern Comma emerging . .
Along with early spring ephemerals. .
Life thrives together. .
In harmony. .
In interdependence. .
Watercolor in progress ©️Heeyoung Kim 2026

#botanicalart #naturalhistoryart #natureart

Oh, thank you so much! I am glad you enjoy seeing my art 🙏🏼

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season! I hope you all have wonderful things to celebrate at this time of the year. Cheers, Blessings and Peace to You All! 🙏🏼

#botanicalart #merrychristmas #happyholidayseason

Thank you for your lovely comment! That warms my heart today. 🙏🏼

A field sparrow painted in watercolor. It sits on a beach of a wild rose with bunch of red rose hips. I added Indian Grass as its color goes well with the sparrow while providing nest materials and food sources. I hope you enjoy it.

Are you feeling down? Look outside and listen to a little sparrow singing. . Sometimes the wind is too strong, but it keeps living its life . . . doing what it’s supposed to do . . .
Blessings to you all . . .

#botanicalart #birdsinart #naturalhistoryart #SciArt

That is exactly what I like to say through this painting 🤗

I am painting American Tree Sparrow, a tiny sparrow wintering in Illinois. They are so cute and enjoying seeds from native plants. The painting with winter plants looks simple with mostly shades of brown, but it is still charming and beautiful. Watercolor.

Have you seen winter bird yet? They eat seeds from the “dead” native plants. When you deadhead the flowers, you remove critical food sources for the birds. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼. I painted American Tree Sparrow with Stiff Goldenrod and Cup Plant. Aren’t they cute? #botanicalart #SciArt #birdsinart #naturalhistory

Peace to you all 🙏🏼.
A Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding on a Cardinal Flower.
Watercolor in progress.
©️Heeyoung Kim 2025.

#botanicalart #SciArt #naturalhistoryart

A kindhearted person . . .

#tree #kindness #life

Collaborators:
• Heeyoung Kim and Brushwood Botanical Artists
• Sharing Our Shore- Waukegan (LCAS)
•Waukegan History Museum at Carnegie

Exhibit Title
Through the Eyes of Piping Plover: the Flora, Fauna and People of Waukegan Shores

On view until October 30

Venue:
Waukegan History Museum at Carnegie. 1 N Sheridan Rd, Waukegan, IL

Museum opening hours:
Wed - Fri: 11 am - 4 pm
Sat: 11 am - 3 pm
This exhibit showcases 47 paintings of piping plover, other shorebirds plus plants in the dunes ecosystem.
Artists: Brushwood Botanical Artists and myself.
I can give a guided tour to a group.

#botanicalart #birdsinart #exhibition

An elegant Cedar Waxing sitting on a branch of Pokeweed. It’s cinnamon and pale yellow colors are so pretty. But its head marking looks like it is wearing a pair of sunglasses. Another fun fact about Cedar Waxing: they eat ripe fruits so much and they sometimes end up getting drunken and fall asleep on the ground. Isn’t it funny?

Cedar Waxing loves eating ripe fruits, so much so that they get intoxicated and fall asleep wherever . . . Hope your weekend won’t be like cedar waxing’s. 😆.
Painting it with Pokeweed which is toxic. Wearing a mask while painting its pretty fruits.
#botanicalart #birdsinart #watercolor #SciArt

Much appreciated for your comment!

Thank you 🙏🏼.

A watercolor painting of a chestnut. Beautiful brown with shine in the outer skin in contrast to the spiky outer shell. I loved painting it as a symbol of abundance in the fall.

Fall is in the air…. Everyone is busy… I feel like becoming a squirrel gathering bits and pieces of the season for potential paintings even though I don’t have time right now…. Hope this little piece of art helps you find a moment of serenity… 🙏🏼
#botanicalart #ScieArt #watercolor

I am so glad to hear that! My best wishes to your botanical art journey! I hope I can meet you someday. 🤗🤗🤗

Title of the exhibit: Through the Eyes of Piping Plovers: The Flora, Fauna and People of the Waukegan Shores.
The museum address: 1 N Sheridan road, Waukegan, IL

Collaborators:
Sharing Our Shore - Waukegan (LCAS)
Waukegan History Museum at Carnegie
Brushwood Botanical Artists

Come meet the artists and view the exhibit! I am going to host an Artists Walkthrough with 5 participating artists. It’s always fun to hear from the artists.
Sat, Sept 20, 1-3 pm
At Waukegan History Museum at Carnegie.
Artworks depicting piping plovers, shorebirds …
#botanicalart #SciArt #exhibit

Collaborators:
Share Our Shore - Waukegan (Lake County Audubon Society)
Waukegan History Museum at Carnegie

Address of the museum: 1 Sheridan Rd, Waukegan, Il.

Piping Plover family planted for an exhibit at Waukegan History Museum at Carnegie. Subtle sand colored plovers are perfect to blend in the shore in disguise. So I painted natural gravels and sand with some woods. Come and see the opening exhibit this Friday September 12, 2-4 pm. Various paintings of plants and birds will be featured.

Art exhibit opening. Public Reception, Friday, Sept 12, 2-4 pm, at Waukegan History Museum at Carnegie.

15 artists of Heeyoung Kim Botanical Art Acedemy present 47 paintings of flora and fauna featuring Piping Plover and shorebirds. Collaborators and more in the comment.
#botanicalart #SciArt #art

A realistic self portrait pencil drawing. I'm looking out a doorway from a small room, eyes frowning, a look of consternation on my face.

In progress: "self (WTF is going on? What are they doing over there?)", graphite on paper, 9x9" #art

Fantastic!

A honey bee in its actual size in watercolor. Presented next to a pencil point to show the scale. It looks very realistic and detailed, but it is actually minimally described. When too much paint applied, the tiny space will become messy and unrecognizable. Often I just need to know where to put one dot.

Tiny things . . .
Painting tiny bees in their original scale requires precision, yet minimal descriptions to achieve just enough impression of the reality.
Often it’s all about where to put one dot.

#natureart #botanicalartist #SciArt

New Zoom workshops: Pre-Studied for Eco-Botanicals. Bees, Butterflies and Birds. Starting in Aug 21. When you wanted to add pollinators and birds to your botanical art, but were not sure how to start, this is an opportunity to learn how to draw and paint them. 😊
Check it out on my website.

What's your favorite summer native flower? Among many strong contenders, red and blue lobelia are my favorites, yet two silenes, royal catchfly and fire pink, change my opinion whenever I see them. I can't wait to get back to this painting...
Info: my next Zoom class … in the comment
#botanicalart

The plant in this post is Wild Bergamot, Monarda fistulosa. Flowers can be lavender, pinkish or bluer. In other regions you can find a hot pink or red native monarda. Very pretty and pollinator magnet.
The chubby pollinator is Clearwing Hummingbird Moth showing off its clear windows in the wings.

Pollinators and native plants thrive together in a healthy ecosystem. Small thing we can do is just nurturing some native plants. When you don’t have a space to plant them, like and share native plant advocating posts 😉 instead of nonnative ornamental plants.
#botanicalart #SciArt #environment

Peace to your weekend 🙏🏼
Native Irish, Blue Flag, Iris virginica shrevei. I found rather purplish version and painted it, while it often is more bluish. It’s a beautiful native iris, but Siberian Iris is wildly popular in garden landscaping, to my sadness.

#botanicalart #environmentalism #SciArt

Thank you so much!