The Botanical Art of Roger Tory Peterson and Heeyoung Kim

What forms can botanical art take?

For Roger Tory Peterson, many readers would be most familiar with his field guide plates: the flowers stand proudly upright on the page, situated the same way and sorted so like goes with like. However, he also painted botanicals in many of his bird portraits and alongside other creatures, such as moths. Here, the plants hang naturally around the subject. Bobwhites scale a knoll crowned with swaying goldenrod; purple violets lean over a watchful wood thrush. In these less clinical and more emotive works, Roger Tory Peterson let his subjects interact and play with one another. The same can be said for the artwork of Heeyoung Kim.

Artist credit: ©Heeyoung Kim. Around an Old Oak Tree, White-breasted Nuthatch, Fall. Watercolor on paper, 2025

At the core of Heeyoung Kim’s art lies a deep gratitude toward plants. The details—and the amount of time and effort poured into decaying leaves and bark—are intended to draw attention to the profound service plants provide to the planet. She wants people to see how many lives thrive around an old oak tree, how a fallen tree creates a corner for shade-loving plants while offering a foraging ground for birds, and how the seed heads of remaining flowering plants offer an abundance of food to wintering birds. Heeyoung Kim’s work conveys the interdependent lives of flora, fauna, and, ultimately, humans. Her watercolor compositions are tributes to the delicate and complex balance of the ecosystem itself.

Roger Tory Peterson (1908-1996)

Born in Jamestown, NY, Roger Tory Peterson found himself entranced by nature from a very young age. He found his first employment in one of Jamestown’s Swedish furniture manufacturers, decorating Chinese lacquered cabinets, then moved to New York City to attend the Arts Student League and the National Academy of Design. Combining his love of art and birding, Roger devised a field guide to help bird lovers make quick, accurate bird identifications in the field. Published in 1934, the initial 2,000-copy run of A Field Guide to the Birds sold out instantly. Roger Tory Peterson published A Field Guide to Wildflowers of Northeastern and North-Central North America alongside naturalist/activist Margaret McKenney in 1968.

Heeyoung Kim

Growing up in an environment where plants were used as medicine, Heeyoung Kim developed a connection to the plant world that goes beyond mere aesthetics. Her art communicates the profound purpose of plants intertwined with other lives in functioning ecosystems, urging viewers to see the world around them with deeper appreciation. Her works have been exhibited in prestigious galleries and institutions and are included in public and private collections, including the Transylvania Florilegium. Her renderings of native flora and fauna received a Gold Medal (Royal Horticultural Society, London, 2012) and Best in Show (American Society of Botanical Artists/Horticultural Society of New York, 2012), among others.

Artist credit: ©Heeyoung Kim. Interdependence, Fall: Field Sparrow, Pasture Grasshopper, Indian Grass and Smooth Rose. Watercolor, 2025