The Brief:

This commission for a watercolor painting of jewelweed plants, AKA the touch-me-not, was right up my alley with all the muted greens and botanical details. While these plants do have beautiful orange, spotted flowers, I was asked to highlight the exploding seed pods that make the jewelweed so special. In order to capture this I incorporated two mature seed pods, ready to burst, and one actively exploding pod with seeds flying through the air.

Jewelweed plants are part of the impatiens genus, taken from the Latin word, impatiens, meaning impatient. This genus was named for the mature seed pods that can explode even when lightly touched, as if impatient to open up and spread their seeds. You may know the popular flower bed annual we commonly call Impatiens, which also share the exploding seed pod characteristic. As a child, I planted these flowers for my mom each spring and have fond memories of collecting and popping the seed pods, so I was really excited to create this painting and learn a bit more about the genus.