California Poppies - Lin Frye

California Poppies
Originally uploaded by linfrye

Daily Practice
Journal

Visiting Montrose Gardens again last week, I was struck by the incredible number of poppies - California, Asian, wild - in colors from soft pink to orange to crimson .... I took dozens of photos - but no matter how I tried this week, the photo in my mind didn't quite match the painted results. I also wanted to try for something a bit less splashy and a bit more considered.

In thinking about this painting, I wanted to keep the background pale - but which tends to wash out in a scan. What impressed me about this scene in real life,was the array of yellow and green - the bright sunlight - the cheerfulness of the flowers. I may play with this image again to see if I can get 'closer' to what I 'see' in my mind.

It's been a busy week, and we've certainly enjoyed the sunshine. The intense heat has returned, but our 'yellow sunlight' will soon fade into the gray and wetness of more rain this weekend.

We'll be harvesting this morning and we'll all be glad to have the sun on our backs instead of umbrellas over our heads for a while!

Have a great day!

Lin Frye
North Carolina