Giant California Tree Poppy: FRAMED (30 x 22 inch original painting framed to 35 x 28")

FRAMED

(30 x 22 inch original painting with cyanotype patterns framed to 35 x 28")

This is a combination of painting and a kind of alternative photographic process from the 1800s: cyanotype. I drew the plant and painted it in —not with ink or paint, but with light-sensitive photo emulsion.

The blue and white pattern seen in each leaf which resembles painted Delft pottery is really a sun print or cameraless photograph of tiny plants laid on top. If you look closely you may see a tiny flower or two.

"Giant White California Poppy" and California Tree Poppy" are common names for Romneya coulteri (Coulter's Matilija poppy). It is a is species of flowering plant in the poppy family that grows in bushes 4-5 feet tall. It is native to southern California and Baja California. When the buds open they have white translucent petals resembling tissue paper which are pleated just like red oriental poppies..