I have said before that I am mad about poppies. In one of my blogs reviewing the Italian seasons, I said that poppies mean summer to me. I have quite a few poppy images. Apart from photographs I have also taken my images of poppies to where they have have never gone before!
Mad About Poppies
What is it about poppies?
Why am I mad about poppies? What is it about poppies that makes them special. I love the way they just start to appear from nothing. Suddenly you realize there are a few red spots in the hedgerows and fields and then before you know it there are fields of beautiful red. Each individual flower is so delicate with light petals. Put them together in a field and they add up to something just stunning.
My poppy collection
Creating something different
When poppies are in season, I spend quite some time taking photo not far from my home here in Italy. We have an area of our land that is resplendent with them. I either then post the photos for sale with minimum tweaking or spend hours working on deconstructing the photographs and showing the poppies in a completely different way.
Some like ‘Soft Poppy Dreams’ remove a lot of the detail and leave the suggestion of poppies. Others like ‘Black and White with Red Poppies’ focus on the delicate flower – in this case by using red as a selective color.
Poppy impressions
The aim of the whole collection is to give a feeling about poppies, how it feels to see them. That ‘mad about poppies’ vibe.
For example, with ‘Poppies in Impression’ I am less interested in the detail of the image and more concerned with how it feels to look at those poppies. If you like, a warm, fuzzy feeling at seeing their beauty in the landscape.
Poppies through time
It also occurred to me, as I stood looking at the poppies I was photographing, other people had stood here before me. Essentially little had changed since medieval times and people without cameras had stood in the same spot and marveled at the view, imprinting the image on their memory rather than a digital camera SD card. That led me to create one image ‘Poppy Tapestry’, the intention being that it should have a look similar to an old wall tapestry.
You can see my poppy collection and other floral images at RedBubble (worldwide shipping) and Pictorem (free shipping in North America).
This article was originally published in 2017 and updated and republished 27 April 2022.
Before you go
My name is Dorothy Berry-Lound an artist and writer. You can find out more about my art and writing at https://dorothyberryloundart.com.
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Thank you for reading!
I love poppies too. When I was around 12, I remember being obsessed by one of Monet’s poppy field paintings, and bought a poster!
Yes Gail, I love Monet’s poppy paintings too! Thanks for your comment.
I didn’t know what these were called and I definitely didn’t know much about them. Thanks for sharing. I have learnt something new today.
Glad you found something interesting. Thanks for your comment.
Ooh I love this! Poppies are one of my favourite flowers too, I love the colours and everything they symbolise too. Thank you so much for sharing!
Glad you liked it Ceri. This is a wonderful time of year for wildflowers and for me the poppies are the best.