Poppy Cacophony

Artist's Inspiration

These amazing, vibrant red poppies were growing by the thousands on the side of a road in Asheville.  In the rain, I parked my car and collected a soaked bunch of these delicate flowers to bring to my studio to (hopefully) photograph.  I had worked with poppies before, and know how fragile they are.  Their petals are easily damaged by the slightest touch and the stems cling to each other with their velcro-like hairs.  I sometimes photograph subjects that are wet from rain, but these poppies were so weighted down from the water that they were a droopy mess, and needed to be dry to work with.  After carefully drying each individual petal, I arranged them so as not to be too much in contact with each other.  The resulting image reminded me of a group of dressed-up ladies, all whispering among themselves.  So, I named it, “Poppy Cacophony”.  I hope you enjoy this fusion of delicate form with bold red on black.