Poppy and Sunflower Meadow

Finding Balance in the Field

Midsummer fields carry a specific, crowded energy that is difficult to capture with careful, smooth brushwork. In painting Poppy and Sunflower Meadow, the focus was less on exact botanical replication and more on the physical weight of the colour itself.

The paint is applied thickly and directly, giving the scarlet poppy heads a raised, textured presence that catches the light in the room. The primary technical challenge was balancing the tall sunflowers’ competing warmth with the dense clusters of red below, ensuring each group had room to breathe.

By using swift, horizontal strokes for the sky, the upper third of the composition provides a quiet counterpoint to the heavy, vertical movement of the meadow. It is an observation of a familiar landscape, simplified into form, texture, and pure pigment.