Spring Poppies by Shirley Kelppe

During the years around 1981, I was teaching local classes for the Desert Botanical Gardens and the City of Phoenix. I was experimenting with rice paper painting. I found that mounting the rice paper with white glue to illustration board to stabilize it for painting worked the best.

I had time to drive around town to find great spots for my class to paint. The Fashion Square Mall below the Biltmore had planted special poppies all around the property. They were huge and gorgeous! I made a plan to go there and paint. I had the boards prepared, and made the trip there.

Finding the right poppies was not hard, but a quiet area was a problem. Being out painting by myself can prove to be difficult. I was able to find a spot to paint in an Asian sumi-e manner, but not for long. I made just one painting there, and left. I just did not feel comfortable. Too bad. Maybe I should try again, but no one plants poppies any more.

Spring Poppies is 17.159″h x 15.913″w. Regular rice paper was mounted onto illustration board with 50/50 water and white glue. Winsor & Newton pigments with Asian brushes.

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