Poppy progression

Having been thinking about poppies so much of late, they filtered into my mind around making.  I scribbled some lines in a notebook whilst we were working in Melbourne, then started thinking about how to use them in my work whilst we were away in the desert.

They were spilling over in my head and I had to get them out and onto the page somehow.

The progressions goes a bit like this...

Drawing some wiggly lines on scrap paper - filling some of the gaps with words.

Making a long thin piece with lines just at the bottom, enjoying the landscape they create.

Pencils - drawing stylised poppies

Thinking I might like embossed stems rather than drawn stems.

And wondering how blobby or round to make the poppies.

But liking when the black dots went in, and deciding that black ink was better for the writing.

And then working onto larger pieces - embossed and de-bossed rectangles.

Then working on long thin book pages, would I use some really large poppies, add in some words?

Would the words be lead pencil, black pencil, black ink?

And really liking the corners on the larger pieces.

Nothing is complete. Nothing is finished.  A couple of little ideas have flowed in so many directions...onto the wall, into a book. Do they work one way better than the other? Can I use both? Can I do some multiples?

I have been totally focused on these works the past few days - they have absorbed me and kept my focus, and really made me want to stay in the studio and not come home to eat!