Poppy Dreams

The California Poppy responds to the sun - opening and closing in response to the radiance of light and is found in open, sunny meadows. When the early Spanish settlers of California arrived, they saw vast fields of the California Poppy lighting up the coastal hillsides.  The sight of poppy fields was a landmark by which they guided their ships.   They called the California coast the “land of fire,” and the plant the “cup of gold,” (“copa de oro”).  Long before the Europeans came to the New World,  Native American peoples used various preparations of the California Poppy plant for toothaches, to relieve headaches and stomach aches, and as a sleep aid for children.

 I call this painting "Poppy Dreams" because "the poppy is a symbol of Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. Just before blooming, the bud hangs its head - heavy with the promise of blossom. In fact, the cocooned bud seems to droop in somnolence, as if enchanted or perhaps the bud is pregnant with floral dreams.Most of us are familiar with the hallucinogenic/narcotic properties of the poppy.  The ancient Greeks understood this, and so we see another link to Morpheus and poppy symbolism. Morpheus lived in his own world - a world of dreams, fantasy and complete nonadherence to traditional reality. He was destined to live here and rule the realms of dreams."
 Oil on canvas. 16 x 20 inches. 2016.