flower image : Decor in full bloom

Pip Bloomfield has discerning taste. Especially when it comes to poppies. And roses, and tulips and ranunculus.
“The flowers are my models, and each one of them is totally different,” said Bloomfield. “I used to think a rose is a rose is a rose. But you know what? It's really not.”

The Los Angeles designer-turned-artist shoots pictures of flowers with a digital camera, and from those images creates large-scale art that displays both impressions of brush strokes and photographic realism.

Using a magnifying glass, she carefully chooses each subject. To get her models ready for their close-ups, Bloomfield will sometimes even use a blow-dryer to create a windswept effect.

“A lot of them look like fabric, especially the poppies. Sometimes I look at these flowers and I can see people in them. Some of them look like they're ballerinas in tutus.”

In fact, many of her paintings have names that reference their humanlike appearance, such as “Tulip Dancer,” “Mother and Child” and “Bill's Friend.”

Currently, her work is on display at Spago in Beverly Hills and inside the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. Actresses Anne Heche and Kirsten Dunst have also purchased her paintings for their homes.

They're popular with interior designers too, including L.A.'s Philip Nimmo, who does both residential and commercial work and is also the senior designer for the Jaclyn Smith Home Collection.

“My clients are in love with her over-scaled white tulips on a black background,” he said. “Her work is classic yet fresh. It's been used to dramatically enrich many rooms I've designed.”

Bloomfield finds her flowers everywhere, from grocery stores to friends' gardens. A grower in Santa Barbara also brings her roses. These


Diana McKeon Charkalis