(Click second thumbnail above to watch video)
Museum-Quality Matte Paper Print available in two sizes:
12" x 16" (30cm x 40cm): $35.00
24" x 32" (60cm x 80cm): $48.00
This original, hand-done painting of California wildflowers journals the procession of bloom times from January to August particular to the San Francisco Bay Area. The official title of the painting is “Follow the Flowers” because that is what it will help you do as you look from left-to-right. The painting is divided into 4 subsections by tall umbellifers: January to February, March to April, May to June, and July to August. Well over 100 native and naturalized plants of the redwoods, hills, meadows, and coast have been faithfully depicted in realistic groupings, and the lifelike quality of this stunning piece is enhanced by the inclusion of local butterflies and other small visitors you will be able to seek out if you bring this museum-quality print home.
I am an award-winning California fine artist and author, and this painting is my tribute to the relationship Northern Californians develop with our particularly beautiful natural world. When we are attentive, we come to depend with gratitude on the arrival of each flower and plant as the seasons change each year. I hope this wildflower art print will not only help you celebrate our local flora, but perhaps learn to be on the lookout for special beauties that might be new to you.
By looking across the painting, you can see the seasons progress, right before your eyes! It’s a little like time-elapased film footage, but as a piece of art.
Here is a list for helping you spot most of the wildflowers I’ve captured here, but you may see a few more that aren’t named, if you look closely. These are the names by which I know these plants, and will start with the first section on the left.
January to February
Wild calendula
Fiddlenecks
Toothwort
Shooting stars
Giant wake robin
Houndstongue
Miner’s lettuce
Baby blue eyes
Mule’s ears
Suncups
Storksbill
Long-beaked storksbill
Geranium
Nettles
Field madder
Chickweed
California buttercups
Cream cups
California poppies
Scarlet delphinium
Blue dicks
Common meadowfoam
Salmonberry
Sand crocus
Clover
Coast rockcress
White yarrow
Red maids
Rosy sand crocus
March to April
Trillium
Redwood sorrel
Redwood violet
False Solomon’s seal
Fairy bells
Tellima
Pacific starflower
Woodland strawberry
California mist maidens
Woodland star
Western buttercup
American brooklime
Golden seep monkeyflower
Checkerbloom
Bee plant
Johnny jump-ups
Various lupine
Clover
Blue-eyed grass
Star tulips
Scarlet columbine
Painted warrior
Paintbrush
Johnny tuck
Douglas iris
Manroot
California poppies
Goldfields
Queen Anne’s lace
May to June
Rosa californica
Chinese houses
Gold globe lilies
Camas
Ground iris
Cudweed
Himalayan blackberry
Native blackberry
Wild radish
Pennyroyal
Rosa eglanteria
Vetch
Lineseed
Fleabane
Bird’s foot trefoil
Dock
California poppy
Lotus
Fritillaria
Sheep sorrel
Red sand spurry
Brass buttons
July to August
Fennel
Salsify
Thimbleberry
Sticky monkeyflower
Chicory
Wavy-leaf soap plant
Sweet peas
Ithuriel’s spear
Farewell-to-spring
Pineapple weed
Dog fennel
Turkey tangle frogfruit
Tarweed
Hawksbit
Pearly everlasting
Phacelia
Coast buckwheat
Purple sanicle
Evening primrose
I have been following the wildflowers with my mother since earliest childhood, and while I support the vital projects underway in California to restore native plants, particularly under Indigenous stewardship, I do not take a purist attitude towards the way in which seeds have always traveled the world. The Earth is not a museum, and birds, animals, and humans have always been on the move, carrying plants with them on purpose or accidentally. This painting is meant as a realistic depiction of the flowers that we encounter when we walk outside our doors. Every ditch has its treasures, and our hillsides are masterpieces, and no living plant should be thought of as “just a weed”. In the necessary work of healing our climate, all plants should be treated with respect for the oxygen they give us every day. We people can be helpers, but it’s the plants who do the heavy work.
Thank you for following the flowers with me, and I hope your print will become a favorite part of your home, inviting you back again and again to appreciate the wildflowers, even in the midst of winter, and to try to spot a ladybug or drift with a butterfly. This print has the added bonus of having oblong dimensions, meaning it can be placed over many doorways or in other interesting spots in your home for which you’ve had trouble finding art that is vertically short but horizontally long.
"Follow the Flowers" Northern California Wildflower Art Print
Every print you purchase comes with a white border for your convenience. The 40” x 28” print features an image that is 36” x 18” total, with a 5” border on the top and bottom, and a 2” border on either side. The 24” x 16” print features an image that is 21.5” x 10.5” total, with a 2.75” border on the top and bottom, and a 1.25” border on either side. If you take your print to a framer, you can either have it framed with the border or have your framer remove the border before framing.
The 250 gsm/ 110lb paper is perfect for fine art, designed to last for years without losing its original beauty. It is FSC-certified paper or equivalent certifications, depending on regional availability, for the sake of the Earth. Each poster is shipped in robust packaging, ensuring it arrives safely and securely. Paper sizes may vary slightly by region. For the US and Canada, the measurement is in inches, while for the rest of the world, it is in centimeters.
Your order will be printed on-demand by Gelato - a recognized leader in the creation of fine art prints. As the artist, I have ordered samples of my prints to ensure quality, but if you experience any quality issues, please contact support at Gelato via the many support options offered on this page: https://www.gelato.com/contact
Thank you so much for your purchase. Wishing you great enjoyment!