L.A. DESIGNER'S LOVE OF FLOWERS BLOSSOMS FORTH.

Byline: - Diana McKeon Charkalis

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,'' says 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 says. ``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 resources help curb any urge to pluck beauties blooming in strangers' yards.

She estimates she's shot about 3,000 flowers since 2003, when it all began with a poppy in Brentwood at rush hour. Bloomfield noticed sunlight hitting the roadside flower just so and grabbed her camera.

When she developed the film, her case of poppy love began. ``They just spoke to me. They're so feminine and soft and photograph so beautifully.''

She began with poppies, but has since become intrigued with other flora, most recently ranunculus. Her plans include more series of art as well as expanding into a product line of fabrics and home accessories.

Over time, the self-taught photographer has gotten very close to her subject matter -- literally.

``Now I'm getting more abstract and moving in closer to the flowers -- very tight,'' she says. ``Once you start really looking at them, they take on a whole other dimension. There's that unknown beauty in the details.''

Unfortunately, her subjects have a fairly short life span, but Bloomfield says she tries to nurture them along until they start to wilt. But, she says, ``The flower's never really dead because its beauty lives on. Its spirit stays alive on the canvas.''

WHERE TO FIND IT

Bloomfield's art is available at Bausman and Co. Inc. in West Hollywood. For more information about her work on canvas, fine art paper or her posters, visit her Web site at www. pipbloomfield.com.

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WHERE TO FIND IT (see text)