Maria Calandra’s sizeable painting ‘Fried Egg Poppy of Alameda County,’ a star of her solo show at Fredericks Freiser Gallery, does justice to the Matilija poppy, which boasts some of the biggest flower blooms of any California native. Painting from her memories of real places in northern California, Maine and even Brooklyn’s Botanical Gardens, Calandra applies paint to canvas in a controlled pattern of pooling and spreading that merges flowers, foliage, landscape and sky. Here, as in other paintings, the sky’s dramatic colors suggest an approaching or departing storm, creating a heightened awareness of the energy and beauty of the natural world. (On view in Chelsea through June 13th).




























































































































