In October of 2006, Ratcliff traveled to the small town of Auvillar in the southwestern corner of France for a month-long residency. Just outside town, she spotted a grove of poplar trees aligned in perfect rows. Intrigued by the vertical white trunks juxtaposed with dark horizontal shadows, Ratcliff photographed them extensively.
The chosen images were made into black and white xeroxes and then transfered onto a variety of papers. Finally, color was applied with colored pencils.