This is a very quick and simple color study in oil, of a bed of Iris flowers located near my home, which I saw each day during each Spring season, as I walked to and from the local foot paths and surrounding grounds of Pendle Hill, in Wallingford, PA. For some time, I had wanted to record these fleeting colors and the setting before they were gone, as I had previously missed the opportunity for several years in a row due to my own fault of thinking or assuming that, “I will come out and paint them tomorrow,” which of course never seemed to happen for one reason or another (too busy, bad weather, interrupted, called away from home, etc.).
From time to time I simply enjoy the pleasure and challenge of exploring flowers as still-life subjects, both indoors, as an arrangement within the studio or a room of the house, or, as found here when painting out-of-doors.
I suppose that this subject, in part, is a reflection of my memories of places and people. As a youth, I had the good fortune of being surrounded by various flower beds, wild flowers, and flowering bushes and trees where I grew up in Central New York – peonies, roses, lilacs, plum, apple, pear, cherry, redbud, hostas, hollyhocks, irises, annuals, lilies, daffodils, tulips, forget-me-nots, flax, wild violets, snowdrops, crocuses, bleeding hearts, chinese lanterns, and more, on my parent’s three and a half acres of property, plus what was found in my neighbors yards, and the surrounding village. I came away with an appreciation for, and enjoyment in observing the variety of flower shapes, color, and design of their structure. I am not the gardener that my parents were, but all the same, I acquired their ability to “take pleasure” in seeing flowers and plants, and the natural beauty found around me.