Thursday, May 21, 2009

Leading Light

6" x 6" oil on canvas panel
$75.00 + $10. s/h
contact me if interested
SOLD

One day each month my plein-aire group drives to an out of town location to paint. Today we went to Denver (70 miles north) to the Iris 4 u Iris Gardens. Iris 4 U grows and hybridizes tall bearded iris. While only about 20% of the iris were blooming (due to Colorado's cool spring) there were hundreds to paint, and thousands more which will be blooming the rest of this week and next. I may have to drive back up there and paint again as the grounds were beautiful. I really didn't know there were (are) that many varitities and colors of iris. And, of course, each iris has a unique name.

9 comments:

Nancy B. Hartley said...

Beautiful colors! Pam, I love the loose style! Very expressive!

Debbi Smith Rourke said...

BEEEAUTIFUL! Love the soft mix of colors.

Unknown said...

Beautiful! When we were little, I used to sit in the garden in Palos Heights, and look at the huge bearded irises and wonder, why did God make something so beautiful? Mom had a sign there, do you remember? "The gift of the sun for pardon, the songs of the birds for mirth, you are nearer God's heart in the garden, than any place else on earth". I have the same sign in my garden now, and its surrounded by all of the blooming Irises! Pink and purple, and incredibly fragrent, they do really well in the New Jersey climate.

Pam Holnback said...

Thanks Nancy, Debbi & Natalie, I couldn't get over the living beauty in the garden. I did several paintings, took some reference photos (but it's just not the same as sitting in an iris heaven) and will probably drive back next week!

Sandra Galda said...

this is really cool. What a unique approach to a flower! I love seeing all the ways they can be done! Nice!

Pam Holnback said...

Thanks Sandra, this is another great thing about the blogging community; we all influence and encourage each other.

Jala Pfaff said...

Bold, beautiful color.

Karen said...

So good to see your irises! In this one I especially like how the background drops way back and the flower just pops because of the color and paint application.

Pam Holnback said...

Jala, you should drive down there to see the iris.
Karen, thanks. Often when plein-aire painting, there only seems to be enough time to just focus in on one thing.