"Iris Love" (watercolor on watercolor paper; 8" x 6") sold

sold

My purple iris watercolor paintings are selling like hotcakes. This one is the fourth one since the beginning of May. I painted it last week and put it on auction on dailypaintworks.com. And it has a bid. I must paint some more!

"Double Iris Glory" (watercolor on paper; 10" x 7") sold

sold

It is the iris season in my garden. My neighbors taking a walk stop by to admire my purple irises. Oh, I love them!

"Iris Season at Monet's Garden" (oil on stretched canvas; 11" x 14")

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Walk around the front garden with the Grande Allee at Giverny, France. The impressionist master Claude Monet designed and cultivated his garden with a great passion for decades toward the end of his long productive life. It is a slice of heaven on earth. My favorite time is when the irises are in full bloom. I can almost smell the heady perfume of these gorgeous flowers!

"Bouquet with Irises Nigella and Foxglove" (watercolor on paper; 10.5" x 10.5")

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Yellow, blue, and purple bearded irises, yellow Dutch iris, Nigella, and foxglove in a white porcelain vase with rose decorations are really the very best my garden can offer.  Yup, I have been holding out the best among my recent watercolors until the last!

My New Watercolor Sketchbook (watercolor on paper; 9" x 9")

My new watercolor sketchbook

Here is my new homemade sketchbook.  It is made with Fabriano 140 lb hot press watercolor paper.  I cut the sheets into 9" × 9" squares, put my watercolor paintings as covers, had them bound at Staples.  I am now ready to go for splashing with watercolors!

I use 300 lb paper for my "serious" watercolor paintings.  Having paid top dollar for the paper, I tend to get cautious and play safe when I paint on it, whereas when I work in a sketchbook, I become experimental, loose, and playful.  So I decided to make a "serious" sketchbook with 140 lb paper so that I play around in it.  If something turns out great, I can tear the sheet off the binding, mat the painting and sell it.  Am I not ingenious, or what?

"Delft Blue Love" (pen and wash; 11" x 5")

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My irises bloomed again in the fall to my great joy. I put a stem with two flowers and a bud in a Delft blue vase for this minimalist still life in pen and watercolor wash.  I love it so much that I am going to a series of paintings in pen and wash!

"Morning Irises" (watercolor; 8" x 6") sold

sold

Curiously, some of my irises started blooming at the end of September.  After a rainy week thanks to Hurricane Joaquin, the sun finally returned to my garden.  My spirit soared to the sky at the sight of purple irises glowing in the morning sun!

Irises blooming in my autumn garden!

"Iris Beauty" (watercolor; 6" x 6")

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A purple iris glowing in the sun is a beautiful sight!

"Purple beauties" (watercolor; 10" x 7") sold

sold

A few days ago, I painted these same purple irises from a slightly different angle. Which one do you like better?

sold

"Purple Iris Glory" (watercolor; 8" x 6")

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Last fall we planted several iris bulbs and eagerly wait for them to bloom.  I even remember the day when the first flower opened up--May 10th!  Perhaps we should add a few more bulbs this year, since one can't have too many irises.

"Yellow Irises" (watercolor; 8" x 6")

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I spotted these vibrant yellow irises with their lush dark green spiky leaves at River Farm in Alexandria, VA in May.  To capture their bountiful flowering, I filled the picture to the brim!

"Spring Beauties" (watercolor; matted, 12" x 10") sold

sold

Irises are my favorite flowers.  Okay, okay, I also love peonies, roses, daffodils, lilacs, etc., etc.  Let me rephrase my statement: irises are on the top of my favorite flower list.  Among the rainbow colors in which irises come these days,  purple is the favorite color of mine.  Expect to see more of purple iris paintings in the following days!

"Iris Glow" (oil on stretched canvas; 10" x 8")

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I celebrated the first iris to bloom in my garden with its portrait.  After a week of working on portraits, it was fun to paint loosely and expressively!

"White on Red" (oil on linen; 8" x 8")

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Reference photo

All this talk of grays got to me.  I decided to go crazy and do something wild.  What if I use cadmium red straight out of the tube to contrast with the grays on the white iris blooming in my neighborhood?  How do you like my wild painting?

Print Giveaway!

"Purple Glory" (watercolor, 20" x 14"; sold)
click here to buy a print for $25

It is the middle of the month, not my usual time for a print giveaway.  But I wanted to have some fun.  I've ordered a 16" x 11" print of "Purple Glory" from my imagekind.com print shop and am going to give it away this weekend.  If you want to win the print, you have to do three things: like my Facebook fan page, like the post that announces the print giveaway, and leave a comment.  I will announce the winner on Facebook on Monday morning.  Good luck!

"Purple Glory" (watercolor on paper; 20" x 14") sold

click here to buy a print

This may be the best iris painting I have ever done.  It just glows!  It received the Best in Show award in the Potomac Valley Watercolorists' Green Spring Show in 2007.  It is no longer available, but you can still purchase a small print.

By the way, I started selling prints of some of my paintings.  Please click here if you want to check out my print shop.  Thanks!

"Memories of Spring" (watercolor on paper; 17" x 8" each) sold

sold
matted size: 24 x 24"

When you love irises so much, you have to paint them big and in diptych!  These majestic purple irises sadly died out in my garden.  All I have are the memories.  So, in a way, the painting is the reminder of the ephemeral nature of life.  I am feeling philosophical.

"Purple Iris and Lady's Mantle" (watercolor on paper; 8" x 8") sold

sold

Purple irises with lady's mantle and scabiosa (pincushion flower) cast lovely shadows on a white ground.  Did you notice how expressive the shadows in my watercolor florals are?  I love them!  By the way, it's turning out to be extremely tricky to photograph these paintings.  These days I seem to be spending hours retaking and Photoshopping pictures.  The cerulean blue shadow on the right should be purple!

If you want to win a painting from my "Spring Fever" series at the end of the month, please sign in to follow my blog.  Thanks!

"Backlit Purple Irises" (watercolor on paper; 14" x 8") sold

sold

I painted these purple irises from my garden many times.  Ah, the glory of iris!  The matted size is 20 x 14".