Flowers and Friends-Iris I

30″ x 24″
Oil on canvas

Flowers and Friends-Iris I:
Is my fifth painting in this series. These paintings were inspired by the Dutch Baroque work of Jan van Huysum from the Nelson Art Gallery called (Flower Piece). This is how I proceed with this painting. Take a primed canvas and prime it with acrylic paint. Attack the canvas with an oil Crayola to suggest where I want to place my Iris. Paint the white and lavender Iris. What container to use? How about the wastepaper basket from my bathroom. That’ll work. Break up the cylinder shape by using flowers and a praying mantis. Paint in the Red Buds and Dogwoods and Gardenia flowers. Work in the Iris leaves and add another Iris, Add critters. Note! I left out some of my favorite critters. The Orb Web Spider, Lizard and the Hercules Staghorn Beetle so that they would not distract from the composition. It seems logical that starting a painting would be the hardest. The difficulty of an exuberant complex and cluttered painting is knowing when to stop and what to leave out. Signing my name is the best part for me. This painting is from my own imagination. All of the references are from my own photographs and collected critters. All of the bugs and butterflies in my collection were found dead. Fang the bunny rabbit was released back into the wild years ago.