Purple Jewel, by Canadian Artist Kim Blair

On Friday and Saturday I was out taking hundreds of Iris photos for my inspiration file.  I am not exaggerating the numbers.  Besides wandering around my wonderful neighbourhood I had a couple of people call me to tell me they had some gorgeous Iris out in their yards or near their homes.  These calls are always appreciated.  I snapped photos of mahogany, purple, blue, yellow, peach, white, rust, gold, cream, and all the subtle shades and tints within these hues... My mouth dropped at the exquisite beauty of each unique flower.  Even if I have seen a particular colour many times before, it always looks a bit different in each garden.

Huge peach, pink, orange and red poppies shouted at me as I passed by them, making me stop, stare and of course snap numerous photos of them too...  This morning I am off to see if the storm last night left some dark orange ones standing.  A painter can never have too much inspiration.
Thank you to everyone for keeping me informed about what flowers are up in your garden or neighbourhood... please keep those emails and phone calls coming.  Winters are long here and I need all the reference photos I can get.

SOLD
10x8 oil on canvas (needs some drying time)