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Spring Dance
I have made a photograph diary of this latest painting to show the variation in Iris’s techniques, how she explores different textures and colours in her kitchen art studio and out in the garden with her faithful assistant Thula.
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six and Seven
Day Eight, the Finished Painting.
‘Spring Dance’ 55cm x 75cm
Detail section of the painting
This is a possible crop for a panoramic frame.
If you are interested in buying any of Iris’s Prints please email us at irisgracepainting@yahoo.com
The Printer uses the very latest in art printing technology with fully calibrated photo-scanning, processing and printing equipment, they pay fastidious attention to colour balancing to ensure extremely accurate reproduction.
Prints come with a certificate and will be sent out in a tube. Postage within the UK is £12.00 and £16.50 for International.
55cm x 75cm (same size as the original) – £127.00
42cm x 56.5cm – £92.00
33cm x 44.5cm – £57.00
23cm x 31cm – £38.00
Carmen Fantasy
Carmen Fantasy, 55cm x 75cm
Iris selects her new app on the iPad called ‘My first Orchestra,’ she quickly presses the violins section and then plays ‘Carmen Fantasy, Op.25’. As the violin twirls around like Carmen the Spanish Gypsy, Iris begins to paint once again on the painting that had been drying on the coffee table. The Painting before her is as flamboyant as the music, colours merge, she gently sponges off little pockets of paint creating intriguing effects. ‘V for Violin’, ‘V for Violin’ she says over and over again. The Violin has been used with varying success in the past, the intensity and strong emotional connections can sometimes be too overwhelming for her but now she seeks it out to hear it sing.
Here is the app that she loves so much: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/my-first-orchestra-app-hd/id568583429?mt=8
and Iris working on the painting with Thula
The photo below is a close up detail, once the painting was finished and dry.
Paquita
Paquita, 55cm x 75cm
Holding a brush in each hand she paints, first a layer of red, dancing with a gypsy soul full of wanderlust. Blues and greens are next, a long utensil with a sponge on it’s tip is soaking, then with high flicks Iris creates pools of colour so close that her tummy almost touches the watery paint. Now with a different sponge and another brush she explores, finding new paths and making discoveries within the painting. Her spirit is free and her style her own, adding touches of yellow and finally when most of the painting is dry she uses the white. As I make a cup of tea in our kitchen come art studio I see her mix some of the colours left in the mugs. She doesn’t use them on the paper, this is for the joy of watching the colours change and the way they swirl and move, a contented happiness fills the room from this simple pleasure.
“Find out where joy resides, and give it a voice far beyond singing. For to miss the joy is to miss all.” –Robert Louis Stevenson
Namazzi Blue
Namazzi Blue, 55cm x 75cm
With springs in her feet she jumps, bounces and leaps for joy as she watches the rain, rivers, streams and fountains, intrigued by their movement and ever changing nature. Impressions in her mind that later can be seen on paper. A tremendous amount of tools and brushes lie before her, a collection that has slowly built over the last year. Thoughtfully picking out a few, Iris experiments with rolling, stamping, smudging, dabbing and carefully sponging the paint creating a beautiful effect. I am reminded of a rippling stream, you can almost hear it.
Kuendelea
Kuendelea, 55cm x 75cm
Iris is listening to her favourite African music while she paints, making me laugh as I watch her body sway to the music. Cloaked in blue cotton with little tassels on her cape dancing to the beat. Her arms shoot out this way and that as she works quickly from one side of the paper to the other. Then disaster strikes! Her cape drapes into the paint and spreads it’s mark across the paper. Iris is in shock, standing perfectly still for a while as I make a plan to help her. First by trying to get as much of it off her cape as possible, she points to the paper and I give her a hug telling her that it will be alright, we will sort it out. She is miserable and I have to take her away into another room to calm her down and we leave the painting to dry. Later when all is well again, the cape washed and dried, she returns to her painting and I fill with pride as I watch her try again. This time she uses the sponges to create different effects on the paper and a beautiful image grows and evolves before my eyes. A dramatic and incredibly expressive painting lies before her on the coffee table in the kitchen. So here it is, Iris’s new Painting called ‘Kuendelea’ a Swahili name meaning growth and evolution.
Kumbengo
‘Kumbengo’ 55cm x 75cm
Iris’s latest painting is on the table still drenched from the last layer of blue. Little pockets of orange appear as she dabs a sponge here and there, something takes her attention and she moves off into her play room, she hands me the remote control and wants me to replay a programme she has been watching. It’s called ‘Zingzillas’ and it features a man playing an African harp called the Kora. She finds the unusual sound of this instrument fascinating and watches the skillful musician play at ease with just his thumbs and index fingers plucking at the strings. Again and again she wants to see the clip of him playing, while darting back to the kitchen to check on her painting, adding splashes of white that seep into the thick watercolour paper. Later that day she seems more settled and starts to add some more detail to the painting, creating rhythmic patterns. Dancing as she paints, using her stamp in a beat to music only to be heard in her head but can now be seen on the paper. So after some thought I wanted to name this one ‘Kumbengo’ an African term meaning rhythm of the Kora.
The Tale of Green
‘The Tale of Green’
55cm x 75cm
Green paint swirls around the ceramic bowl as Iris carefully stirs. Her whole body swaying in time with the brush, intense focus on the colour before her transports Iris’s mind, body and soul into an elated almost hypnotic state. I’m at the sink dampening a sponge, so it’s ready to wipe up any unwanted spillages on the floor and as I turn, she is beaming a smile up at me, this is my chance to talk about her painting, the colours, shapes and patterns. A pathway to Iris using paper and paints, creating a connection between language and it’s true meaning. I pause, I hear her voice, her beautiful voice ‘Greeeeen,’ with a smile so big it could fill the room. It takes all my strength not to just go over and squish her with a huge hug and a thousand kisses, but I fear that would be going over the top and make her feel self conscious. I compromise with a little celebration and one kiss on her forehead but she gives me a look as if to say I am very busy and still have important work to do so I back off. After all, there is painting still to be done and within moments the paper that lies across the coffee table is filled with a sea of green.
A-Where-Wa
‘A-Where-Wa’ 55cm x 75cm
I call Iris over to see her latest painting on the computer screen, she sits on my lap and we both look at the swirling colour formations and I try to think of a suitable name. Iris has been particularly chatty lately, mostly in her own made up language but it’s a progression that we are all very proud of. So I ask her what she thinks the painting should be called and she leans back into my arms and looks straight at me smiling and then repeats the words ‘a-where-wa’ over and over again. Job done, she walks off to play with some toys, now vocalising a whole load of ‘b’ sounds as she pushes her Postman Pat van along the ground. Feeling uncertain if I should use this name, I ask her once again what the painting should be called and she repeats the same words ‘a-where-wa’ once again, clearly and without hesitation. So there we have it, here is ‘A-Where-Wa’ Iris’s first painting that she has named all by herself.
Prints in 42cm x 56.5cm, 33cm x 44.5cm and 23cm x 31cm aswell as the full size.
‘I Fell in Love with a Tree Stump’
Iris Loves a tree stump in our garden so for her Birthday I have found a special poem about one just like hers describing the special relationship between her and the stump.
I Fell in Love With a Tree Stump
a poem written by Dane Smith-Johnsen
I fell in love with a tree stump.
A quite curious stump was he.
No branches to thump.
No fall leaves to see.
But a very special stump was he.
There in the woods, other trees grew tall.
Swaying their limbs and leaves in the breeze.
But one special tree stump won my awe.
Once, tall and stately was he, before the freeze.
Now, short and sad hearted because of the saw.
I was weary, downhearted, and lonely.
When, I spotted that stump beside a pile of wood.
A perfect place to rest, it seemed to me.
I rushed right over as quickly as I could.
Then, sat right there, relaxed, and feeling so good.
While trees all around made their showy stance,
I sat and enjoyed from my comfortable stump.
He had no limbs nor leaves to wind-dance.
He had no branches to thump.
He was there for me to rest myself…by chance.
Pining alone, I fell in love with that tree stump.
A quiet refuge was he.
No longer sad, life became plump.
And my soul soared higher than one can see.
For he was there when I needed him…and he needed me.
The Garden
Filled with Colours, textures, smells and tastes. She is free to wander as she pleases, exploring, learning and experiencing all of the natural elements in their unexpected complexity.
‘Even the smallest person may change the course of the future’
Iris Grace Painting 