Arboretum Iris

Arboretum Iris
Originally uploaded by linfrye

Daily Practice

Boy were we blown around by the wind yesterday!

We were sitting in the mobile unit getting through meetings and paperwork, when my assistant heard a couple of 'cracks.' We looked outside and saw several of the surrounding pines cracked in two and blown down. We relocated in a hurry! LOL

Several of the tall irises blooming on the Arboretum grounds were also blown down -- this was one of them. I brought it to the B&B last night to sketch. I love the ochre petals against the white/pale lavender ... And they're not quite as tall as the dark purple iris I painted last week -- these are only about two feet tall....

I must admit that having the flowers close enough to my eyes to SEE them clearly and to be able to capture a bit more detail than I could when in the car yesterday was a more enjoyable sketching exercise for me .... I LOVE the loose, painterliness of so many of my flickr art friends, and wish I could get a bit more of that into my own painting. Yet, I seem to still be enamored with lines, so I'm just going to have to realize that 'Lin's Lines' may be what I really enjoy doing .... though I also love other styles of painting.

The wind is down today and the temperatures are rising. Tree leaves are really expanding and already the wonderful architecture of tree limbs is becoming obscured by green.

Pollen is flying as well. So many folks are coughing and sneezing ... but the high temps and brilliantly blue skies still draw us from indoors for a few more weeks of 'spring fever.'