When I was living in Roswell, I became interested in drawing iris. I’ve long appreciated these flowers for their dramatic, ruffled petals and rich colors, but southeast New Mexico, as it turns out, is replete with them. I could find them growing all around Roswell in the spring, and the Roswell Museum collection itself boasted several lovely paintings of them, most notably the hauntingly lovely Iris from Henriette Wyeth.
There was also the Hondo Iris Farm up the road in San Patricio, a small village about 50 miles west of Roswell (and home to artists Henriette Wyeth and Peter Hurd).
In short, there was no shortage of flowers to draw, and each spring I made large sketches of blooming iris. Every year I thought about making a large print with them, only to put it off for another spring.
Once I found out I was heading back to graduate school, however, I decided it was time to make good on my intentions. I knew once I moved I was unlikely to revisit my New Mexico drawings, so it was now or never.
Stay tuned to see what I made.