The wild iris, or blue flag, is one of my favorite flowers that come in the month of late May, sometimes as late as early summer. It has the most delicate colors, yet has the richest shades of blues, violets and yellow into rich dark purple lines of color. The long stems of the blue flag iris are pushing buds high into the air waiting for the warm rays of light to shoot forth its’ delicate trumpets of color. Trumpeting shapes reaching to its neighbors, calling the humming-birds, sharing its sweet nectar.

Wild Iris flowers line the swampy section of our drive, they like the wetland areas; a delight when walking to get our mail at the end of the road. We are blessed to have many wildflowers from early spring into the fall. On one such walk,my granddaughter and I collected 26 different flowers.

In this watercolor, I used dry brush painting over subtle washes of color to give that mystical effect. I added some sepia to warm up the painting around the iris, joining the towering spruce trees in the background. This is common in the early spring, as not everything has recovered from the harsh frozen winter snow.