Happy Independence Day with Milbrook Farm Irises

"Milbrook Farm Irises"
10" x 14"
North Danville, Vermont

Hope you had a happy Fourth of July with family. Most of my family is back East, so we rode our tandem bicycle 60 miles and enjoyed a pancake breakfast with our bicycle club. I reflect on wonderful small town celebrations each year. I've never had the pleasure of being in North Danville, a town with 12 houses, church, and commuity center, on the Fourth, but I always hear about the big celebration that draws a very large crowd each year. The parade features kids and pets, and my granddaughter, Kelly, played her flute in the Danville School marching band this year. Son Jeff and granddaughter Jamie sold french fries, and I failed to get the report on Beth's responsibilities. Unfortunately, Vermont has been drenched with summer rains for a month and yesterday was no exception, so french fry sales were off about 20%. The closest I can get you on the Web is Danville, population 2211, but that's a whole four miles away uphill.

All this reminiscing caused me to resurrect a partially completed floral from my visit to North Danville last month and finish the painting. You will recall that I attended a one-day peonies workshop by Annelein Beukenkamp. The following day I painted in the gardens of Millbrook Farm, my son's family home, complete with horses to ride, chickens, birds, and cats. These lovely, simple irises are in the front gardens and I had a lovely time working in the afternoon sunshine. I am always drawn to the shape element and this painting features lots of shapes done with positive and negative painting.