Iris c. 1920s

Frances Gearhart made this color woodcut print called 'Iris' and I can only imagine the amount of labor and technique involved. I am thinking of all those many decisions, the cutting and carving into a block of wood, the registration of color, the overlaying of hue. There’s a real sense of place, a secret garden path through the irises. What was she thinking? What were her dreams? The irises are dark violet, and the ground a pale yellow ochre. I like the way the blue of the tree and the sky at the top casts a shadow over the garden and gives the piece a twilight, slightly melancholic, feeling. She's a printmaker, and not a painter, but I can see the link between printmaking and painting. It's all about mark-making and how artists are in conversation with each other, inspiring ideas across time. It’s also about an embodied expression, a physical engagement with a material world.