Irises

Today it's Iris Day, so obviously, time for some irises!

Today's irises were designed by Sophia Crownfield. From the 1890s to the 1920s she designed prints for some of the most prominent silk and wallpaper manufacturers in the United States. She moved to New York City in 1889 and established herself as a professional freelance designer. Her interest in design was not a casual one; she was a middle-class working woman who supported herself and her youngest sister Eva through her design career. Her story shows the hard reality confronting American designers in a largely freelance system that offered little professional support or recognition. Her drawings of flowers range from delicate graphite sketches to vivid color studies, revealing her obvious ease with different types of specimens. Through progressive stages of rework, she developed designs for patterns and polished drawings for specific end uses.

P.S. Do you know any other Irises portraited in art? I bet you know these!

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