Fabol's Irises – Finished!

Fabol's Irises © 2007 Karen Mathison Schmidt
16 x 20 • acrylic on 3/4" cradled gessobord • sides painted dark brown
The cradled back allows for hanging flush against the wall
Gloss varnish for protection and ease of cleaning • sold unframed
CLICK HERE to bid!

I was so moved when I heard history of these flowers, I asked my neighbor Penny if I could share it with you as she shared it with me a few weeks ago.

These beautiful flowers are growing in Penny's garden, a couple of houses down on our block. They originally came from the garden of her mother, Fabol. (isn't that a great name?) Fabol just loved these flowers, so when she got a little older and moved to an apartment, she took them with her and had them in the garden there. A few years ago right around Christmas Penny had to move Fabol to a hospice care facility; she remembers being at Fabol's former apartment a few days later on a rainy, bone chillingly cold New Year's Eve, digging up the iris bulbs and planting them in pots, tears streaming down her face. When her brother called her and asked what in the world she was doing there, she told him, "I'm determined that the last thing Mother sees in this world will be these irises!"

Penny took the pots and put them all around her mother's room. Fabol did get to see her beloved irises in full blossom once more; she passed away on March 31 of that year, one week after the irises started blooming.