Iris Scott (b.1984) is leading a revolution worldwide in oil painting – and she’s doing it by refusing to use brushes. Armed with surgical gloves instead of paint brushes, Iris swipes paint straight from Holbein tubes onto her fingertips and then finger paints across the canvas. “It’s new technology” exclaims Iris “yet it’s the oldest technology of all!”. Iris has been featured by Forbes, Barron’s, Western Art and Architecture Magazine, USAToday, CBS New York, and many others. Her originals are sold in 4 galleries across The United States, and orders for her prints ship all day every day to far reaches of the planet. Her style is resonating with a universal need to connect with art that is joyful, colorful, and aesthetically pleasing. Iris Scott believes beauty has gone underrated in recent decades and that the pendulum is finally beginning to swing in a new direction. Scott is currently based in Brooklyn, but her hometown of Maple Valley, where she was born, sits just outside of Seattle. A child of the trees, Iris’ artsy hippie parents raised her to love what you do and to commit to your passion 100%.
“Between the years of 2009 and 2011 I found myself finally selling my work. With these new dollars to spend I took great care in deciding which oils to commit to. So I began testing one brand after another. Then in 2011, while wandering around the isle of Blick in Seattle I was taken aback by a handful of colors that were vibrating on the shelf at a color spectrum light years beyond their neighbors. Those colors were the Luminous Opera, Orange, and Yellow. Alas I was too curious and had to purchase them. Not only were the colors more outrageously bright than their saturated packaging, but the consistency of the paint was perfect for thick finger painting because there was no stickiness. Regardless of color/hue I could switch from one tube to another without EVER losing the consistent feel. To this day I’ve never been able to stand another brand of oils, they all make me sick. In turn my work took a significant turn for the better as I finally struggled less with my materials. Although Holbein could charge top dollar for this valuable line of oils, they still manage to not gouge the consumer. I smile whenever I run out of paint because it means I get to go buy more of an incredibly fairly-priced paint.”
