Archie Hayes 
Iris Scott was born in 1984 to 2 hippies on a small farm near Seattle, WA. Mom taught piano lessons and tended the gardens, while Iris’ father supported the family, creating custom cabinets in a shop attached to the house. As a young woman, Iris had considerable time to be alone with her mind, left to perform and entertain herself without a screen or even many toys. The house was nestled at the end of a long driveway, at a clearing surrounded by lush mossy evergreen woodlands. Iris and her little sister had no lack of pets; they grew up playing with their dogs, cats, bunnies, horses, ponies, parrots, lizards, goats and chickens. Summers were spent barefoot, digging caves in the hillside, building tree houses in the forests, and creating pottery from clay they unearthed. On rainy days, of which there were many in Seattle, Iris holed up in her bedroom, pouring over how-to-draw books borrowed from the library. Emulating her parents, and after their modeling of “practice, practice, practice,” Iris tackled art by first teaching herself the principles of drawing virtually. She copied paintings and photos from a young age, studying the principles so that one evening she could break them.
Just a few months after graduating college, and while living abroad in Taiwan, Iris at 2010 was going to stumble upon her distinctive career as the first professional finger painter. Over the course of college, Iris had discovered fundamentals of charcoal, pastels, watercolors, oils, acrylics, and clay. With this foundation of knowledge and preparation, a blessed chance arose one hot and humid afternoon in Southern Taiwan in a moment of laziness. About Iris’ easel, an oil painting of yellowish blossoms was just a few strokes away from finished, but all of the brushes were dirty and needed cleaning before proceeding. Too excited to complete the painting at that moment, Iris only took a couple of swipes at the canvas with oils squeezed directly upon her palms. The thick paint went right on; the texture was unexpectedly easier to control. Iris was thrilled to discover what she thought could be mastered, oil finger painting. The next day she searched down surgical gloves…
Iris has been showcased in Forbes, Barron’s, Business Insider, USA Today, NowThis, CBS New York, and American Art Collector Magazine. Compared to a lot of the contemporary art scene absence version, Iris’ prints are intentionally available because she considers withholding cheap prints is better aligned with the collective conscious of art history. Iris’ vibrant rainbow palette depicting a parallel, but familiar world, emits a dynamic optimism and a regard for the natural world. Using only gloved palms, Iris Scott works with paint like a malleable, almost clay-like medium. Finger painting is becoming a whole art movement, as thousands of beginners worldwide are setting their brushes down in favor of this more pragmatic approach. For those who want to find out finger painting as an adult, Iris offers this free movie, a kit of supplies, as well as a publication, Finger Painting Weekend Workshop.
