In Herlinde Spahr's Iris ,a piece of wood about the size and shape of a thirty-two inch screen television was manipulated. It was stained to a dark caramel color and then varnished, which gives the background a semi-gloss appearance. The slight sheen and deep color of the wood create a good contrast to the brightness of the gold leaf. On top of the gold leaf, the artist used postcard sized pieces of paper with images of eyes and irises on them. The process of lithography was used to place the images of the eyes on the paper.
Lithography seems to be a relatively easy form of printmaking.
The artist takes a piece of flat stone, usually limestone, or a plate of specially prepared metal, and draws the image directly on it with a greasy crayon. The plate is then dampened with water and inked. The ink clings to the crayon marks but not the dampened areas. When a piece of paper is pressed to the plate, the ink on the crayon marks is absorbed by the paper. While flipping through a medical journal, the artist was inspired by a found photograph.