I’m hiking as much as I can while I spend a few weeks of winter in Arizona. Each hike I determine to see at least one wondrous sight. Sometimes I see the rare desert pool of water, sometimes I see a herd of deer, perhaps a lizard or an early blooming of cactus. Most frequentlyContinue reading “Ford Canyon Trail, Maricopa County, AZ”
Category Archives: Cactus
San Pedro Cactus 2
The San Pedro Cactus is a gorgeous plant. They grow tall and wide and have straight regular columns or can be quite gnarly and contorted, depending on the growing environment and genetic mutations. The one I’ve painted is of the gnarly type. It grows at altitudes of 2-3,000 ft and is a known hallucinogen. What’sContinue reading “San Pedro Cactus 2”
Jojoba and Ferocactus
While in Arizona I try to hike every day. The temperature is still below 70 degrees F. during the day, perfect for walking. I walk in one of the Maricopa County Regional Parks, a wild and varied landscape with lots of rocks, animals and plants. I’m always looking for my next painting when I’m there.
Lizard Cacti Bugs
Desert symbiosis.
Earth Quail Cactus Sky
It’s a simple life in the desert.
Buckthorn Cholla
The Buckthorn Cactus, botanically known as Cylindropuntia acanthocarpia, is a native of the Sonoran Desert. It’s flowers are yellow or red with shades in between that bloom in spring. The cane-like stalks are covered with thorns and grow in tangled clumps in dry, arid landscape. The flowers are quite showy and bees love ’em.
Field of Chollas
Chollas are botanically in the subfamily of Opuntioideae, the same family which includes cactus’s with broad, flat leaves. The leaves of the Cholla are round-ish and really spiny. They quickly become stuck to any object that comes close to it. Their spines hurt and aren’t easy to remove once impaled in either fabric, fur orContinue reading “Field of Chollas”
White Tank Park
Cactus Tree Mountain Sky
Opuntia aciculata
Screaming orange and tranquil turquoise coexist in the full sun of Arizona midday. The beauty seems impossible. https://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/1003840
Claret Cup Cactus – Echinocereus triglochidiatus
Artists pigments on 140# hot press paper, masked border, initialed on front, dated, signed and titled on back8 on back $30 USD, $4 to ship https://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/956540