Description

Awash with Color
Chuparosa Blooms at Sunset, Near Red Mountain, AZ
28×22 Oil on Canvas
Bloomed 3-28-23 7:23 PM

$4400.00

Not everyone has a big backyard. But in Arizona, no matter where you live, open space is not far away. In my neighborhood near the Salt River, there is a patch of open space that I have been exploring regularly since 1996.

After a long day in the studio, I venture out through the washes and up the hills. Often, I stay until sunset. Thinking is easier out here; my mind clears and ideas flow.

The desert never looks the same way twice. In late summer after monsoon storms there can be mounds of white Datura blooms, but not every year. One season there were lupine blooming where I’d never even seen the plants.  Some years the cholla cactus blooms are plentiful, some years not.

Chuparosa are not that temperamental. They are ever-present in the washes, and have adapted by dropping their leaves in hot summer months so the stems can keep making food. Their crimson flowers vibrate with color, attracting hummingbirds with very little effort. And if you find yourself hungry in the desert, you can eat the flowers too; they taste a little like cucumbers.

So I visit my crimson friends often, and I linger to enjoy the last light, the quail song, and the cool air that rises from the wash. The Sonoran Desert is a big, beautiful, diverse backyard for us all to enjoy and protect.