Description

Field Study, Owls Clover, Lupine and Blue Dick Wildflowers, Salt River, AZ
Bloomed 3/30/23 7:15 PM
40×40 Oil on Canvas
$12,800

If there’s anything I’ve learned in my 36 years in the southwest, it’s how different the weather can be from one year to the next; and how quickly we forget, only focusing on the present state of things. Often, we have to be patient, for seasons to change, and for rain to come.

Wildflower seeds can remain dormant in the soil for years, enduring hot, dry conditions; but if we have a wet autumn, the seeds awaken, sprout, and blanket the desert floor with glorious color. Where fire has burned, where soil has been disrupted, they thrive almost miraculously.

In the spring of 2023, all the conditions had lined up for a tremendous blooming season.

All up and down the Bush highways near the Salt River there were fields of orange, purple and pink. People parked their cars and waded through the grasses to take family photos, twirl in the colors, and watch the wild horses eat their fill of colorful blooms.

If this happened every year, perhaps we would take it for granted. It’s a special occasion, worth the wait.