Description

Available at Bonner David Galleries 480-941-8500

The Queen of the Foothills – Engelmann’s Hedgehog Cactus, Santa Catalina Mountains, April 19, 2023 11:00 AM
30×40 Oil on Canvas
$8800

Some southwestern blooms are subtle, but hedgehog cactus blooms are anything but. In the springtime, on desert slopes in full sun, every part of this plant glows. Their spines create shade to protect their stems and warn predators to stay away, but they also radiate light in shades of amber and silver blues.

On this day, on the slopes of the Santa Catalina range outside of Tucson, it appeared as though a queen had discarded her ruby crown in the desert as she traveled through the strange and exotic land. Maybe she fell in love with Arizona and decided she’d rather be a cowgirl, trading jewels for chaps, silk for bandanas, and a castle for wide open spaces.

Sounds like my kind of gal.