Week 87

Looking out into the desert, a wide expanse of hot dust lays before you, chin up and proud- daring you to get closer.

While it seems to push you away with an intolerable heat and fierce nettles of every variety, the desert maintains a delicate beauty. Once inside, it is a veritable wonderland hosting many small, delightful curiosities: lizards with spines and sharp tines, tiny hummingbirds bearing shimmering rainbow scarves and hundreds of flowers, most small, but bursting with joy from the sandy surrounds. 

It was a challenge for me to get the living vibrancy of these flamboyant blooms.  Once it was dry, we came back over with some transparent purple to deepen the shadows and thus make the bright hues pop out like they’d been touched by the sun. 

Dressed in Red

15”x 30” | Oil on Panel