Garnet Cholla Blooms Near Queen Valley, AZ
Bloomed 5-2-25 8:00 PM

Oil on Canvas 48 in. x 48 in., 2025

$18,500

Nothing like a steep climb in the first quarter to make a girl feel optimistic. Enjoy the desert, leave no trace, pray for rain.

Buckhorn Cholla Blooms, Superstition Wilderness, AZ
Sunset
12×16 oil on canvas $1450 each

Available for purchase at Manitou Galleries, Santa Fe

Phone: (505) 986-0440

Sometimes in nature it’s hard to describe the colors we observe. Tropical fish on a diving trip, the bright glowing hues of a campfire, the last light of sunset. We stand before the gaudy displays dumbstruck, and ask ourselves “How can that be?”

The natural colors of the southwest can be excessively showy. Cowboys on ponies with red bandanas around their necks get a lot of attention in Western art, but the backdrop of their lives—the land, the skies and plants—take center stage in my work. They are the colorful characters I love to paint. They were plant species here long before the cowboy, that fed hungry settlers, and remain even as development gobbles up open space. And when the desert blooms, it’s worth paying attention to the show.

One of my favorite displays of color happens on the slopes of the Superstition Mountains in the spring; in particular, the blooms of the buckhorn cholla. The variations of colors are astounding. They can bloom in shades of yellow, gold, orange, pink, deep brick red, and everything in between.

They swirl together, bouncing off each other, glowing in the late day’s light. They are poetry, a western ballad, a remembrance, a spark. Legendary colors of the southwest, rippling in the wind.

40×50 Oil on canvas

As you gaze at a bouquet, do you ever pause to consider a flower’s purpose? Humans and pollinators are drawn to the allure of a bloom’s beauty, color, and fragrance. Ultimately, however, flowers are about survival.

In the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, we are lucky to dwell among the most intriguing and iconic cactus in the world; the saguaro. We hike through these sentinels, marvel at their heights, and crane our necks upward to see their blooms.

We love to share amazing facts about saguaros with visitors to our state, especially related to their age and growth: they can take up to five years to grow a few centimeters, they don’t grow arms until they’re fifty years old, and they can weigh up to 4800 pounds after a good rain.

Hopefully these facts help people understand how devastating disasters like the Bush Fire can be to our environment and to our human hearts. In June of 2020, this human-caused fire destroyed 186,000 acres of prime saguaro habitat in the Tonto National Forest. This area of rolling hills served as the perfect foreground to Four Peaks wilderness, and was a favorite view of mine. Saguaros that were 100 to 200 years old were obliterated just like that. I will not live long enough to see its regeneration.

After a very hot and dry spell in 2021, our state’s saguaros had a super bloom. Scientists believe that the cactuses knew they were in danger, so they focused their energy toward producing more flowers than normal for a typical year, giving every effort to attract pollinators for maximum reproduction. Simply put, no flowers, no seeds.

In my opinion, flowers in the wilderness are not to be taken for granted. They are barometers for environmental health. They are life, beauty, and inspiration; a simple yet complex design created for our enjoyment and existence.

Ever since I began painting 35 years ago, my calling has been striving to recreate God’s creation. Being in the wild equals joy for me. Hopefully that’s what you see when you view my work. It’s my higher calling.

Learn more about replanting burn areas: http://www.naturalrestorations.org/

Read more about saguaros: The Saguaro Cactus, A Natural History by Yetman, Burquez, Hultine and Sanderson 2020

(Opuntia Macrocentra)

36×48 oil on canvas 2024

The land in southeastern Arizona is beautifully diverse and colorful. There are green cotton fields along the Gila River, dusty rose desert slopes near Duncan, and patinaed earth from copper mines near Morency. It’s where the San Francisco River gushes after monsoon rains and the Coronado trail winds, 460 times, from the desert floor to the thick pines near Hannagan Meadow.  The contrasts are beautiful, to say the least.

Here, the purple Long Spined Prickly Pear thrives. This opuntia is full of contrasts, too: its pads range from green to purple, its pale pink buds burst into crimson and bright yellow blooms, and its unusually long spines range from dark navy to chalky blue.

As is the case with so many of Arizona native blooms, this small opuntia is also resilient. Despite harsh summers and little rain, it thrives, bursting forth with blooms that support pollinators and fruit for wildlife. This beauty was not only surviving but thriving, serving as an example to us all.

Resilience, Prickly pear

From the Time and Place Series

As is always the case, there’s so much that I want to paint, and simply not enough time. I charge ahead, trying to capture the moments that have struck me between the eyes, small and large; trying with all my ability to capture what captivates me, hoping that it will captivate you. Striving in the midst of work and busyness just take a moment to be.

The title for this show, time and place came to me as a way of representing what I so desperately seek to capture. When you are invited to an event, it’s a one-time thing.
Time: 10 AM
Place: The Holy Chapel

If you miss it, the bride and groom have gone, the sun has set, conversations have ended, the flowers have withered.

So, I’ve gathered some favorite events and put them on canvas.

I hope you’ll take the time to stop, and look, and appreciate a beautiful fleeting moment.

Recent Commission

2023- Commission

There is a reason why photographers love the moment just before the sun sinks into the western horizon. The aesthetics are ideal; warm light bounces around and through vegetation and the landscape, which only hours ago lacked definition in the bright sun, begins to yield to more subtle, dreamy hues like blues and purples.

This is my favorite time of day to visit the Superstition Mountains in the springtime. The late-day light aids in the location of cactus blooms, like spotlights focused on actors on a darkening stage.

I love this time of day not only for the light and shadows, but also for the way it makes me feel. It is happy hour after all. The day is spent, whether good or bad, and it’s time to relax and take note of the setting sun, and raise a toast the day’s end.

This native Arizona plant, the Opuntia Engelmannii, is prolific out here. Its shades of yellow can vary from plant to plant, ranging from bright yellow to butterscotch. On this late April day, I observed some beautiful blush and apricot hues dancing in the petals and I knew it would make a beautiful painting.  The blooms were hanging low on the branch so I crouched down, first checking for rattlesnakes that could be underfoot. It was all clear, and all was as it should be. The classic end to the perfect Arizona day. Cheers Arizona, stay golden.

Inspired by the gardens of Arizona, this print was produced from one of my favorite prickly pear paintings.

Allow three weeks from order date.

In the interest of good customer service, if you are local in Arizona and would like to save on shipping costs, please write a note for us when you order. You can arrange to pick up your work at Altamira Gallery in Scottsdale, and I’ll refund your shipping costs.

This Limited Edition print comes ready to hang and is hand signed and numbered by the artist. The piece is suitable for framing, but is not necessary. Do you have questions about this item? Please contact info@DyanaHesson.com

(in stock: 1 Coral Cactus Bloom)

As is often the case, this snazzy new creation was inspired because of a need. Like many of you, I enjoy French press coffee. But often times, my coffee would cool down before I had a time to drink it, or in between my 1st and 2nd cup. I would wrap my press with a towel or scrap fabric, until one day, an idea brewed.
I made some sketches and prototypes and together with my seamstress Amy, we developed this insulated cozy that’s pretty on your table, and gets the job done.

Inspired by Hesson’s cactus bloom paintings, the dh coffee press cozy is easy on, easy off, with a button at the bottom to fit various types of handles. Made from organic cotton sateen, It fits over most 4 cup presses and cinches at the top to keep the heat in.
Designed and made right here in Arizona, USA.
Drink responsibly, and keep it hot!
$25

*When ordering, specify yellow or coral cactus blooms in the message section.

(In photo, 32 oz Bodum coffee press)
Care: Machine wash cool on a gentle/delicate setting, using phosphate-free detergent. Machine dry on a low temperature setting. Iron on the reverse side of the fabric.
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Allow three weeks from order date.

In the interest of good customer service, if you are local in Arizona and would like to save on shipping costs, please write a note for us when you order. You can arrange to pick up your work at Altamira Gallery in Scottsdale, and I’ll refund your shipping costs.

This Limited Edition print comes ready to hang and is hand signed and numbered by the artist. The piece is suitable for framing, but is not necessary. Do you have questions about this item? Please contact info@DyanaHesson.com

Allow three weeks from order date.

In the interest of good customer service, if you are local in Arizona and would like to save on shipping costs, please write a note for us when you order. You can arrange to pick up your work at Altamira Gallery in Scottsdale, and I’ll refund your shipping costs.

This Limited Edition print comes ready to hang and is hand signed and numbered by the artist. The piece is suitable for framing, but is not necessary. Do you have questions about this item? Please contact info@DyanaHesson.com

Allow three weeks from order date.

In the interest of good customer service, if you are local in Arizona and would like to save on shipping costs, please write a note for us when you order. You can arrange to pick up your work at Altamira Gallery in Scottsdale, and I’ll refund your shipping costs.

This Limited Edition print comes ready to hang and is hand signed and numbered by the artist. The piece is suitable for framing, but is not necessary. Do you have questions about this item? Please contact info@DyanaHesson.com

I believe the photograph Iris took was just a quick snap shot, but it captivated me. I wrote back to my friend right away, “Wow, looks like a painting!”  Secretly, I wanted to paint it. I rarely paint from another person’s photograph. The experience of seeing the bloom with my own eyes and feeling the moment for myself is missing.  However, Iris had captivated me with her photograph and her enthusiasm for the wonderful moment when her plant had bloomed.

It was a delight to work on this special painting. Taking what Iris had seen and interpreting it though my eyes and the medium of oil and canvas, I created the painting “Night Song.” My prayer is that that Iris and her family will enjoy this painting for years to come. What started with a gardeners’ delight inspired a timeless piece of art.

Allow three weeks from order date.

In the interest of good customer service, if you are local in Arizona and would like to save on shipping costs, please write a note for us when you order. You can arrange to pick up your work at Altamira Gallery in Scottsdale, and I’ll refund your shipping costs.

This Limited Edition print comes ready to hang and is hand signed and numbered by the artist. The piece is suitable for framing, but is not necessary. Do you have questions about this item? Please contact info@DyanaHesson.com

The Apostle Paul prayed this for his friends, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

May you bloom where you are planted.

Allow three weeks from order date.

In the interest of good customer service, if you are local in Arizona and would like to save on shipping costs, please write a note for us when you order. You can arrange to pick up your work at Altamira Gallery in Scottsdale, and I’ll refund your shipping costs.

This Limited Edition print comes ready to hang and is hand signed and numbered by the artist. The piece is suitable for framing but is not necessary. Do you have questions about this item? Please contact info@DyanaHesson.com

In the interest of good customer service, if you are local in Arizona and would like to save on shipping costs, please write a note for us when you order. You can arrange to pick up your work at Altamira Gallery in Scottsdale, and I’ll refund your shipping costs.

This Limited Edition print comes ready to hang and is hand signed and numbered by the artist. The piece is suitable for framing, but is not necessary. Do you have questions about this item? Please contact info@DyanaHesson.com

In the interest of good customer service, if you are local in Arizona and would like to save on shipping costs, please write a note for us when you order. You can arrange to pick up your work at Altamira Gallery in Scottsdale, and I’ll refund your shipping costs.

This Limited Edition print comes ready to hang and is hand signed and numbered by the artist. The piece is suitable for framing, but is not necessary. Do you have questions about this item? Please contact info@DyanaHesson.com