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.

Buckhorn Cholla, Superstition Mountains, AZ

(Cylindropuntia Acanthocarpa)
38 x 25 print (could be hung horizontally as well)
$1380

Here in Arizona we have a wonderful legend about lost treasure in our Superstition Mountains. The only treasure I have found in these rugged mountains is the joy of hiking with a wonderful tribe, and the exhilaration of seeing this unique place in full bloom. The winter rains of 2019 yielded an exceptional season of flowers. True Blue (my Jeep) and I spent some time exploring and hiking among the many varieties of native cholla that grow easily here. I loved this vignette; it reminded me of a long chain of gold glistening in the Arizona sun. It was a challenging painting, and I had to make many adjustments along the way. As I painted, the Woodbury fire, the fifth largest fire in Arizona history, ignited over 120,000 acres in the Superstition wilderness. The day I made my last stroke on the canvas, it was announced that the fire, after thirty-seven days, was finally contained on July 15^th.

Those of us who love these mountains are grateful for the firefighters and the volunteers who served them during the fire. We know the desert will heal, and the blooms will return in due time.

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

(Yes, you could hang it horizontally too)