$19,500.00 Framed
 
There is a hilltop near Payson, Arizona that I love. It sits at about 4500 feet, with views of the East Verde River on one side, and the Mazatzal mountain range on other. This hilltop is a botanist’s dream, with a diverse array of cactus and native Arizona plants. There is evidence that an ancient civilization spent time building, gathering and communing in this place too. I think of their time here often when I visit. I wonder what gossip filled the air as the women sat at their grinding stations, looking up occasionally at the mountains in front of them.
 
In the wild, shelter is important. For the hiker, it’s the first thing to consider when stranded in the open; before water, before food, protection from the elements is vital. Plants benefit from shelter, too. Often in the Southwest, certain plants thrive only in the sheltered cover of another plant, or in the shade of a rock. In terrain with diverse geologic formations, life thrives.
 
I am grateful for the merry band of plant lovers who have taught me so much upon this hill.

And I am grateful for the things places like this teach me about my creator, who is my ultimate refuge and shelter under which I can thrive.

Prickly Pear Cactus Blooms

Just call me Dyana Bandana!

It’s time to make this practical accessory beautiful!
Inspired by Hesson’s paintings, these cotton bandanas are perfect for just about any use. Tie one around your neck, your hair, your wrist, your purse strap, your backpack. Wear it on the town or on the range, on the trail, or in the garden. You could even dress up your dinner table or picnic and use them as napkins. Dyana Bandanas are soft 100% cotton and the classic 23×23 inch size.

Machine wash, line dry and touch up with an iron if needed.

Ride into the sunset, beautifully.

$25 each, or buy 3 and choose free shipping* at check out.

*US only, out of country shoppers will receive a $10 shipping credit and will be invoiced the balance once we ship, thank you for understanding!

As seen in Phoenix Home and Garden  Magazine

Beavertail cactuses are like the daffodils of the southwest. The magenta blooms of beavertail can be seen glowing in the Arizona sun as early as February or March, long before other prickly pear, cholla cactus, or saguaros blooms.

Named for the shape of their pads, this cactus lacks the spines of its relatives, and instead has tiny glochids (which are just as painful). Its berries or “tunas” are edible, along with the pads, and are said to stabilize blood sugar.

This beavertail bloomed on my birthday in one of my favorite Arizona locations, Lees Ferry. Its intensely colored petals glowed like lit candles on a cake, and as the sun set, I thanked God for another year.

Cholla Cactus Blooms

Just call me Dyana Bandana!

It’s time to make this practical accessory beautiful!
Inspired by Hesson’s paintings, these cotton bandanas are perfect for just about any use. Tie one around your neck, your hair, your wrist, your purse strap, your backpack. Wear it on the town or on the range, on the trail, or in the garden. You could even dress up your dinner table or picnic and use them as napkins. Dyana Bandanas are soft 100% cotton and the classic 23×23 inch size.

Machine wash, line dry and touch up with an iron if needed.

Ride into the sunset, beautifully.

$25 each, or buy 3 and choose free shipping* at check out.

*US only, out of country shoppers will receive a $10 shipping credit and will be invoiced the balance once we ship, thank you for understanding!

As seen in Phoenix Home and Garden  Magazine

Available at Manitou Gallery in Santa Fe

In the Southwest we are blessed by the beauty of many varieties of opuntia (or prickly pear), some native, some introduced. One of my favorite plants is the Chenille Prickly Pear. While in bloom, its flowers range from yellow to crimson on the same plant. But don’t get too close; also nicknamed Cowboy’s Red Whiskers, this plant is deceptively prickly due to its dense clusters of glochids (or microspines), which are painful and hard to remove.

These plants are most at home in the Monterrey region of Mexico and along the Rio Grand in Texas, but they are a favorite cactus in many southwest gardens, including mine. On this day, their colors looked as if they were dancing, twirling and spinning like ladies in their finest at a fiesta.

(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.

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