$15,200 Framed

It’s no secret that I love wandering at the base of the Mazatzal Mountains in the late afternoon. About an hour from my home, down a bumpy dirt road, awaits a land rich with history and diverse plant species. It’s in the sweet spot between desert cholla and ponderosa pines at about 4000 feet. As I write this, it’s springtime, and soon I’ll be headed back to this place to check on the land and my plant friends.

The agave get all the attention in this area, but there’s a nice crop of yucca that demands closer examination. The flower pendants gobble up the late day light, and the curly leaf fibers swirl in shades of blue. This plant has so many uses; you can make shampoo, roast the fruit for food, make rope or baskets from the fibers, and create beautiful dye.

Once again, the land seems to give us everything we need, and on top of that we get beauty.
As a painter who loves color, I’m grateful for inspiration like this, and it makes me want to be a better steward of the land. I hope it does the same for you.

Sierra Madre Yucca, Patagonia Lake, AZ
Bloomed 4-22-23 5:30 PM
47×35 in. Limited Edition on Canvas

Edition of 50

$2300

Southern Arizona is pretty special. The elevation is a little higher, the big city is far away, and rolling golden hills spread this way that that until they are interrupted by sky islands—dramatic rises in elevation, where alpine environments thrive within a short distance of the desert landscape.

Near the historic town of Patagonia is Patagonia Lake. Like most Arizona lakes, it is a man-made reservoir, created by the damming of Sonoita Creek, a tributary to the Santa Cruz River. Here, the hills are dotted with a yucca variety not common in other parts of Arizona. They ring like bells in the breeze and glow in the afternoon light.

One afternoon in April, while observing these marvelous blooms and the shimmering light on the water, I spotted several teenage boys considering a jump off the lake bank into the water. They were egging each other on, chattering.

The mom in me wanted to warn them of the danger of the jump. But really it didn’t look too bad, and if I was their age, I would have joined them in an instant. The best part of the scene was that there was not a cell phone in sight. Just boys being boys on a warm Arizona day. The whole scene made me smile, and I knew I would paint it.

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

Sedona Windsock
Soap Tree Yucca*, Sedona Airport
Bloomed 6/17/23, 8:30 PM
28×22 Oil on Canvas

$4400

I like airports, especially the small-town variety. This probably stems from my dad’s love of aviation and our frequent visits to my hometown airport in Auburn, California as I was growing up. Here in Arizona, we have some very charming small airports. The Sedona Airport is probably the most picturesque. Perched atop Table Top Mesa and surrounded by red buttes, you just can’t beat it, especially at sunset.

After a warm June day of kayaking on the Verde River, we sat with an adult beverage on the edge of the runway watching small planes touch the tarmac, and we reminisced about Dad. I noticed a nearby yucca plant, its blooms gently ringing in the breeze. They reminded me of an aviation staple, the windsock.

New technology comes and goes, but good aviators still rely on the humble windsock to determine windspeed and direction. If it ain’t broke, no need to fix it.

As the sun lowered in the sky, these yucca blooms were waiting for another type of landing. According to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, “Biologists have only recently determined that almost every species of yucca has its own species of yucca moth; some yuccas have two moth species.”

It turns out yucca reproduction depends on moths, and moth reproduction depends on the yucca. The moth cross-pollinates and lays eggs on the pollinated ovary, where hatchlings can dine on the flowers.

As I savored the last pour of Page Springs wine, I thought I heard: “Moths, this is the tower. You are clear for landing; enjoy your stay in Sedona, where the temperature is a balmy 80 degrees and the sunsets are unbeatable.”

*Chemicals in the roots of some yucca species are used to make soap.