Prickly Pear Princess Palace Painting

Prickly Pear Princess Palace I have a favorite hike onto a nearby mesa that shows abundant prickly pear cactus blooms in June. I staked out this location for several years, hoping to capture a brilliant pink cactus rose silhouetted artfully against the base of a juniper root that harbored intriguing deep shadows. I never did happen upon it at the perfect moment, but the cactus plant started dying and the stump was rotting away so it came time to put it on paper. I culled past reference photos and “photoshopped” several of them together in my imagination. We see our full-lipped cactus blossom princess turning to her left while throwing a coquettish glimpse of her green eye over the ridge of her right cheek. Her diadem is tipped slightly askew. Her pouty lower lip greets us. She stands amid ranks of bristling cactus retainers in bright green livery. One retainer elevates her into view atop the mighty arm that buds from his side. An old retainer dressed in red gold looks on. Yesterday’s princess is at our princess’s side, a bloom that lasts a day and then shrinks away. The juniper root walls of the palace loom behind. Gold-tinged weeds with tapered oval flaglet seeds form her heraldic banners. The top of the palace wall shines as the late morning light casts deep shadows on our the deeply woven juniper bark tapestry. Do we see a glowing panther guarding the keep at the top of the palace wall? Behind the wall the multitudes cheer and raise their own banners high. Daniel Smith quinacridone pink and Holbein opera pink comprise the flower and highlight the cactus spines and buds. The oval flaglets are tinged by quinacridone gold and iridescent sunstone. The juniper stump was shaped from shades of grey with duochrome violet pearl, iridescent antique silver, and permanent orange highlights. Sharp blades and stiff brushes raised highlights in the flower and cactus branches.

Painting:Watercolor on Paper

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:10.5 W x 15 H x 0.1 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.