cactus flowers – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Colorado Cactus Flowers

My sister lives outside Durango, CO, on 40 acres of high desert. Scrub oak, cacti, deer, and all sorts of things roam about. Today she sent some photos of the flowers in bloom around her place. Some prickly pears were in bloom, so here is the photo she took.

The plants in her area are similar to the ones here in California where we live. There are hillsides covered with prickly pear cacti out here, and as our climate is warmer, they bloom earlier than in Colorado at 8000 feet. This is my painting of her photo.

I outlined the big cactus plant on the left with ink and then painted it. The others I did with direct watercolor. Combining outlines with free form painting is rather fun, and a good way to continue practicing. I think the outlines made for a more successful cactus but not having outlines also makes it very important to look at shape and value. Practicing both in the same painting is rather an interesting process.

Cactus Flowers at Sunset

About 3 weeks ago I dropped off some slide film I finally finished up. The problem was I couldn’t advance my film or rewind it halfway through the roll. Off to the neighborhood repair shop, and voilà! Just a this and a that, and the film worked. I advanced a few and finished up the roll.

This is a view of my neighbor’s garden – he has one of the finest “southwestern” gardens I have seen because it is well kept and not full of weeds. At sunset, with soft light, a row of blooms – quite lovely.

I was hoping to get a lot of photography done this week since I am off from work, but instead I decided to break my wrist and finger on Easter Sunday, just to do something different.