Original Medium: Watercolor
What the artist says about this work:
I have lived in 7 different countries stationed in the military and have captured the beauty in art in many places. One of my favorite themes is Southwestern Art. Arizona Evening is a scene I painted while in Arizona visiting the Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert. The colors and stillness of the desert is a beauty that I never imagined. There is life in the desert. The land, cacti, and mountains cry of an ancient past.
The ground in the desert of the American Southwest is home to a lively history: Indians, Cowboys, Outlaws, and are home to many ancient mysteries. The plants of this desert survive from very little water over long draughts. Arizona is the home of Tombstone, mystical Sedona and the Grand Canyon.
This particular painting is of the Sonoran Desert in southwestern Arizona. The red colors in the sand mimic the mystical colors and vortex powers in the city of Sedona. The Saguaro Cactus shown in the painting stands for the longevity and power of the desert. The cactus can grow up to 50 feet in height where birds over watch the landscape.
The Ocotillo Cactus is in the foreground and drawn in black with pen and ink. The sun setting in the west turns this dark green plant into a black plant when viewed from the east. This particular scene is in wintertime. In the summer months the Ocotillo blooms red gorgeous flowers.
To me the desert shows a different part of the world than from where I am accustomed. Initially, when I moved to El Paso, Texas, I honestly thought what is there to do here, in the desert? While living in the southwestern United States I saw first hand why people love it there. It is beautiful year round, the people are uniquely genuine and nice, and everywhere you turn you are standing on top of history, exciting history. The desert also reminds me of the American Indian, the first American, who I have immense respect for. In the southwest you experience the unique, genuine lifestyle of the American Indians and