Pastel study on Italian Clay sanded paper

10″x8″ pastel on sanded paper

The pears are finally ready to pick in New Mexico.  Jelly anyone?

7″x5″ pastel on sanded paper

These cholla were so beautiful earlier this summer, it is fun to remember their blooms with pigment.

10″x8″ pastel on sanded paper

7″x5″ pastel on sanded paper

7″x5″ pastel on sanded paper

7″x5″ pastel on sanded paper

“People trample over flowers, yet only to embrace a cactus.” -James Joyce

8″ square, pastel on sanded paper

I enjoyed painting the way the sun felt: hot and bright, and well…sunny.

10″x8″ pastel on RED sanded paper

“The sharp thorn often produces delicate roses.” -Ovid

7″x5″ pastel on sanded paper

“Death is not the opposite of life but an innate part of it. By living our lives, we nurture death.”  -Haruki Murakami

Dead cholla, or their skeletons, are one of my favorite nature artifacts.  I love to collect those lacy hollow sticks.  I found this cactus full of skeletons, live branches, and blooms – an intergenerational cactus.