Cholla Sparkling

These bright pink cholla flowers grew in our New Mexico yard, where the cactus itself is everywhere and the yellow fruit is the usual sight. The blooms last only a short season and are so small that they can against the spines, so I enlarged them until the magenta petals and yellow centers filled the page. The white spines sparkle around the flowers, catching light against the green pads and soft sky. I painted them this way because only at that scale does their brief, surprising color feel as vivid as it does when you stand close.