Arizona Blossoms - Prickly Pear

by Debbie Hart

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Price

$350

Dimensions

16.000 x 20.000 x 1.000 inches

Title

Arizona Blossoms - Prickly Pear

Artist

Debbie Hart

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

Original Oil on Canvas, 16 X 20. This painting started with more of a realistic approach. As I started painting, I realized I wanted to exaggerate the beautiful colors more by stylizing it a bit. I also originally had a lighter, more reddish background but again, wanted to make the blossoms stand out and be the center of attention. The original reference photo had less of a transition in colors and after several glazes I stood back and realized it might be more dynamic if I accentuated these colors by putting them in a red to orange to yellow flow.
I loved this simple approach so much I decided to try this on several other paintings; most of them the gorgeous cactus blossoms of the desert. I have a few started in different orders of completion and would eventually like to have a series of this style.

Prickly Pears all have flat, fleshy pads that look like paddles. The pads act as water storage, but also produce flowers. These plants have large spines, or leaves that produce small, wart-like projections on their stems.

The fruits of most prickly pears are edible. Prickly pear pads can be cooked and eaten as a vegetable. Both fruits and pads of the prickly pear cactus are rich in soluble fibers that experts are trying to link to helping keep blood sugars stable. Prickly Pear Nectar is available and made with the juice and pulp of the fruits. There has been other medical interests in the Prickly Pear plant. Some studies have shown that the pectin contained in the Prickly Pear pulp lowers levels of bad cholesterol while leaving good cholesterol levels unchanged.

Prickly pear cacti are found in all of the deserts of the American Southwest. Most require rocky, well-drained soil in dry regions.

Most prickly pear cactus have yellow, red or purple flowers. They vary in height from less than a foot to as much as 6 or 7 feet tall. The pads can vary in width, length, shape and color.

Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus (see below), is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae.

Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200[1] species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider a subgenus of Opuntia. Austrocylindropuntia, Corynopuntia and Micropuntia are also often included in the present genus, but like Cylindropuntia they seem rather well distinct. Brasiliopuntia and Miqueliopuntia are closer relatives of Opuntia.

The most commonly culinary species is the Indian Fig Opuntia (O. ficus-indica). Most culinary uses of the term "prickly pear" refer to this species. Prickly pears are also known as "tuna", "nopal" or nopales, from the Nahuatl word n�li for the pads, or nostle, from the Nahuatl word n�li for the fruit; or paddle cactus.

Uploaded

July 6th, 2011

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