In Joshua Tree the red sun drops from the desert sky in this wild and untamed setting. If you listen carefully, you can hear the ‘nightlife’ waking up as the hikers and campers settle in for the night. Critters scurry around in the shadows, cast by these smooth and funky boulders.
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Spring was brushed onto the Anza Borrego Desert landscape in an astonishing palette of color during this springtime hike. This cluster of succulents and flowers presented themselves as an unlikely bouquet, pushing their way up through breaks in the arid soil…serving as the perfect subject to paint!
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Like a company of flamenco dancers, these brilliant California poppies sway proudly in a pool of afternoon light. Dressed in a deep orange that is stunning against the arid landscape, they tantalize pollinators with their “copas de oro,” or cups of gold.
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These busy Harvester Ants look like they are rushing toward the entrance to an underground womb. Indeed, their precious eggs lie hidden just beneath the surface of the ground, and the colony’s main goal is to ensure its survival. Here, they are busy harvesting seeds, which is where they derive the title of harvester.
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At first glance, this is a painting of a Manzanita tree on a beautiful Southern California hillside. By now we have learned to look harder, however, and this closer examination reveals many tiny bees buzzing around the flowers of this tree.
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In Death Valley, where the distant patter of rain is long forgotten and must sometimes seem like a dream, a barrel cactus cheerfully blooms amid the cracked mud. As the top layer of earth peels away, it takes on the appearance of smooth shaved chocolate and reveals a deeper and equally impenetrable layer below.
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