One hot summer day I was delighted to find a native Desert Willow tree had popped up just outside my studio door. A volunteer! Of course the tree was unaware of how thrilled I was that it grew in the perfect spot to eventually provide shade for the studio. A Canale (rain gutter) coming off the roof provides moisture which is no doubt why it sprang up there.
These are hardy, drought tolerant trees, but the Desert Willow that appeared at the same time in the front yard is half the size since it doesn’t benefit from the roof runoff. It’s a nice metaphor for the advantages of getting what you need when you need it.
A few years have elapsed and my studio tree, which is now waving its feathery leafed branches over the roofline, blesses us with a multitude of flowers each year.
But beauty has its price. I’m also constantly sweeping up the debris from the thousands of seed pods and spent blossoms.
Dissolve, a table-scape of Desert Willow blooms, is one of two small paintings for display in the Wide Bay High Desert show at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery (BRAG) in Queensland, Australia.