About the work

In this mixed-media artwork, I have created a painterly version of the state of Texas that is inspired by the state's nature-derived symbols. Here, pastel and paint combine in a textured mix of bold greens across the state, in reference to the designated state plant, the prickly pear cactus, which features blooms in a red-orange hue used here to render the background. Completing the piece is the Gulf of Mexico, painted in tints of blue and violet as a nod to both the state flower, the bluebonnet, and the state native shrub, Texas purple sage.