Category Archives: Cacti & Succulents

2022 Creative Gathering, Day 20

Day 20, 4 x 4 watercolor on Arches cold pressed paper. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.
Day 20, 4 x 4 watercolor on Arches cold pressed paper. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

Drifting across the vast space,
silent except for wind and footsteps,
I felt uncluttered and unhurried for the first time in a while, already on desert time.
Rebecca Solnit

Loving someone who
doesn’t love you back is like hugging a cactus.
The tighter you hold on, the more it’s going to hurt.
Unknown

Day 19 of February’s 30-Day Creative Gathering

Day 19, 8 x 8 watercolor on Fabriano paper. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.
Day 19, 8 x 8 watercolor on Fabriano paper. © 2022 Sheila Delgado.

I was fighting with this one, and then I realized why it was not working. I was not using Arches paper. You can see in the sky, how spotty the paint settled. In the cactus as well, but the texture works there. I did nave fun with the saguaro. But I always do. Haha.

I’m like the trunk of a cactus…
I take in a dose of culture and time with friends,
then I retreat and go live on it for a while
until I get thirsty again.
Nancy Horan

The canyon country does not always inspire love.
To many it appears barren, hostile, repellent –
a fearsome mostly waterless land of rock and heat,
sand dunes and quicksand, cactus, thornbrush, scorpion, rattlesnake, and agaraphobic distances.
To those who see our land in that manner,
the best reply is, yes, you are right,
it is a dangerous and terrible place.
Enter at your own risk.
Carry water.
Avoid the noonday sun.
Try to ignore the vultures.
Pray frequently.
Edward Abbey

Wonky Watercolors

12.07.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
12.07.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

This post has been sitting half finished since December. I was going to write about my COVID experience. But I am still mid journey. And for some reason, I have not been able to put that story to paper.

For now, here are the wonky little works I did while in the hospital. They are in my 4 x 6 sketch book. Not on watercolor paper. Christine Brooks made the suggestion, to pass the time. I wasn’t thinking about art at that moment. And at first, it was very hard to concentrate. I would draw, and then paint later.

I put together a list of supplies, and had them dropped off at the hospital. I forgot some essentials. Like an eraser. LOL. I had a larger sketchbook, but 4 x 6 was about all I could manage. I altered a few of these in Photoshop. Blurred a snake plant, to soften. Added a few straight lines. Mostly, they are left untouched.

As for an update. I am plugging along. I am doing great on the whole. My mobility is still mostly limited. My O2 still drops dangerously low. I can get to the restroom on my own now. Without the walker. And I can get up from the seat unaided. Huge milestones! Haha. Sometimes my O2 stays level, until after I have made it back to the bedroom. Then it drops drastically. Fortunately, I often recover more quickly now than before. In the beginning, The O2 would drop as soon as I stood up.
Another milestone. Of sorts.

But every silver lining, I am going to claim. Haha. And thank God for!

12. 02.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
12.02.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
12. 01.21, Sunflowers, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
12.01.21, Sunflowers, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
12. 01.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
12.01.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.29.21, Snake plant, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.29.21, Snake plant, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.28.21,  4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.28.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.29.21, Bouquet, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.29.21, Bouquet, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.29.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.29.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.28.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.28.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.28.21, Pink, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.28.21, Pink, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.27.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.
11.27.21, 4 x 6 watercolor on paper. © 2021 Sheila Delgado.

We dream to give ourselves hope.
To stop dreaming—well,
that’s like saying
you can never change your fate.
Amy Tan

I simply can’t build my hopes on a
foundation of confusion, misery and death…
I think… peace and tranquility will return again.
Anne Frank