A beautiful spring day in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park near San Diego, CA. This piece was inspired by a trip to the desert during the superbloom of March 2019. Flowers appear only after a good winter rain season and only for a short few weeks during the year.
Clumps of yellow brittlebush, purple desert lupines and white desert stars bring fresh color to the delicate desert floor. Manzanita, creosote bushes and jojoba are the staple greens most of the year. And a lone ocotillo flashes its orange fireworks before it returns to its usual brown stick phase. The Laguna Mountains (the base of the Pacific Crest Trail) are ever-present in the background.
This piece was collaged with some ephemera that was found in the Borrego-Springs Friends of the Library shop in 2019: star charts, pages from a Spanish language novella, and maps of the area. In addition, other hand-painted papers -- mainly from San Diego county -- were also used.
Natasha's unique style captures the ephemeral beauty and character of this fragile but enduring landscape.