"Southwest Hummingbird Art"

"A Little Rain ... Sometimes"

18" x 24" James Hammons' Original Painting

I watch birds all the time, especially hummingbirds and mockingbirds ... my favorite for different reasons.  When in the wilds of the Joshua Tree National Park, hummingbirds makes their nests of small twigs and spider silk deep in the branches of cat-claw trees; and anyone who has ever hiked with a loose shirt knows cat-claws are the deadliest desert plants around.  A small breeze stirs their spindly branches, and barbed hooks will reel in anything close, especially if it's an expensive silk shirt, or tender skin.

Anyway, the best part of the hummingbird nest is to look gently inside when the parent is off gathering nectar.  Often, blueberry eggs the size of small pebbles are crunched inside, looking as if ensconced in the safest of safes, and letting go of the cat-claw without being hooked is a relief that wraps the image of the nest and tiny eggs deeply inside the best memory banks.

Hummingbird Art.

James Hammons' Hummingbrid art

James Hammons' Joshua Tree National Park Art

"James Hammons Art Online"

"Sunflower and the Horizon"

James Hammons Original Painting

Sunflowers have always been a passion of mine.  They're  like solar panels with soft butter petals laying out under a blue sky and distant horizon that only sees the moon rise and set, and then the sun again.  So, as a southwest artist with an online art gallery, I often think it's best to get out with the moon and sun, and catch a flower to paint, or draw, and not spend so much time in the digital world.  This particular James Hammons' Original Painting was one of my first creations when I moved to the Joshua Tree area and began my desert, southwest art career.