Sometimes a painting needs to be created just for the fun of it. ‘Picking Flowers' filled that requirement for me. Desert subjects occasionally provide the opportunity to paint with bright and unexpected colors. In depicting the salvia flowers, I got to use passionate reds, pinks and purples, which were a special treat as my palette is usually more subdued. As I observed this Green-tailed Towhee moving among the plants, he picked up a flower in his bill, and the title and the painting idea were born.

This small painting has many different textures all juxtaposed against one another: the smoothness of the leaves and flower petals, the roughness of the grasses, and the soft textures of the feathers. Pure joy to paint!