Yucca. Bless You. 2023.

Watercolor on paper.

12”x9” framed.

I often gaze deep into this Yucca Tree from my back deck and pretend I’m in a Dr. Seuss book. The blooms are wonderful. Sprouting as a pinecone shaped cluster, the flowers burst open in a matter of days. Like the Griswold family christmas tree when they brought it home and untied it. They are that glow-in-the-dark white color, but they don’t actually glow. In the dark. Wouldn’t that be cool?

Almost as quickly as they bloom, they fall off, leaving a swirly skeletal branch behind. Imagine watching a firework explode in super slow-mo for a week. Same same.

I work as a color chemist for a liquid color supplier. A couple days every week, I go into their lab and make paint, implementing formulas that have been around since 1934. Along with the pigments, dyes, dispersants and preservatives, I pour my intentional energy and love into these colors. Then I get to take some paint home and set it free onto my own canvas. It’s like being a farmer AND a chef, cultivating your own food, then cooking it into a delectable meal to share.