Yucca in flower on open desert ground
A yucca in flower standing on open desert ground, with prickly pear at the left, a red rock ledge at the right and low hills behind.
The yucca stands just right of centre and is the only vertical; the prickly pear mass balances it at the left and the rock ledge closes the right. The ground runs flat and open beneath all three.
Turquoise and cerulean sky over hills of olive and dusty violet. The yucca is lemon and viridian, the cactus jade and emerald, and the ledge a strong terracotta — the one hot passage.
The spines of the yucca are drawn out individually with the point of the brush, radiating from a single centre, while everything around them is washed broadly. The ground is stippled in short dark dashes over dry colour.
Watercolour on paper. Transparent throughout, with unpainted margins on all four sides.
Lower right, RAYRAYISHAPPY, in black over the ground, letters touching.