ORIGINAL - "Opuntia 'Baby Rita'"

16" x 20" x 7/8"

Watercolor, acrylic gouache, glass bead medium on clay-coated wood panel

Modeled after Opuntia "Baby Rita," a prickly pear housplant cultivated as a smaller hybrid of the larger Opuntia Santa Rita native to the Sonoran Desert throughout Mexico & the American Southwest, keeping the recognizable purple-gradient pads.

I painted this one reflecting on my childhood in Arizona, the Baby Rita in my own home, and the hope that any folks who support cruel immigration policies reflect on why they so easily welcome the plants and foods of Hispanic regions into their homes, but not the people into our communities. And a reminder to Latinx folks that you belong here too.