Story behind the art of Olga Ryabtsova
29th Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists and the Society of Illustrators
Beavertail Pricklypear
Opuntia basilaris
When I was choosing a subject for the Annual International Exhibition of the American Society of Botanical Artists, I decided I wanted to paint a plant native to California. The unusually early spring bloom offered a perfect opportunity to visit one of my favorite places, Joshua Tree National Park, and observe desert plants in their natural habitat.
My original intention was to paint an iconic Joshua tree. Reports suggested the trees would be in bloom, but by the time I arrived, most had already finished flowering and were covered with seed pods. Hoping to find a few late bloomers, I drove along Keys View Road, enjoying sweeping views of the Mojave Desert and the San Gorgonio Pass, then continued on the Wall Street Mill trail, which winds through a remarkable desert landscape before reaching the remains of an abandoned gold ore crushing mill surrounded by weathered mining equipment. Around the historic site, beavertail cacti, Opuntia basilaris v. basilaris, were blooming in extraordinary abundance. Their brilliant magenta flowers transformed the rocky desert floor into a sea of color. Beavertail had been on my list of plants to paint for several years, but this was the first time I had seen such a spectacular display. Although the trip introduced me to many remarkable native desert plants, the beavertail immediately became my choice for this year's painting.
The experience was so inspiring that the following day I created several small drypoint landscape prints using recycled Tetra Pak cartons. Tetra Pak is the paperboard material used for milk and juice cartons. The inside has a thin plastic coating, which makes it an excellent surface for drypoint printmaking. I draw directly into the surface with a sharp tool, ink the plate, and print it on an etching press. It is a simple and inexpensive printmaking technique that repurposes recycled Tetra Pak cartons. Although it requires returning to my studio rather than sketching on location, I usually make these small prints soon after a field trip to record the atmosphere and visual impressions of a place quickly while the experience is still fresh in my mind before beginning a larger work. Soon after this trip I started developing the composition for my watercolor painting.
Beavertail pricklypear (Opuntia basilaris v. basilaris) is one of the most recognizable cacti of the American Southwest. It is native to southern and central California and is also found in Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and northwestern Mexico. In California, it grows in the Mojave Desert as well as in parts of Colorado and the Sonoran Desert, from approximately 500 to 7,200 feet (150–2,200 m) in elevation. Flowering typically occurs from March through June. The pricklypear’s broad, flattened shape resembles a beaver's tail, giving the plant its common name.
The cactus forms low, spreading clusters that may reach nearly 6 feet (1.8 m) across. The blue-gray to gray-green pads are thick and flattened. Unlike many cacti, beavertail has no large spines. Instead, each pad is covered with countless tiny barbed glochids that detach easily and readily penetrate the skin. These nearly invisible bristles provide an effective defense despite the plant's seemingly soft appearance.
The vivid pink to magenta flowers attract a variety of native bees and other pollinators, making the beavertail an important component of desert ecosystems. As the flowers fade, they develop into edible fruits that have supported both wildlife and people for thousands of years. For Indigenous peoples of the Southwest, they were an important source of both food and medicine. The Cahuilla people gathered young fruits between March and June and considered them a favorite seasonal food. The tender young stem pads were slowly cooked or steamed in earth ovens, while the Panamint people harvested and dried the young pads for future use. The pulp of mature pads was applied as a soothing poultice for bruises, bites, and sores, and the large seeds were ground into flour.
I painted the cactus using my preferred dry-brush watercolor technique, gradually building transparent layers to capture the subtle textures and delicate colors of the plant. My favorite part was painting the broad stem pads with their soft blue-gray to bluish-green color, delicate pink tones and warm golden highlights.
Although the beavertail cactus became the subject of my painting, it was only one of many memorable encounters during that spring visit to Joshua Tree National Park. At the end of the day, I visited the spectacular Cholla Cactus Garden, admired flowering ocotillos, and enjoyed countless native desert wildflowers that briefly transform the desert each spring. Together, these plants reminded me of the extraordinary diversity and fleeting beauty of California's desert landscape and left me with many ideas for future botanical paintings.
References https://calscape.org/Opuntia- basilaris-var.-basilaris-(Beavertail-Pricklypear)
• Calscape. Beavertail Pricklypear (Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris). https://calscape.org/Opuntia- basilaris-var.-basilaris-(Beavertail-Pricklypear)
• Calflora. Opuntia basilaris. https://www.calflora.org/app/taxon?crn=5927
• Jepson eFlora. Opuntia basilaris var. basilaris. https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?name=Opuntia%20basilaris%20var.%20basilaris
• Ethnoherbalist. Beavertail Cactus – Traditional Uses by the Cahuilla. https://www.ethnoherbalist.com/southern-california-native-plants-medicinal/opuntia-beavertail-cactus/
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