Every late spring in the Southwest there is great celebration centered around the night blooming cereus. There is a great variety including the Queen of the Night which blooms only once a year. Catching these lotus-like blooms on their special night is a real treat.
Blooming at night makes sense when your main pollinator is bats. The specimen depicted in my piece resides in my back yard. This succulent spreads out low along the ground, usually under shrubs or trees. It's not a Queen of the Night and blooms multiple times a year.
I was thinking about the tissue paper thin petals unfolding in the moon light, the first light to reflect back their pure whiteness. I was thinking about the timing of moon cycles and the quiet glowing shadows it bestows on the ground. Overlaid in the background is a target, personal space symbols and a dotted diagram of moon craters. This one came together nicely and was a fun one to do.
