Purple Prickly Pear

One plant that seems to appear in every desert landscape is the prickly pear. They’re everywhere!
 
I first gathered their fruit back in December in the Texas Hill Country. Then in Big Bend I stumbled across a purple one, something I hadn’t seen before. And after that… I started seeing them everywhere!
 
More at Saguaro National Park. More along the roadsides. More at picnic areas. More scattered throughout the other stops on my desert travel tour.
 
It turns out the Santa Rita prickly pear naturally grows purple. When they are stressed (too cold or too thirsty), they turn an even deeper, more vibrant hue. Some other prickly pears turn purple too, but the Santa Rita is purple by adaptation.
 
Which made me wonder:
What if people turned purple every time we were stressed?
Or every time we were simply trying to survive?
 
I’ve been completely enamored with them.
 
Over the past few weeks I started translating that fascination into a postcard design. I carved two blocks during my recent Postcards of Joy workshops and have been experimenting with color palettes ever since.
 
The purple prickly pear has officially become an unexpected muse.
 
I’m still exploring different ways to capture it in print but in the meantime you can collect this early offset. 
 
Purple Prickly Pear postcard packs are now available in my Etsy shop.

purple prickly pear postcards!