Saguaro Design

Fred and Eileen Whitaker exhibited their paintings in galleries in Phoenix and Tucson in the 1970s. Usually they would drive their paintings from their La Jolla, California, home to the galleries. In Tucson, Eileen was taken by the stately Saguaro cactus, native to that area. Rather than depicting the cactus in pure landscape, Eileen brings two cacti front and center, respectful of the plant subject, yet giving each a of touch of humanity. One even appears to wave. The background is pure imagination. A vertical emphasis strengthens the composition core and presses the central cactus to the paper’s frontal edge.