Tierra Seca, Parched Earth, Dry Land, Desert …

The Sonoran Desert, often called “The Green Desert,” receives more rainfall than any other desert on Earth, while still meeting the criteria of a desert. It is teeming with life in spite of the dryness and long months without rain. In the desert, survival is paramount for entire species of plants and animals. The landscape of the Sonoran Desert has an inherently wild character as a result of the flora adapting to the harsh environment. Trees are not tall, their leaves are typically very small, cacti swell and shrink and have sharp needles. Each plant is isolated, spread out, dotting the landscape of bare, hard, dry earth…tierra seca. Life force becomes consolidated into brittle, haunting shapes and textures. Desiccation makes way for renewal.

For Plein Air artists, the act of painting outdoors is a meditative process -- a direct communion with place and light. Some artists venture into wild, open landscapes, drawn to nature’s tenuous strength. Others are moved by the endurance of human-made structures, warping and bleaching under the desert sun. In this environment, light becomes a powerful force, fostering both life and decay. Tierra Seca celebrates this tension and the visual poetry it creates, where drought becomes metaphor and survival becomes beauty.

About the Sonoran Plein Air Painters With roots dating back to 1998, the Sonoran Plein Air Painters (SPAP) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to painting directly from life in the landscapes of the American Southwest. Evolving from the original Tucson Plein Air Painters Society, SPAP has carried this plein air tradition into the present with a renewed focus on the distinctive ecology of the Sonoran Desert. The group fosters artistic growth through PaintOuts, juried and non-juried exhibitions, workshops, and a tiered membership structure.

www.sonoranpleinairpainters.com