Boxing Glove Cholla Cactus Painting

 Julie's real estate clients, LaVitta and Torrey, bought a house.  It is a fine house and met all their wants and needs, and more.  That "more" was a rather funky and random cactus that was potted and buried in the back yard of their new home.

LaVitta and Torrey knew that Mike and his Pie Hole were big fans of cacti.  So they invited us to extract the funky beast and transplant it to my house.  After a couple of years in its new home, the prickly plant had numerous offspring. 

When Mike pulled up stakes and moved up to Scottsdale, one of those offspring found its way into another terra cotta pot and now sits comfortably on our patio. 

We are happy to report that the offspring is continuing its funky and random legacy.

In the meantime, we learned that this cactus is a Boxing Glove Cholla.

I know what you are asking: "Why paint a plant that does not flower, is very spiny, and is not very cuddly?"

The answer is that Mike has long been an admirer of drawings and paintings of natural specimens that appear in books, academic journals, and magazines.  The seemingly mundane trout, or oak leaf, or sparrow, or cholla cactus suddenly becomes notable and noble when captured by the artist.

So the castaway Boxing Glove Cholla will elevate the species by sitting for a portrait.