Agave Finale
by Douglas Taylor
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Price
$195
Dimensions
30.000 x 45.000 inches
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Title
Agave Finale
Artist
Douglas Taylor
Medium
Photograph - Fine Art Digital Photography
Description
Spring is typically the season of renewal, and so it is for the Agave ocahui, but in a very different way. For the agave here, spring is also the end. An Agave only flowers once, and that is at the end of it's life cycle.
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As the agave matures, it begins to grow a "heart" of tissue high in sugar content. If harvested just before the plant begins to bloom, this sugary mass can be roasted to convert the resulting pulp into an edible, sweet food that was once a valued part of the diet for native peoples of the American Southwest and Mexico. A specific species of agave is now well known for having the sugary pulp fermented to produce Tequila.
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Allowed to complete its life cycle, the agave uses the enormous energy stored in the tissues of its base to produce a large stalk during the spring months, ranging between 5 and 20 feet in height, and looking for all the world like a gigantic asparagus spear which grows with astonishing speed. As the stalk develops, it begins to flower, thereby completing its life cycle as the flowers are pollinated and then form seeds. Even as it is flowering at the peak of springtime, the plant itself begins to die. And like the process that produces the brilliant colors of some deciduous trees in autumn, the Agave ocahui's leaves begin to loose their chlorophyll and may turn brilliant shades of yellow, orange and red. Thus, this brightly colored abstract image of the flowering Agave ocahui that I have entitled "Agave Finale". This species is native only to rocky hillsides of northeastern Sonora, Mexico, and the specimen was photographed at the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum near Tucson, Arizona.
Upon seeing the spectacular coloration of this plant, I had the thought to look for any flowering agave to capture more color. Unfortunately, Agave ocahui is the only one known to show this dramatic color at the end of its life.
CONTEST WINNER: 1st Place, "Extraordinary Leaves" contest, November 2022.
CONTEST WINNER: 1st Place, "Succulents and Cacti" contest, sponsored by the Succulents and Cacti art group, December 2022.
Uploaded
January 9th, 2013
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Comments (140)
Gigi Thomas
Kuddos!Your awesome creation has been FEATURED on the ABSTRACT FEATURES DAILY GROUP Home Page !
Douglas Taylor replied:
Gigi! Thank you so very much for recognizing my art with the feature in this wonderful art group! Most appreciated.
Sabina Pamfili
fabulous, Douglas. It is like a miracle, so exquisite and so very beautiful.
Douglas Taylor replied:
Thank you so much for your glowing compliment, Sabina! Always appreciated here.
Loredana Gallo Migliorini
Really wonderful and very interesting description Douglas! Fav/like dear greetings! Fav/like
Douglas Taylor replied:
Thank you very much for your wonderful words of compliment, Lori! They are greatly appreciated by this man.
Gary F Richards
Congratulations on your Top Finish in the contest… THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME TANK TOP DESIGN CONTEST! F/L
Pat Goltz
Wow! I am totally inspired by the colors in this image! And The design as well.
Douglas Taylor replied:
Thank you so very much for your wonderful words, Pat! They are greatly appreciated here.