I am originally from Laredo on the border of Texas and Mexico. As a kid, I spent my days playing among the tangerine trees and spent hours drawing in the shade of the trees where my mom set me up with a drawing pad. I vividly remember drawing through high school and most often doing portraiture. I continued figurative and portrait work in graphite while in college and often did portraits on request to make a bit of money. Though I had a degree of artistic talent, I pursued “practical” studies over the creative world.

As I delved into my scientific classes, I discovered a great aptitude in botany which was my first college course in biology. I was invited to teach the lab portion of that course and did so for the remainder of my time at that campus. That love of botany was to find me in future years, I just did not know it yet.

I was introduced to pastels in 2013 in a half-day pastel workshop by an artist from the Pastel Society of New Mexico. I was pretty sure I would not like the medium, so naturally, I am years later, still working in pastel. I learned to work in pastel by taking numerous workshops with nationally and internationally known pastel artists. Over the years, I have picked up various techniques that resonated with me in developing a technique of my own, from preparing the substrate to application of the medium.

Botanical subjects are my primary love. I am most inspired by the xeric specimens found in the Sonoran and Chihuahua deserts and throughout the southwestern United States. I am fascinated by Fibonacci spirals found in nature and echoed in phyllotaxy— the pattern in which leaves are arranged on plants to maximize the sunlight they receive. When people ask me to name my favorite between cacti, succulents, aloe and agave, my heart is invariably with the agave. I am moved by the stateliness of the agave and the endless variations in size, colors, and shapes. I marvel at the undulation of the agave leaves and those leaves imprinted by the now unfurled leaf – like footsteps in sand. I am emotionally moved by the poignant swan song beauty of the agave flower.

I never fully understood my fascination with xeric botanicals until I was in West Texas and drove through Presidio. Like a ton of bricks, it hit me - I grew up on the Texas/Mexico border near the Chihuahua desert of Mexico. I was simply drawing my home. Home for the last 30 plus years has been in and around Austin, Texas. Currently, my studio is at my home in the Hill Country northwest of Austin near the Balcones Canyonlands Reserve.

    A R T W O R K S

Agave and Adobe Anna Lisa Leal 24 x 30    Pastel on panel

Boyce Thompson Beauty Anna Lisa Leal 24 x 30    Pastel on panel

Agave Row Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 32    Pastel on panel

Basking in the Sedona Sun Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 20    Pastel on panel

Cereusly Blushing Anna Lisa Leal 30 x 24    Pastel on panel

Verdin and Spent Ocotillo Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Pastel on paper

Chisos Basin Cholla Anna Lisa Leal 22 x 32    Pastel on panel

Cinnabar Crucibles Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 32    Pastel on panel

Ocotillo Flower Husk Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Colored pencil on paper

Ocotillo In Bloom Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Colored pencil on paper

Ocotillo Flower Interrupted Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Colored pencil on paper

Endurance Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 20    Pastel on panel

Generations at Panther Junction Anna Lisa Leal 48 x 24    Pastel on panel

Fool's Gold Anna Lisa Leal 11 x 14    Pastel on panel

On the Precipice of Modesta Canyon Trail Anna Lisa Leal 24 x 24    Pastel on panel

Lost Mine Nevermore Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 20    Pastel on panel

Parishioners at the Rock Anna Lisa Leal 24 x 24    Pastel on panel

Remember You Are Dust Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 20    Pastel on panel

Serpentine Verdigris Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 32    Pastel on panel

Terlingua Basin Anna Lisa Leal 8 x 10    Pastel on panel

Spanish Bayonet Anna Lisa Leal 14 x 11    Pastel on panel

The Four Sedona Vortices Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 20    Pastel on panel

The Wise Men Anna Lisa Leal 34 x 28    Pastel on panel

Transfiguration Anna Lisa Leal 40 x 32    Pastel on panel

Turning at Cathedral Rock Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel on paper

Undulation Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 20    Pastel on panel

West Texas Blues Anna Lisa Leal 11 x 14    Pastel on panel

Which Way Did They Go Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 40    Pastel on panel

Winter Color in West Texas Anna Lisa Leal 24 x 24    Pastel on panel

You Can't Pour From an Empty Cup Anna Lisa Leal 11 x 14    Pastel on panel

Aloe Sparklers Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 16    Pastel on panel

Yucca 620 Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 16    Pastel on panel

    S O L D    W O R K S

Cereus at First Light Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 32    Pastel on panel

Chisos Window Greeters Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Pastel on paper

Quien Es Mas Rojo Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Pastel on paper

The Grace of Transition Anna Lisa Leal 18 x 24    Pastel on panel

Yucca Congregation Anna Lisa Leal 10 x 8    Pastel on panel

Golden Age Anna Lisa Leal 24 x 24    Pastel on panel

De La Frontera Dos Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 16    Pastel on panel

De La Frontera Tres Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 16    Pastel on panel

De La Frontera Uno Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 16    Pastel on panel

A Revolution in Entropy Anna Lisa Leal 40 x 32    Pastel on panel

Morning Cereus Glow Anna Lisa Leal 10 x 8    Pastel

Catching Pennies From Heaven Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Pastel

Agave Beacon Anna Lisa Leal 8 x 10    Pastel

Agave Steeple Anna Lisa Leal 18 x 12    Pastel

Weather Vane Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Pastel on paper

Aloe at the Entry Anna Lisa Leal 10 x 8    Pastel

Blue Array Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 20    Pastel

Blue May in Fort Davis Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Pastel

Cereus Escondida Anna Lisa Leal 36 x 24    Pastel

Cereus Pallisade Anna Lisa Leal 8 x 10    Pastel

Coronado Datura Anna Lisa Leal 8 x 10    Pastel

Desert Firecracker Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Pastel

Diminutive Magnolias Anna Lisa Leal 10 x 10    Pastel

Electric Aloe Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Faded Glory Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 32    Pastel

First Snow Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Fort Davis Duo Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 20    Pastel

Fort Davis Yucca Anna Lisa Leal 8 x 10    Pastel

Fuschia Flush Anna Lisa Leal 8 x 10    Pastel

Hill Country Passion Flower Anna Lisa Leal 10 x 10    Pastel

Hilo Heliconia Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Morning Rays Anna Lisa Leal 8 x 10    Pastel

O'Keefe's Yucca in Bloom Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 16    Pastel

Orange Cholla Anna Lisa Leal 8 x 10    Pastel

O'Keefe's Yucca Seed Pods Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 16    Pastel

Orchids on Pandora Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Orange Glow Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Pastel

Orange Opuntia Incandescence Anna Lisa Leal 16 x 20    Pastel

Out of the Shadows Anna Lisa Leal 8 x 10    Pastel

Rock and Roll Cactus Anna Lisa Leal 10 x 8    Pastel

Santa Rita Near and Far Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Scobee Mountain Agave Anna Lisa Leal 30 x 30    Pastel

Sentinel at Canyon Dawn Anna Lisa Leal 35 x 25    Pastel

Sheltered Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Turquoise Sunshine Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Turquoise Streamers Anna Lisa Leal 24 x 18    Pastel

Twisted Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 40    Pastel

Under Cover Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Verdin and Ocotillo Flower Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Yaupon Bandits Anna Lisa Leal 12 x 9    Pastel

Tangerine Triplets Anna Lisa Leal 14 x 11    Pastel

Desert Chimes Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel

Aloe Candles Anna Lisa Leal 32 x 16    Pastel

Always Anna Lisa Leal 9 x 12    Pastel